Chapter 32 Kairo
KAIRO
Calming Mom down takes longer than I would like, but eventually, she’s back in her car with her meds on her tongue and her security team promising to take her home.
I don’t have enough mental space to process everything that’s happening.
She’s scared, I understand that.
My father’s legacy is in tatters, the company is slipping away and about to be embroiled in multiple lawsuits about conduct because of me, and socially, I’m being painted as a man who fucks his way into business ownership all while having an affair with a married woman.
It’s a lot for one night.
Back up at the penthouse, Martin greets me first and his eyes lock onto my inflamed cheek. “You good?”
I nod, but he catches my arm as I pass him. “What?”
“One call,” he says softly. “One call and everything she’s ever done to you will go on record.”
I free myself and continue walking into the lounge, ignoring him.
I know he means well, but my mother is only violent when she’s off her medication.
And wouldn’t that be the cherry on the controversial cake?
My mother ending up arrested for assault.
Fuck.
Devon stands near the windows, and she spins to face me as I enter, her eyes wide and her lower lip chewed to the point of bruising.
I wanted the truth from her gently, not forced out in a panicked rush because of my insane mother.
An apology rests on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t bring myself to say it yet as the sheer weight of the evening crushes me. I sit down slowly on the couch.
“Tell me everything," I say as Devon slowly sits across from me on the other side of the coffee table. “Please.”
Her fingers twist together and she nods, then she rubs at her teary eyes.
“No point keeping it a secret, I guess,” she murmurs. “You’ve already seen what he’s done to me.”
The scars across her back leap to the front of my mind. “That was him?”
She nods, unable to look at me.
“I moved to L.A. because I hated it here. I thought small towns were boring and New York was cliché. I was going to become this fancy accountant for a big firm, earn enough money that I only worked for three days a week and could spend the rest of it on the beach. But then I met Axel and everything changed. I just…”
Her mouth twists to the side. “I can’t pinpoint how.
One day, everything was fine, and then the next day, I woke up and I was so alone.
I hadn’t spoken to my parents in years, I hadn’t contacted any of my friends.
All I did was work a shitty job and come home.
Axel was my only social interaction. He never let me go anywhere alone.
He’d drive me to and from work, he was jealous and snapped so easily.
And the first time he hit me, I ended up comforting him and I don’t know how it happened. ”
My heart beats slowly as the picture Devon paints grows before me.
“And then it was routine. I was too loud, too obnoxious, too rude, too fat. I was ugly, I spent too long speaking to the delivery guy, I looked at the neighbor across the hall. He always made me feel so guilty, and then things changed. He stopped slapping me and suddenly he was p–punching me. Throwing me around into furniture when he lost money at the track or couldn’t secure an interview.
The cigarettes were because he didn’t like to get out of bed and I was a better ashtray. He broke my wrist twice, he—”
She stops talking suddenly, and every fiber of my being wants to reach out to her, but I refrain.
Devon’s in a place where she feels she can talk and I don’t want to disturb that.
“I got away because he started fucking some other girl and one night, I thought he was going to kill me. He had this knife and his hands around my throat, and I was so sure—”
She lightly touches her throat. “But she called him and he got distracted, so I left. I just ran and ran and ran and then when I could, I bought a ticket to France and abandoned the card.”
An odd sense of calm washes over me, like my anger has settled into my bones and my fate has been sealed.
“I never wanted to see him again. I never thought I would. I never told him where I came from so coming back to my parents felt safe. I was just going to keep my head down, help them save their bakery, and then that would be it. But then you came along and everything is all so…”
Her hand covers her mouth suddenly as a dry sob escapes her. “How have I created such a disaster so quickly? How did I do this? How could I not see this coming?”
“Devon.” Unable to stay away from her, I move to her couch and sit next to her. “Devon, take a deep breath.”
“I’m so sorry!” She looks up at me with wild eyes.
“I’ve ruined everything, haven’t I? Just like he said I would! I’ve ruined your company and your life, and your Mom’s too. Oh, God, you’re going to go to jail and it’s all my fault. The whole world is going to know and it’s my fault, and he’ll never stop hunting me down, will he?”
“Devon!” It pains me to raise my voice, but it’s just enough to get her attention.
When her eyes lock back into mine with tears rolling down her cheeks, I take her hand gently. “Breathe for me, Devon. Just breathe.”
She does, and after a few minutes she begins to calm down. Her eyes flutter closed and she gasps repeatedly.
We’re interrupted briefly by Martin who tells me Mom sent a crisis team and they’re in the lobby.
I order him to get rid of them, which he does. I don’t give a shit about the company or my reputation.
All I care about is the woman I love who has fallen into a hell made worse by my own mother.
“Devon, I want you to listen to me, okay? I need you to tell me something.”
She clutches at my hand and nods through her tears. “Anything.”
“Is he telling the truth about your being married?”
She shakes her head and then shrugs.
“I have no idea. He used to make me drink a lot and I remember him thrusting a marriage certificate in my face, but I don’t know. I don’t ever remember getting married to him. I’m so sorry, I never knew hiding him would end up ruining you—”
“Stop,” I murmur. “Stop. Don’t think about me or the company or anything else. Don’t worry about that right now.”
“But I lied,” she wails.
“No, you protected yourself.” As much as it pains me to know she didn’t trust me with this, I can’t blame her.
Nothing about her story comes from a place of cruelty or vindictiveness. “This isn’t your fault, Devon.”
“But he won’t stop,” she gasps through her tears. “Don’t you see? He’ll destroy everything if I don’t go with him because he’s a man who plans. He’ll have some way to save you and the company if I just go with him. I know him.”
“Devon.”
My fingers slide over her wrist until we’re palm to palm, then I thread mine through hers. “You’re not going anywhere with him.”
“But—”
“Do you really think I care about any of that more than I care about you?”
She looks at me with glass eyes and the pain in her gaze cuts through me like a razor. “I don’t know—”
“I don’t. I care about you.”
“I lied to you.”
“Devon…” Shaking my head, I gently take her other hand and place it over my thigh where my own old burns rest on my skin.
“You know who did this to me, my father. He got tired of beating me every time I fucked up so he resorted to using me as an ashtray every time I got something wrong. I was a kid and he hurt me because he was a cruel, cold man who saw childish confusion as a personal insult. Did you treat me differently because you now know this?”
Her mouth falls open.
“Would you treat me differently knowing that, despite the pain he caused me, I still strove to make him proud? That even though he hurt me and my mother turned a blind eye to my screams, I still fought to be his right-hand man and honor his memory even after his death?”
“I–I… No,” she gasps. “I wouldn’t blame you for that at all!”
“Why?”
“Well… well, because people like your father twist things and get in your head. Make you feel like it’s your fault and you were brought up thinking it was normal. Even your mother…” Her attention drifts to my cheek. “We don’t always know it’s wrong until we wake up.”
“Exactly. What Axel did to you… I would never judge you for, nor would I blame you for protecting yourself. It’s the same way I honored my father when I should have spat on his memory. We do things to keep the peace and keep ourselves safe, and I can’t fault you for that. But I can protect you.”
“But I lied,” she whispers, hiccupping through her tears. “Your mom said I’ve ruined so much.”
“Devon… I won’t deny that finding out you’re married stings, and the prospect of the fallout from all of this is daunting, but it doesn’t change how I feel about you. I can be hurt and understanding at the same time, and believe me, I understand.”
Her brows knit together, as if she can’t possibly understand what I’m saying.
“But I’ve ruined your life,” she weeps.
“No, Devon. You saved me the moment I met you. And now I’m going to return the favor. You’re safe here, okay? And I’m going to fix this. I promise.”