Once she’s standing in my arms, I kiss her with all the love I have for her. I need her to remember that this is who I am with anyone that isn’t her, and that my father deserves this pain for what he did to Adeline. And more importantly, what he did to her.
“I love you, Harleigh,” I whisper to her, and she gives me a small smile.
“I love you too, O.” Her eyes fill with tears, and my heart cracks a little knowing she’s worried for me.
“I’m alright, baby. This is just who I am with people who aren’t you, or on your no touch list.”
She gives a little giggle before breathing in deeply.
“I know. I guess it’s just hard to wrap my head around sometimes,” she says.
Sweeping my thumb across her cheek, I ask.
“What can I do to help?” I want to know how to help her.
She’s silent for a few seconds as she decides whether or not there is anything I can actually do to help her.
“Promise me that if there is a time that you’re not okay, no matter what the circumstances, that you will come and tell me.” I tilt my head to the side, taking in all of her before answering.
On the one hand, it would be easy to promise her knowing the likelihood of that ever happening is non-existent, but I’m not so sure I can believe that anymore. The longer I’m around Colten and Brian, the more I start to bond with them because our souls are all connected to her.
I may not feel things in the magnitude I do for her, but a small part of me feels protective over them because we are a unit. We aren’t whole without all of us being together, and even I can admit to feeling that.
Though, I still wouldn’t hesitate to take them out of they hurt our girl. In the end, she’s the only one I need to have in my life in order to feel complete.
“I can do that for you.” Her body relaxes against mine as stress leaves her, and I know that I’ve made the right choice. I will never hide things from her.
Harleigh
“Why did you do it, Dad?” Darren’s voice is angry as it fills the quiet room, and Paul shrugs, wincing at the pain in his chest.
“O, he’s bleeding a lot. Can we stop it somehow?” He lifts an eyebrow at me as I whisper. “You know, without hampering your goal?” He nods and moves to grab a container of something off the table, before walking over to his father.
“What are you doing?” Paul narrows his eyes at him, but Orion just looks at me with a smile before pouring a salt like substance on to Paul’s open wounds.
Paul’s screams echo throughout the room from the pain of whatever Orion is doing to him, and I watch on in equal parts fascination and horror.
Once his screams have lessened, his breathing ragged and heavy as spit flies from his mouth, Orion answers him.
“Harleigh didn’t like seeing your disgusting blood all over the place, so I did her a favour and closed it up for you with silver nitrate. You’re welcome.” Orion pats him hard on the back before walking back over to me.
I can feel him assessing me, making sure I’m okay with everything that’s happened, and I just give him a nod before moving my attention back to Darren.
“You son of a bitch!” Paul growls through his teeth.
“Now, now. No need for name calling. I’m sure our mother wasn’t so much of a bitch that we need to blame her for my issues,” Orion answers him coldly, pulling me close to his body as Bry and Colt make their way over to us.
“I want to know the real reason you killed her, Dad,” Darren spits down at him and Paul laughs.
“Because the ugly bitch was pregnant again and I didn’t want any more bastards running around.” He laughs hysterically, and I wince when Darren punches him in the face hard enough to hear bones crack. “I never wanted her, or the two of you. There was no way I was going to deal with another child.” He spits blood on Darren like it’s acid as Darren hits him in the face again, this time knocking some teeth out.
“She wasn’t pregnant,” Orion says calmly beside me, and I look up at him.
“How the fuck would you know?!” Darren throws at him, and he takes a deep breath.
“Because I know when he’s lying. Right now, there is only evidence that he’s saying anything to rile you up. Our mother wasn’t pregnant when he killed her,” O points out.
Darren’s chest moves up and down rapidly with his breath while he digests what Orion is saying.
“Then why kill her?” Darren shouts at anyone and everyone in the room, before Paul laughs again.
“Are you that dense, boy?” Paul taunts him into hitting him again, but Darren doesn’t budge this time.
“Tell me, or I let Orion loose on your ass with the blowtorch for everything you did to Harleigh,” he growls, and Orion scoffs behind me, leaning down to whisper in my ear.
“I’m using it on the old man whether he tells the truth or not.”
I shiver at the darkness that’s clear in his voice.
“You want to know why I killed your bitch of a mother?” Paul taunts him some more, egging him on, trying to get Darren to attack him again, and I don’t understand it. “Because her mother,” he throws his head in my direction, spitting blood toward me, making every guy in the room growl and step forward. “Denied me, and ran off to have a baby that should have fucking been mine!” he screams in Darren’s face, and Brian moves to pull me into his arms as I shake.
“She was too much of a whore to stick it out with me, then went fucking everything that moved. Your mother was no different,” he sneers at Darren before his eyes move to me. “Your mother was a whore, Harleigh, and the apple clearly doesn’t fall far from the tree.” His eyes move over my guys before turning to Dad. “Better you than me.” He shrugs, and Dad’s shoulders stiffen.
“Watch your mouth, asshole, or I will kill you before your son gets the chance to.” Dad steps closer to a now laughing Paul.
“I tried to save you, Harleigh. If you had just chosen to be mine, you could have saved your family from the pain they are about to endure.” Paul shakes his head at me.
My entire body freezes and the rest of the room disappears.
