Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Levi
Levi had thought he was prepared. He’d told himself, whatever it is, they can handle it. They could help her through it. But the second the words left Sydney’s mouth, his heart stopped.
“When I was a baby, my mom kidnapped me from my dad and ran to South Africa with me.”
He couldn’t even blink, couldn’t breathe for a beat.
It wasn’t what he’d expected. Not at all.
His gut clenched, and instinct warred inside him.
Part of him was desperate to reach for her, to pull her into his arms, to shield her from every ounce of pain.
But he could see the tight set of her shoulders, the way she kept her gaze down on the coloring page like it was a lifeline.
Sydney wasn’t ready for that kind of touch.
Not yet. She needed to get her story out, and as hard as it might be for him to do it, he would have to let her.
So he did the next best thing. Without looking away from her, he reached for Roland’s hand.
Clasped it tight enough that Roland turned his palm up and squeezed back.
As always, his partner was his silent anchor, grounding him so he could stay still, stay quiet, and give their girl what she needed. For them to just listen.
And Sydney talked. Her voice soft, trembling, but steadying with each word.
“My mom was from South Africa. She came here on a work visa, met my dad.” Her voice was so small, so broken, it nearly tore Levi in half.
“She fell in love, I guess. Or maybe it was just that she got pregnant and was too scared to go back home with a baby, so they got married. In the end though, regardless if she fell in love or if it was for convenience, my dad wasn’t who she thought he was.
He was… he was cruel. Manipulative. Mean in ways that don’t only leave bruises you can see.
And when I was still just a baby, she’d had enough and ran.
Took me and went back to her home country. ”
Levi’s jaw ached from how tightly he clenched it. He hated the thought of anyone hurting her. Even back then, when she was just a baby. He felt Roland’s thumb rub soothingly over the back of his hand, reminding him to breathe.
She kept her attention on the picture in front of her, and he sent a silent thanks to Roland for thinking of that small mercy. A tiny distraction for her while she bared her soul to us.
“He tried to find us, my dad did. For years. South Africa isn’t super big, but it’s big enough for us to have moved around enough to make it hard on him. But it wasn’t enough. When I was in my late teens… he finally found us.”
At this, she turned her gaze to us, her large eyes shimmering with unshed tears and the devastation Levi saw there nearly undid him. Then she looked back down, clutching the crayon in her hand so tightly that he was surprised it didn’t break in half.
Then... the whispered words destroyed Levi. “He killed my mom. For running. For taking me. I—” Her voice cracked, and she sniffed hard. “I got away. Barely. But she… she didn’t.”
Levi swallowed hard, his throat tight. The urge to hold her, to do something, was nearly unbearable. But he stayed where he was, for her, but he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to control the urge.
“They caught him. He’s still in prison back home.
I don’t even know if he thinks about me.
I don’t care. But the worst part?” She gave a shaky laugh, bitter and small.
“The entire country knew what happened. The story was everywhere. I hated it. I hated being that girl. The one with the monster for a father. After that, I bounced around foster homes until I finished school, and then I ran too. Hid. Tried to be normal.”
She finally looked up then, eyes glassy with unshed tears, searching their faces for something. Maybe disgust. Maybe pity. Levi hoped to God she didn’t find it.
“Well, that’s it,” she whispered and shrugged. “That’s what you need to know. I’m dirty. Contaminated. I have a dad who not only abused his wife, but hunted her down like an animal and killed her. That’s the blood I have running through my veins.”
That was it. Enough. Levi felt his temper snap. Not at her, but at those words. Those lies she’d been telling herself for too long.
He let go of Roland’s hand, sat forward, his voice low but firm, the kind that brooked no argument.
“Little miss, you listen to me right now.” His tone sharpened, a warning in it. “If you ever talk about yourself like that again, I will put you over my knee and remind you just who you belong to and how precious you are. Do you understand me?”
Sydney’s eyes went wide, her breath hitching, but she didn’t look scared. Just… stunned. Like no one had ever dared scold her for hurting herself like this before.
Roland leaned in too, his voice gentler but no less certain. “Sydney, sweetheart, you aren’t your father’s sins. You never were. You’re you. Brave. Strong. Sweet as can be. And no matter what your dad did, nothing could change that. Not ever.”
Levi nodded, his heart aching with how much he wanted to ease her pain. “We don’t give a damn what your dad did. We care about you. And what we see? Is an amazing, kind, smart woman who’s fought like hell to get where she is. Who’s worth everything, and then some.”
Her lip trembled, and for a second, he thought she might finally let the tears fall. But instead she whispered, so small he almost didn’t catch it, “Maybe that’s why Greg… why he wanted me. Maybe he could tell. Maybe he could see how dirty I am underneath.”
Well, fuck a fucking duck.
That broke him.
Levi shook his head, fierce now, reaching out at last to take her hand, because he couldn’t not. His big palm engulfed hers, warm and steady and he pulled her into his lap, wrapping himself around her, wishing he could protect her from her own dark thoughts.
“No, baby. No,” he whispered into her hair as he rocked her. “Greg picked you because he’s a sick bastard who goes after good people, people with big hearts. You weren’t marked for him. You weren’t asking for him. That’s not on you. That’s on him. You hear me?”
Roland’s arm came around her then too, gentle but sure, pulling them both closer. “Greg doesn’t get to define you, just like your father doesn’t. Only you do.”
And at last, Sydney let the tears come, leaning into them both like she was too tired to hold herself up anymore. And Levi held on, promising silently that he wouldn’t let go. Not now. Not ever.