Chapter Seven
Romy
B anging on the door makes both me and Caius jolt. He recovers quicker than I do, pulling out of my hold to stride over to the door. As soon as he opens it, Theo rushes inside. Knowing he’ll need to fill him in on what happened, I go back into the bedroom to wait for Kaitlyn. A few minutes later, she emerges from the bathroom with combed wet hair and in her Barbie pajamas.
My heart aches for this girl.
The haunted expression in her gaze says all the words I need to hear. I was too late. Vivienne has done what she did to me. There’s no erasing what’s happened. Unlike Dad, though, I refuse to sweep it under the rug like it never occurred in the first place.
So I go with straightforward honesty.
“I know what she did,” I say lightly. “She did the same to me around your age.”
Kaitlyn tenses at my words and then asks a totally unrelated question. “Can we watch a movie before I go to sleep?”
It takes a while for me to figure out the television, but once I’ve put it on something G-rated, I sit on the bed against the headboard beside her. She seems engrossed in the show, but I know better. I understand the racing thoughts, disgust, confusion, and betrayal.
“I used to hide,” I murmur. “In my closet.”
She’s quiet for a beat. “Did she find you?”
“Not there. But she always came back later. I couldn’t hide long enough.”
“Why do people do that?” Kaitlyn asks, voice ragged and aged for someone so small.
People.
Not just Vivienne.
“Because they’re bad,” I say firmly. “They like to hurt children for no reason.” I close my eyes for a beat but force out my next question. “Who all did that to you?”
I’m dreading the answer.
If she says Theo or Orion…or Caius.
“Gareth, er, Daddy,” she whispers. “He’s not my real dad, but I’m not supposed to talk about that.”
I swallow hard. “You can tell me anything. No one believed me when I was little. I want you to know that you have someone who believes you.”
“My real dad didn’t do it,” she explains, voice fierce and protective. “His medicine made him sick and he died. That’s why I scream when I get shots. I don’t want to die like he did.”
Tears prickle my eyes and I nod. Her way of explaining what seems to be a heroin overdose breaks my heart. “Makes sense.”
“After he died, I had to go live with some people because Mom was in jail. I don’t really remember her,” Kaitlyn says sadly. “My foster mother, Dorothy, told me jail was a good place for her.”
There’s probably some truth in that.
“Was Dorothy one of the people who…” I trail off, unable to say the words.
“No.” She looks down at her tiny hands, her thumb rubbing what looks like a cigarette burn scar. “Her husband, Jerry.”
I want to kill every last one of these people who hurt her—who hurt me.
“Why do they always come to my bed at night?” she asks, voice wobbly. “Is that why you’re in here?”
Shuddering at her words, I shake my head violently. “No. Never. In fact, I’m going to sleep on the sofa. You can lock this door if it makes you feel safer.”
She relaxes and nods. “Okay. I want to do that.”
“What about Gareth’s family? Did they ever do that to you?”
“No.”
Relief floods through me, but I want to be sure.
“Theo has watched you a lot lately. Has he ever touched you in ways you don’t like?”
“No.”
“And Caius? Has he?”
“No.”
“Orion?”
“No.”
I’m able to fully relax. “Anyone else?”
“Gareth, I mean, Daddy…” she trails off and turns her attention back to the television.
“You don’t have to call him Daddy. He’s dead. Gareth is fine.”
A small sob escapes her, crushing my heart into a million pieces.
“I miss my daddy, my real one.”
“I know you do, sweetie.” I ache to hold her and comfort her, but I know she needs her space. “Do you feel safe now that Gareth and Vivienne are gone?”
She turns her tear-streaked face toward me, nodding emphatically.“Yes.”
“Is there more you want to tell me about Gareth?”
We sit in silence as the show plays on in the background. I wait patiently for her to continue. Finally, she does.
“The others just touched me. He was worse.”
Bile creeps up my throat. “Worse how?”
Rather than answer, she slips out of bed and walks over to her backpack. I watch as she retrieves her Ken doll and Barbie. As she stands beside the bed, yanking off both their outfits in fierce determination to explain, I want to cry out in rage, forcing her to stop.
She smacks the Ken against the Barbie, their naked plastic bodies clattering together, and mimics obscene sounds. When she’s finished, she adopts a deep voice as Ken tells Barbie what a good girl she is and makes sick kissing sounds as she makes his head go down her body. Then she throws Ken across the room. Barbie sticks her head under the pillow and cries so quietly. My heart is officially broken.
If Gareth weren’t already dead, I’d kill that pedophile, rapist motherfucker myself.
I wake to a chirping of my phone.
Groggy and confused as to where I am, I reach my arm out toward the sound, fumbling until I find it. It’s been plugged in—probably thanks to my fake, but sometimes considerate boyfriend—and it takes a second for me to unplug it.
Many missed texts await me.
Theo: Last night was messed up. Call me when you get this.
After that one, there’s another one.
Caius: Spend what time you need with Kaitlyn. Take her to breakfast and shopping if you feel like it. Or order in room service. Just be ready for tonight.
I rub at my eyes, taking in the suite I’m in. The bedroom door where Kaitlyn sleeps is locked and I crashed on the couch as promised. My nightmares were more memories than anything, brought up by the revelation I’d come to last night at Dad’s. Because of my terrible dreams, I feel as if I’ve barely slept.
Once I sit up, I yawn and force myself to reply back to Caius even though I want to go back to sleep.
Me: What’s tonight?
His response is immediate.
Caius: Good. You’re awake. Theo is driving me insane. I’m sending him up.
Me: What’s tonight?
One of my pet peeves is asking a question that doesn’t receive an answer. It’s how Dad was growing up, and still is, and Caius has a tendency to do the same. With Caius, though, I feel comfortable confronting him about it. I try not to entertain why that’s so. He’s still my enemy.
Caius: We’re having a birthday dinner for your stepmother. Both our families.Nothing’s been cancelled.
I’m already shaking my head as I tap out a response. I may care about Eva, but I can’t look at my father right now.
Me: No. We can go back home as far as I’m concerned.
Caius: I wasn’t asking.
It takes everything in me not to growl in frustration, but I don’t want to alarm Kaitlyn. Tossing my phone onto the sofa cushion beside me, I try to make sense of my plans from here. Betrayal seems as though it’s an everyday occurrence for me. First, it was Bastian and Megan. Now it’s Dad and what he tried to erase. I’m at a loss to where I go from here.
You can help them…
Help who?
I know who. The girls on the yacht. Kaitlyn. People like me. I’m being awakened to a harsh world. Darkness threads through every facet of my life and I’m just now beginning to see it.
A soft knock on the door has me shaking off my thoughts as I rise to my feet. I don’t have to be everyone’s savior. I could easily walk away from the Crownes and my own family, go back to college, and pretend all this crap doesn’t exist.
But it does exist.
I can’t ignore it now that I see it.
The person on the other side of the door knocks again before I can get to it. A quick peek through the peephole reveals Theo. I open the door and let him inside.
“You don’t have one of those apps to let yourself in?” I ask him, eyebrow arched in question.
He frowns, confusion on his face. “What?”
Another one of Caius’s secrets.
“Never mind. Please tell me that’s a pumpkin-pie-flavored caffeinated something,” I say, eyeballing the drink in his hands.
He smirks. “Well, I was told rather rudely by the barista that pumpkin-flavored anything is out of season, but she was convinced after I dropped a hundred-dollar bill on the counter.”
“You bribed the Starbucks girl just for me.” I grin at him and then bat my lashes. “My hero.”
His chuckle warms me and puts me at ease. Again, I’m reminded of the fact that Theo could have gotten me to like him the good old-fashioned way by asking me out on a real date. He didn’t have to kidnap me. It’s strange how I’ve come to actually like him despite what he’s done.
“The one with the ‘P’ on the side is yours,” he says as he sets the drink carrier down. “I got apple juice for Kait.”
His features darken as though a terrible thought crosses his mind. I can only guess it has something to do with what Caius told him about Vivienne. I’ve yet to reveal to Caius what Kaitlyn told me about Gareth. I’m still digesting the horrors of that confession. Not looking to share that information just yet.
“You brought food too?” I sip my drink and let out a pleased moan. “I love you, Theo Crowne.”
He sniggers as he passes me a white bag. Inside are a variety of donuts. The pink one with sprinkles must belong to Kaitlyn. I opt for a cinnamon twist instead.
“We’re still on for dinner,” I say around a mouthful of donut. “Can I convince him otherwise?”
Theo’s humor fades. “No. Don’t think so.”
“I can’t promise I’ll be on my best behavior,” I say curtly and then shove the rest of the delicious twist into my mouth.
“When are you ever on your best behavior?”
Point taken.
“Bastian will be there.” I frown before taking another sip of the piping hot liquid goodness. “And Megan.”
Theo has the sense to look ashamed. Pink tints his cheeks and he tears his gaze from mine. “Yeah.”
“What’s the point anymore, Theo?”
He scoots closer and wraps an arm around me. “We like you with us.”
“So I’m supposed to give up my life? College? Friends and family? Because you like to hang out with me?”
His body flinches. I’m not trying to be a bitch, but I’ve not had enough coffee or sleep for playing games.
“That’s fair,” he grumbles. “I guess… Honestly, I don’t know. That’s more Dad and Caius’s thing.”
My captivity.
Right.
“They have nothing to hold over my head anymore,” I tell him boldly. “They can’t brainwash me because it doesn’t work. And I know Megan is safe.”
“You know our family secrets,” he mutters.
“So? Even if I were to tell the world about your lunatic lodge and fucked-up games you all play, who’d believe me?”
“I guess you’re right.”
I am right. There’s more to why they want to keep me around.
“Maybe Caius just really likes you,” he offers.
The laugh that bubbles out of me is bordering on hysterical.
“I’m going to stick around until I make sure she’s going to be okay,” I admit, though I hate doing it. “And then, when I decide to leave, I expect you to help me. Do I have your word?”
He doesn’t respond, so I turn to force him to look me in the eye. His eyebrows are pinched together and pain is etched in his features.
“Theo,” I murmur. “Promise me.”
Instead of a promise, he leans in and gives me something I didn’t ask for.
A kiss.
A wet, desperate, open-mouthed kiss.