Chapter 8 - Selene #2
My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach, and I sit up straight, tense.
“Simon, do you see the man. By the tree line?”
He doesn’t look right away, not wanting to alert them to our knowledge of their presence.
“Scar on his face. The same man who attacked my warehouse. Same man from the park,” he mutters.
“He’s one of my father’s men,” I whisper quietly, knowing it will upset him that I never told him this before.
“He’s what?” he hisses under his breath.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, pushing myself up as casually as I can. “I need to get the twins.”
Simon nods, his jaw clenched.
He forces a smile onto his face.
“Who wants burgers?” he asks loudly.
The twins spin to face him. “Meee!” they both shout excitedly.
“Come on then, let’s go home, we can order takeout! I want a giant cheeseburger,” he muses as he scoops Solenne into his arms. I take hold of Arron, and we start heading out of the park. Behind us the men move.
I clear my throat, alerting Simon, who steals a glance.
“Selene, I’ll race you to the car,” he says playfully, lifting Solenne higher and tossing her over his shoulder like a sack. My daughter, laughing happily, shouts, “Run, Daddy! Mommy is fast!”
Arron is in on the game instantly, yelping for me to hurry before they get away.
When we reach the car, we strap them in quickly and hurry into the front seats.
Simon has the car started before I’ve got myself strapped in. The tires grate against the gravel parking lot, shooting stones out behind us as he takes off.
“Wow, Daddy is going fast,” Solenne says, her voice touched with worry.
“I just realized how hungry I was!” Simon laughs. “I can already taste that burger. Mm.”
Arron laughs. “You are silly.”
“I’m hungry too!” Solenne shouts, “Go faster!”
In the game, the twins don’t notice the men following us in a dark sedan. They don’t realize that Simon’s sharp turns and sudden direction changes are evasive maneuvers.
Thank goodness he loses them.
By the time we get back to the mansion, the road behind is clear and quiet.
Simon is gruffly quiet, too.
We order burgers, and the twins eat happily. Simon eats in silence with his eyes on me, full of questions.
I bathe the twins, tuck them in, and read them a story, already hyperaware of the questions I will face when I go back down to the living room.
When I walk in, Simon is sitting on the sofa with a drink in his hand. “I poured you a whisky,” he says, gesturing to the glass on the table.
“Thank you,” I say cautiously.
“Were you planning on telling me?” he asks.
I bite my lip. I could play dumb, but it would only be an insult to him.
“I wasn’t sure how to tell you,” I admit.
“Bullshit,” I snap, keeping my voice down.
“Bullshit! You just didn’t want to tell me.
I can’t take this anymore, Selene. I’ve spent five years not knowing why you left.
I thought the day I found you again, you would have the decency to at least ease the burden of that question for me.
But you haven’t. And worse than that, you’ve created more questions.
Doubt. Lies. Secrets. I don’t know who you are anymore, and every time I think I want to give you a chance, I learn something else you’ve been keeping from me. ”
He’s furious. The tendons along his neck are pulling, his eyes are dark and piercing into me. His fist is clenched while his other hand grips the glass so tightly I am waiting for it to shatter.
My heart is racing. Fear. Anger at myself. Guilt. He’s right. I kept his children a secret from him for five years. I never gave him a fair reason for why I had to leave. I left him in pain, in the dark, keeping secrets from him…
“Selene, I won’t tolerate…”
“I… I…” My voice breaks. My entire body begins to shake.
I try to hold onto my drink, but my fingers won’t obey me.
It spills to the floor, landing on the soft carpet.
Tears stream down my cheeks as every emotion overwhelms me.
I hate myself for leaving the way I did.
I hate myself for what I put him through.
I hate myself for never letting him see his children.
I want to tell him why, I want to explain it, but I don’t think he will ever forgive me.
“Selene?” He’s on his feet and moving towards me.
He reaches out and wraps his hand around my arm. “Selene, just breathe,” he says softly as he pulls me into his arms.
He holds me against his chest, his arms wrapped around me, his heart beating against my breasts. The tears turn to sobs, heavy, heart-wrenching sobs.
He sits down, pulling me onto his lap and just holding me until the crying subsides and I can breathe again.
He used to hold me like this years ago. It always made me feel like nothing could ever hurt me, no one could ever do anything to me when Simon was protecting me. I feel that now again. I feel everything I used to feel, and it terrifies me, but it also fills me with yearning and warmth.
I lean back, looking into his eyes, and all I see there is the same yearning I feel. He deserves to know the truth.
“I had no choice, Simon. Or I did… I did have a choice, and I made the best choice I could…”
“What do you mean?” he asks, stroking his hand down my hair. “Tell me everything,” he whispers, a plea.
I bite my lip for a second, then start speaking.
“When you found me in the park, I had escaped my father. I’d been running for two months already.
My father was the one who forced my decision to cut myself off from you.
I have regretted that choice over and over again over the years, but I also know it was what I had to do to keep the twins safe.
He threatened them, Simon. He said he would hurt them if I didn’t spy on you and your family.
The day he found out who I was dating, that I was with you…
He told me I had to spy. But I couldn’t do it.
And when I refused, he threatened to kill you.
I decided to tell you who my father was.
To tell you what he was trying to make me do.
I thought we could work it out together…
but then I learned I was pregnant. I was so scared.
And everything changed. I decided to run away from him.
But he found out before I could. He saw everything.
He knew everything. And he took me prisoner in his home, using the twins, threatening their lives, to keep me under his control. ”
Simon is quiet, listening closely. When I’m done speaking, he asks, “And the men you saw in the park today, they work for your father? I know them as men of one of my rival families.”
“Yes, I mean, they aren’t my father’s men directly, but he is owed so many favors over the years. He owns many people. They are working on behalf of my father. He wants me back. He wants the twins back.”