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“Let me guess,” I quietly mused, “that pissed your mom off even more.”
Axel nodded. “Now her daughter was turning into a tomboy—playing video games, playing football—it was practically a disaster in her eyes.” Axel smiled a little. “But Christian, my sister was finally smiling.” He frowned again. “And then college came, and we had to leave.” He drew in a deep breath. “I didn’t know it then, but Julian found her cutting herself. She was panicking. She was going to be alone. She thought we were all abandoning her.”
That was why she freaked out so much about her promise to Julian. She had promised him she would never cut again.
“Julian kept her secret for years, Christian. Never told me what she had done.” He sighed. “I hate to say it, but I grew distant when I got to college. My parents and I were always fighting. I wasn’t following the career path they wanted for me, which was football. Because of my differences with my parents, I ended up separating myself from Ally, too. And she stopped reaching out to me as well.”
I stayed silent. He was quiet for a moment, almost as if he were trying to figure out how to word what he was going to say next. “I was already in a committed relationship with Meghan when my mom called me and told me that Ally had locked herself in her room and that she wouldn’t come out. So, I went over there to go check on her.” He swallowed thickly, pain flashing in his eyes. “She had taken all of her antidepressants.” He shook his head. “And her stupid ass ex—that bastard—fucking told everyone about the baby and about what she had done. My parents tried covering it up, but when Ally had to be admitted into Dr. Gresham’s facility, and then attacked Meghan, my parents took the first opportunity they could to get rid of her.”
My heart ached for Ally and everything she’d gone through because of her neglectful parents.
“And when my parents found out that I was with Meghan, but she was also with Julian—that we were basically sharing her—they cut me off, too.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t really affect me. I’d been so detached from their shit for so long that it literally was just kind of like an ‘okay, and?’ kind of thing.” He blew out a soft breath. “But not for Ally because she was always Dad’s little girl. And he abandoned her.”
“So, why did he contact her today?” I asked him.
Axel shrugged. “Apparently, he wants to work things out.” He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “At least she was smart enough to tell him she wouldn’t come without me.”
I clenched my jaw. “She’s not going without me and Caiden, either,” I corrected him. “She’s come too goddamn far. I won’t let him push her back further by accident.” I sighed and scrubbed a hand down my face. “I’m not saying that you can’t take care of Ally and that you don’t know your boundaries,” I instantly spoke up, knowing how protective Axel was of his sister.
“I know, Christian. If it were Meghan, I’d be doing the same damn thing you are. And honestly, I would be kind of pissed if you didn’t bring it up. I think you guys need to come. He needs to see that she has an army of people standing around her, ready to defend her and take care of her. He can’t just come in and do what he pleases.” He shook his head. “And I have a feeling that she would let him just so she could be his little girl again.”
I shook my head. “Not if I have anything to do with it,” I assured him. I stood up. “I need to get her home. She needs to eat dinner and take her medicine.”
Axel stood up as well and clapped me on the back. “Thank you for giving her a chance, Christian.”
I laughed. “I think it’s her who gave me a chance.” I grinned. “She was trying to stand strong against me, but she couldn’t.” I rolled my neck around, a yawn falling from my lips. “I’ll talk to Caiden this evening about what happened, let him know to be expecting a dinner date with your dad sometime soon.”
Axel nodded. “Drive safe. I’m going to go ahead and start locking up. She’s asleep on the couch in my office.”
I strode down the hall to his office, and sure enough, Ally was passed out on the couch. Her eyes were kind of swollen and puffy, but she seemed to otherwise be sleeping peacefully, which I was thankful for.
Every once in a while, she would jerk awake because she dreamed of what had happened with Randall, but for the most part, she was beginning to sleep normally again, though it always did help for her to have either me or Caiden sleeping with her.
