AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Upset me? Erica, I had to live with six other men in confined spaces. Most of them smelled worse than Jennifer’s worst diaper. They were loud, messy, disgusting, and annoying. You and she are a dream!”
Erica laughed, just shaking her head.
“I think you might have a bias,” she grinned, taking a seat on the sofa. Moose sat beside her, pulling her legs onto his lap, gently massaging her feet. “That feels good.”
“Do you ever get your hands massaged? I wondered if that was something you would do because of the cello.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I worry that a person wouldn’t know what to do and might harm my hands.”
“What made you choose the cello?” he asked.
“The tuba was taken,” she smirked. He laughed, shaking his head at her. “Really. I wanted to play something big and loud. I thought I was terrified of my father, but when I had those thoughts about the musical instruments, I realized that I wanted to annoy him.”
“Was he against the music lessons?” asked Moose, frowning at her.
“Yes. And then, no. He realized that I was good, and he bragged to the other members of the government about how talented his daughter was. Of course, in private, he yelled at me all the time. I think he was positioning me to marry me off to someone, then realized he needed Gordon.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” said Moose.
“Me, too. But it led me here, and he’s gone. Which reminds me, why would those men still be coming for me?”
“I don’t know,” said Moose, shaking his head. “I was wondering if maybe you had something of your father’s that was important.”
“I can’t think of anything I have belonging to him. He didn’t want me, Moose. He wanted a son that he could mold into what he wanted, who he wanted. An accomplice in his madness. I was an inconvenience, which is why my mother took me. He wanted to find a male that could follow in his footsteps.”
“I’m curious. How did you and your mother get out of North Korea?”
“An old woman helped her. She led us through the woods and into South Korea, then gave my mother two airline tickets. I was only eleven, but I knew a lot about what was happening, and I knew that if my father caught us, we’d both be dead.”
“That must have been terrifying,” he frowned. She nodded.
“It was. But staying with him was more terrifying. The way he beat my mother, Moose,” she said, shaking her head. “Every time I worried that she wouldn’t get up. I kept thinking, if he kills her, I’m next. She’s the only thing between him and me.”
“You don’t have to worry about that any longer,” said Moose. “Let’s watch a movie.”
It was almost an hour later before he realized that neither of them was really watching the movie. They were watching one another.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“You can ask me anything, Erica.”
“Have you ever hit a woman? I mean, outside of your job. Did you ever strike your ex-wife or ex-fiancé?”
“Never. And believe me, I had cause. My ex-wife was a spoiled rich girl who wanted to live closer to her parents and wanted me to quit the teams. I did. For her, and I regretted it. I came home to find out she’d been driving down to Florida to play around with another man. A very evil man. He ended up beating her as part of the passionate game they played. She died because of those injuries.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“When I left London, left Ece, I shoved her against the bed,” he said, feeling shame. “I’ve never struck a woman in anger, never. I pushed her out of my way. I didn’t hurt her, but I’m ashamed that I allowed her to affect me to the point of doing that.”
“That seems reasonable. I mean, I would never hit you, but I might shove you to get you out of my way.” He chuckled, shaking his head.
“In case you’ve missed it, you’re about five-feet-two. I’m six-feet-seven. I’m not sure I would even feel it if you pushed me,” he smirked.
“Maybe not,” she grinned, biting her lower lip.
“Something you want to ask me?” he said, staring at her. She nodded but said nothing. “You have to speak for me to be able to answer.”
“You mentioned our size difference. I have to believe our size is different in the biblical sense as well.” Moose couldn’t help but laugh.
