Chapter 31
Kiera
With my head resting against the frame, I stared out the window as James’ private jet flew us to Georgia, where the mysterious Peartree House was situated.
Both James and Jackson had been coy about the house, only telling me that it was a place where runaway girls could attend to improve their lives.
The look on Willow’s face told me that was a lie.
She sat opposite me, also staring out the window, lost in thought. James had refused to leave her alone, not with the emotional state she’d been in since killing Alec, but also because his body remained in the kitchen, awaiting a team of people employed by James who would clear the mess up.
Tearing my gaze from the world passing below, I looked across to her. “Tell me about the house, Willow.”
“No,” James huffed before she could even open her mouth.
I’d mistakenly thought he and Jackson were deep in conversation in the chairs behind us.
I’d heard snippets of what they were talking about: the house, young girls, training.
Pleasure. Each time I caught a word, my thoughts spiralled, wondering what the hell Billie was facing at the elusive Peartree House.
James and Jackson stood from their seats, moving along the aisle to join Willow and me. James lifted Willow into his lap as if he couldn’t not touch her. Grateful that Jackson laced his fingers through mine, I leaned against him, craving his warmth.
“I need to know what goes on in that place,” I said, fixing my glare on my brother.
“Nothing good can come from you knowing about it,” James replied, his customary scowl etched into his face.
“For what it’s worth, I agree,” Jackson added. “You don’t need to know about the house. We get there, we get Billie, and you never have to think about it again.”
I snorted. “You really think it’s that easy?
You honestly think I won’t lie in bed at night wondering what Billie has gone through?
Not knowing is making me fear the worst. All I can think is that she is going through what I went through, only at a younger age.
” I broke off as nausea bubbled in my stomach.
Sucking in a deep, calming breath, I held my brother’s eye, determined to find out what could be happening to Billie.
“I need to know so I can help Billie through not just being kidnapped by someone she thought she could trust, but whatever she’s had to face at this damn house. ”
“They won’t hurt her,” Willow said meekly from the comfort of James’ arms.
“Mouse,” he growled, a warning if ever there was one.
She gazed up at him with pleading eyes. “She needs to know, James. They won’t hurt Billie, she’s too young.”
“Too young for what?” I asked eagerly, desperate for any slice of knowledge about the place my daughter was.
James cursed under his breath, but before he could tell Willow off, I sat forward.
“James, please. One day, you’ll be a parent, and you will understand how desperately you want to protect your child from the entire world.
” A pang of anguish sliced my heart, but I bit back the tears that wanted to fall.
“And you’ll understand that if something terrible happens to your child, you will do everything in your power to get them through it.
But to help them, you have to know what they’ve gone through. ”
James’ jaw clenched before his shoulders slumped. “Willow is right. Nothing will happen to her. She isn’t the right age.”
“And if she was?”
He swallowed, a foreign look washing over my brother’s face.
Guilt.
“The house takes in runaway girls, giving them a chance to have a better life,” he replied, choosing his words carefully.
My gaze narrowed on him. “What else?” He ripped his gaze away from me, his mouth moving as if he were uttering a silent curse. “What. Else. James?”
He inhaled a breath, returning his cold stare to me. “The girls are taught discipline and respect. When they reach a certain age, they’re given lessons on how to please men before they’re rehomed to members of Legion. Happy now?”
I gaped at my brother, my jaw hanging open as I tried to process his words. “Please men? As in…they’re taught how to fuck men?”
Willow grimaced, hiding her face against James’ shirt. “Yes,” he replied, stoic as ever.
Disgust curled in my stomach. Even if Billie wasn’t currently in that vile house, I would have been sickened to my core knowing that it existed.
“What the hell, James? You can’t be okay with that, surely-”
“The Peartree House program was set up long before you or I were born, Kiera,” James barked. “Believe me, it’s not something I’m happy about, but all the time Legion members vote to keep it-”
“You’re the head of Legion!” I shrieked, incredulous. “You have the power-”
“Me being the head is a very recent development if you remember correctly. But it isn’t just down to me.
The society votes, and at the last vote, they voted to keep the program running.
We’ll vote again when Cleo and the twins take their father’s place on the board, but until then, my hands are tied. ”
I glared at my brother, unable to comprehend his stance on the matter. How in the fuck could he be okay with allowing young girls to be taught how to pleasure men? It was beyond wrong.
“So that’s it?” I said, my tone laced with anger.
“You’re happy to just sit back and let girls like Billie go through that?
” James’ nose lifted into a sneer before his eyes dropped to Willow.
Like a wrecking ball slamming into me, the truth struck me.
“That’s where you met Willow, isn’t it? She was at the house, that’s how she knew about the room Billie was taken to.
” His silence confirmed my suspicion. “Jesus Christ, James. What the hell is wrong with you?”
I shot to my feet, unable to look at my brother any longer. Of all the things I thought James was capable of, this was not one of them. Squeezing past Jackson, I stomped off toward the back of the plane, shoving a door open in hopes it was a bathroom, but finding a small bedroom instead.
Slamming the door behind me, I collapsed on the bed and let my tears fall, my mind spinning with the horrors of what went on at the house. Damn Legion. James was out of his goddamn mind if he thought I was going to allow Billie to be any part of his fucked up society.
The bedroom door opened, closing softly a second later. Before I knew it, I was lifted into Jackson’s lap, his arms winding round me. I wanted to fight against him; he knew about that damn place as much as James did, but I didn’t have the energy. Instead, I slumped against him.
“Kiki, it’s not what you think. Willow wasn’t part of the program,” he whispered.
I wiggled free to look up at him. “She wasn’t? How did she know-”
“She did live there, but she was kept separate from all the others.” He shook his head. “It’s James and Willow’s story to tell, but believe me, James has always been against the program.”
“Then why can’t he shut it down?”
“He wants to, he really does. But-”
I pulled free of Jackson’s grasp. “Don’t tell me rules prevent him.
Seriously, Jackson, what sort of organization has Legion turned into?
We both heard the stories growing up about how our ancestors created the organization to better people’s lives.
This doesn’t sound like bettering anyone’s lives, except dirty perverts who like to abuse women. ”
Jackson sighed. “I know, Kiki. It’s something James is keen to change.
He always said that when he was the head of Legion, he’d get rid of the bad apples and return the society to how it was always meant to be.
You just need to give him time; our fathers and grandfathers have caused a lot of damage that needs to be undone.
It won’t happen overnight, but have faith in him; he will change things. ”
I closed my eyes, inhaling deeply. Jackson was right, I needed to trust my brother.
James wasn’t our father, or even Jackson’s father.
Like me, he witnessed our father abuse our mom for years, and part of the reason I’d never confided in him that I had been raped was because I knew he would have committed murder to avenge me.
If he said he didn’t agree with the program and was going to shut it down, then unless he gave me reason not to, I would believe him.
“I’m sorry,” I said, wiping my eyes. “I just want Billie out of there. The thought of her even witnessing what goes on in that place makes my skin crawl.”
Jackson pulled me back into his embrace, and this time, I went willingly. “Soon, Kiki. Another couple of hours, and you’ll have your daughter back. And then we can think about our future.”
A small smile curled my lips. “Our future. I never thought we’d have one.”
He tilted my head up to look at him, affection glittering in his eyes.
“Me either. But we’ve got a second chance now.
We can have what we had before, Kiki, I know we can.
” Warmth rushed through me, the barbed wire that had been embedded in my heart from the day he walked away from me ten years ago unraveled.
“No more secrets, though. No matter what happens, we always tell each other the truth.”
Acid rose in my throat, bitterness toward my father coursing powerfully through me. Needing space, I quickly stood, turning my back on Jackson but feeling his curious gaze on me.
“Kiki?”
I spun to face him, and at hearing the concern in his voice, my heart splintered into two.
I still held onto a secret that had the power to bring any hopes of a future together grinding to a halt.
I had to tell him, though. I wouldn’t keep anything else a secret, and if that meant he walked away, then so be it.
I couldn’t do anything to hurt him again.
“I can’t have any more children,” I blurted, numbness sweeping through my body.
Jackson stood, and in two strides, was in front of me. “What?”