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Finally, a question Griffin wanted answered. He would’ve started with that, but he was letting his sister run the show.
Eve trembled, cowering inward. So much so that she tried to pull her hand away. His grip tightened, telling her he wasn’t going to budge.
“Juliet,” Eve said with a strained breath. “Neither of you completely understand what I’m up against. It’s not some man I was in a relationship with. The man always hurting meismy brother.”
Griffin sucked in a harsh breath. Eve’s sorrowful eyes trailed to him.
“You asked if I had any siblings, and I know you think I lied to you saying I was an only child. But in essence, I was. I am. That man is not my brother. He has never shown an ounce of sibling love. Not like you show Juliet. Not like Bryce does either. I’m nothing more than an obstacle in his way.”
“To the money your parents left behind?” Juliet asked.
She nodded but didn’t leave Griffin’s face.
Then she dropped her gaze to the table. “They left us equal shares. I agreed to let him run the hotels because I had no interest in it. I loved working at the bakery in one of the hotels. It was my passion.”
“That does not surprise me. No wonder you have magic in your hands.” Juliet’s tender smile put a short smile on Eve.
They were heading in the right direction. Griffin wanted to see more of her sweet smiles.
“I didn’t sign over anything. I wouldn’t. He does do some things I don’t agree with. He would need my approval with big things he wanted to change. The first time I said no, he hit me so hard I fell, then he kicked me until he cracked a rib. It was the only time I tried to report it. No charges were filed because it was a he said, she said thing. Plus, he had more friends in the police department than I did. Which is zero.”
Griffin rubbed his thumb on her hand, trying to soothe her as best as could. He was afraid to move in any other way lest she stop talking.
“His aggression got worse. It got so bad that I stopped working at the bakery. I hid in the house away from the world. I made excuses to my friends why I couldn’t go out. I claimed headaches that didn’t exist. I told one friend I was hanging with another friend to get out of plans when all I was doing was hiding in my room. I had no one to turn to. No one that would believe me. For the most part, when he did hurt me, it was in places people couldn’t see. A few times he’d hit me in the face. I’d use those typical excuses people make to play it off. It got to a point that he wasn’t hurting me to get his way, he was doing it because he enjoyed it. It aroused him.”
Griffin stiffened. “He didn’t…” He couldn’t even get the question out.
Eve shook her head, though avoided eye contact. “Not with me, no. He told me all the time how disgusting and poor excuse of a human being I was. But other women, yes. He beat me so badly one night I couldn’t move from the floor. One of the maids walked by and didn’t see me. But he saw her and…” Eve shivered. “Well, he always takes what he thinks he deserves.”
Griffin didn’t want to hear any more. It was like opening Pandora’s box and regretting the decision the moment the thing popped open.
“The turning point for me,” she started in a trance-like voice, “was two days before I fled. I had an actual headache that day. Nothing he did. He brought me a tray of food himself. A simple lunch. Ham sandwich, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water. He was so nice that day. Talking to me like he’d never once laid a hand on me. He said we should start running the company together. No more animosity between us. That I should start coming into the office. I found that very odd. The sudden change in demeanor.”
“Well, I’m sure the company has a board of directors. I bet your absence was starting to make waves,” Juliet offered.
Eve shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know because I didn’t stick around. I didn’t touch the food, but one of the maids, Sarah, such a nice woman. I told her to take it away. I wasn’t hungry. She looked at it like she wanted it, and I told her to go ahead. She took two bites of the sandwich as she walked out of the room. She didn’t make it past the door before she fell, convulsing, and then dying right in front of my eyes.”
Griffin couldn’t take it. He scooped her out of the chair, placing her on his lap, cocooning her in his arms. Right where she’d always be—if he had his say.
Eve turned her head into his chest, the tears making an appearance. Between the sobs, she said, “Two days later, I ran for my life because I knew if I stayed, my brother would find another way to kill me.”
Again, over his dead body, though he didn’t repeat it out loud this time.
He’d do anything to protect Eve. When he looked across the table at Juliet, at the hard glint in her eyes, he knew his sister would as well.
The question was, where did they go from here?
9
She knewher eyes were red-rimmed, but Bryce, who’d arrived a few minutes ago, didn’t ask why. He already knew. She felt so exposed, knowing this family knew all her secrets. Her disgusting, disturbing secrets. How pathetic she was. Useless and weak. Letting her brother abuse her for years.
After she’d bawled her eyes out, she left the table and washed her face. When she returned outside, light country music was playing in the background, and Griffin had started the grill. While they’d ambushed her about her secrets, they were now going to turn it into a fun weekend. She didn’t think she had it in her to be social. Then Juliet pulled her hand to sit at the table to play cards. Now here they were, thirty minutes later, all sitting around the table acting as if they hadn’t imploded her world upside down.
Griffin’s chair was still touching hers, his hand on her knee while they waited for Juliet to deal a hand.
“You want me to man the grill?” Bryce asked.
Griffin nodded. “Only because you enjoy doing it.”
