Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 55792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
I allow the quiet to fill the space between us. Just for a moment, I don’t want to continue. The memories assault me painfully, and no matter how much I fight them, I know they’ll always be a reminder of what I witnessed.
“Did your parents find out?” Brielle speaks so softly, I barely hear her, but with the thoughts racing through my mind, her gentle tone cuts through all the bullshit and heartache.
I nod.
“Oh, Valen,” Brielle moves closer against me and rests her head on my chest. I didn’t think I would ever want to be comforted like this, but having her here makes this bearable. It sounds so strange to me to even think it.
“They saw me that night.” I swallow back the agony, the memory burning right through to my soul. It was the first time I realised how much I hated my father. My mother wasn’t any better. She stood by, but then again, even if she did try to stop him, it would have been detrimental to her. He was a bully, a man who didn’t care what he did, as long as he got his way.
“Valen,” Brielle’s voice once more cuts through the darkness that’s taking over, and I glance at her. “What happened?” This time, she shifts to her knees, instead of leaning her head on my chest, she watches me with confusion.
I’m not sure how to even voice the next part of the story without allowing rage to fill me. I fisted one of my hands, the need to hit something running rife through my veins. My gut churned with the desire to make him pay. Over and over again.
My father is still alive, even though he’s not the man he used to be. They say karma takes her time, but when she doest strike, be fucking scared.
“Valen, what happened?” Brielle now even more concerned leans in close, and the darkness that had descended on me slowly dissipates. Her calm, sweetness overwhelms me and for the first time in years, I allow my tears to fall.
“My father decided it was a good idea to make a spectacle of the boy I kissed. Of course, I couldn’t live my life how I wanted. And for me to be anything other than a straight, alpha male in my father’s eyes, was wrong.”
“Oh no.” A tinge of sadness, of regret, and of pain drenches those two small words that Brielle utters. It’s obvious what had happened next. Well, to most it would be. But the details are far worse than she could ever imagine.
“It wasn’t that night though. But I knew what was coming because he told me. My father was livid. I was locked in my bedroom for two days, until they brought Diamo to the house. We had a similar setup like the Venier’s where my father had a basement where he took those he wanted to interrogate.”
“And the boy you kissed, Diamo—”
“I didn’t realise he was there until Judah sent me a text message and said my father’s men were at the school. They picked him up and left.” I allow myself to look at Brielle who is as stricken as I was when I read Judah’s message that day. “My father didn’t call for me until late that night. I had screamed, banged on the door, but they didn’t let me out.”
“So you… Your father allowed you to see him?”
I nod as I swallow back the lump in my throat. Deep down, I realise just how tortured I was by it. I think the shock, the fear, and the heartache that had overwhelmed me had me bury the moment I saw him deep. Because when I close my eyes, it springs up suddenly. It wasn’t there all those years ago, but now, I can see it clear as day.
“My father had him chained to a table. He was already beaten badly.” I choke out the words, forcing them to spill from my lips because if I don’t, I’ll never allow them to escape. And as I confess the rest to Brielle, I go back there.
“You see what happens to boys who break the rules,” Dad says to me as he sneers down at the innocent boy. I can’t believe I’ve done this, put someone in danger because of my own confused feelings. Emotions are fucking dangerous.
“Dad, please, you don’t need to do this.”
“Don’t I?” he challenges me and I know he wants me to break. My father believes to strengthen someone, you need to bore down into their soul. He enjoys watching me shatter. All my life, he would punish, then buy me something to show me he loves me.
“No. Honestly, it was a mistake and it won’t happen again,” I tell him, praying silently that he’ll believe me. I could never lie to my father though. He grew up with venom in his veins, trained by the most dangerous mercenaries who worked for the mafia. When he took over the family, he didn’t bat an eyelid when he needed to torture or kill someone.