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I shake my head. “My mother has worked very hard to convince him otherwise.”
“Then whose are you?”
I wince. “My mother has had a string of lovers throughout her marriage to my father. When he decided it was time for them to have an heir, my mother got the job done and my father was none the wiser.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. So I’m sorry about what you’ve been through Odi, but you have to understand that my father can’t have?—”
Her scornful laughing cuts me off.
“What’s so funny?”
“You. You think that just because he didn’tfatherRose that the rest of what happened to me is fiction too? I’m done with protecting you, and hiding your family’s dirty secrets to keep you safe. You need to wake up and smell the truth, Zie. Your father raped me formonthsand when I finally gave birth to my baby, he fucking stole her out of my arms, and has been threatening her life ever since.”
I have no words. Around me, everything is crashing down. The house I grew up in is crumbling to dust. Bricks and mortar. Lies and fear. The only thing keeping our home together, and now it’s been obliterated by Odi’s wrecking ball of truth.
And I know she’s telling the truth. Why would she lie? I remember the fear on her face when his name was mentioned. I knew in my gut that he had hurt her, didn’t I? It’s why I raced home to avenge her.
If I’d known the truth…the whole truth…he wouldn’t be living. I should go back to the Abbot’s house and kill him right now.
I shake my head. I can’t. There are rules.
Fuck.
I need to think about something else.
“Why does Axel think he’s Rose’s father? Did you two sleep together when he came back to Deathfalls?” I ask.
Odi blinks at me, pain etched into her face. “Axel came back?”
“Are you telling me you didn’t see him?” I demand. I don’t believe her. They must have been together, laughing at me behind my back. How else could Axel be Rose’s dad?
“The first time I saw any of you was that day in the dining room when I confronted him about the tattoo,” she replies flatly. The truth is a punch to the gut.
But I can’t accept it. I shake my head. “I don’t understand. How can Rose be his if you two didn’t sleep together?”
“Oh Zie,” she laughs bitterly. “Don’t you understand?”
I open my mouth to reply, but she cuts me off scornfully.
“Axel is Rose’s dad, because he raped me too.”
Now that I’m in the Juniors, Father has decided it’s time for me to start learning the family business. I don’t know what he does, but it involves a lot of shouting, a lot of cleaning, and loud bangs which scare me at night.
I know not to mention it though.
And I never let Mother or Father hear me cry.
Saying it out loud is the bitterest pill to swallow. I can’t bring myself to care that I just ripped Zie’s perfect little world apart. I’ve protected him for far too long. We all have. He’s the sweet one. The innocent one. I know Axel and Kaiden keep him out of the bulk of their dirty business. And this is why. Because he can’t handle it.
He’s always been sunshine, while the rest of us are shadow dwellers. He’s not one of us. Never could be. Loving him was a fantasy. Of course I don’t belong with him. I used to think his light would balance my darkness, but then I learnt that Kaiden’s monster called to mine.
Now though, I know I’m fated to be with Axel. Two blackened, twisted souls, shackled together for all eternity for their sins.
Just like his father. The sight of the woman wrapped around him as I fled the house is burned into my brain. I’m not surprised he was cheating on his wife – look what he did to me – but there’s a familiarity there that I just can’t place. I know that woman. But who is she? It’s bugging me, but I can’t seem to let it go. Maybe my subconscious knows this particular detail is important, or maybe my brain is just craving a distraction.
“Odi—” Zie’s hand lands on my shoulder, and I jump. I’d forgotten he was there.
