AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When I lifted my arm to shield my eyes from the sun, his face came into full view, but it wasn’t one I was familiar with because I was sure I would have remembered meeting someone who wore an eye patch.
“Good morning, sir. Do I know you?” I cocked my head to the side, curious how this man knew my name.
“I know your momma. We used to be great friends.”
His hand reached for me, and the way his one good eye gawked at me had the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. He looked at me in a way that left me feeling like a spider had crawled over my skin.
“Tell her Uncle Clancy says hello, and I’ll be coming by to see you both real soon.” His smile was crooked, and his teeth were yellow like he didn’t brush twice a day as he should.
ChapterThirty-Two
Callum
After I pulled the car in, I killed the engine. It was like I was a teenage boy with his first crush all over again. I hadn’t been able to wait any longer to see Alina again. I’d filed paperwork and completed orders at warp speed, skipping lunch to get back to her sooner.
Pulling the door open, I dashed inside, calling for her without a squeak of reply.
I found her sitting on the couch, staring at something in her hand.
“Alina?” She hadn’t heard me before now.
Startled, she looked over where I waited in the doorway. Her hands shook violently, and her face was a mask of terror.
Moving quickly, I went to her, pulling her into my arms without any resistance. “Darlin’, what’s happened? What is it?” My heart was beating slowly and loudly in my chest, but my brain raced at the speed of light, considering every possible scenario that could have happened in the hours I’d been gone. “Alina, talk to me.”
She hadn’t moved the photo she had been holding, twisted in the grip of her fingers, but still, she remained silent.
I held her tighter to my chest, and we gently rocked while I waited for some sort of insight into what had broken her down like this.
She gasped before her body was wracked with silent sobs. Wrapping her slackened arms around my neck, I hoisted her into my arms, carrying her up the stairs.
After placing her in the center of the bed, I climbed in behind her, wrapping my arm around her waist. Then with my other hand, I stroked her hair in silent comfort.
After some time, her weeping subsided, and we remained still and silent, watching as the light casting on the curtains began to dull and fade.
Air filled her little body in a long, shallow, ragged breath. She released it before turning over in my arms.
“Hey.” I stroked her cheek, brushing the loose hair back from her face. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“Hey,” she repeated back to me, her voice soft and angelic.
“How you doing?”
I watched her, searching for any signs other than she was okay. My brain had been on high alert ever since I’d found her in a catatonic state in the living room.
Her hand was still clenched in a tight ball, holding the photo in her grip. Slowly, she opened it to show me. To me, it looked like a regular photo of a smiling family, and I couldn’t understand the distress it had caused Alina.
“I don’t understand.” I took the photo from her for a closer examination.
With shaking hands, she pointed to the big guy wearing the eye patch. “He is my momma’s pirate.” Then, with a tiny squeak, she swallowed and tried again. “He’s my mother’s rapist.”
The words swam in my head, jumbling before I could make sense of what she had told me.
“Alina?”
“That bastard is my father, Callum.”
The words dried up in my mouth as my heart beat loudly in my ears. For a moment, I was convinced I hadn’t heard her correctly.
