Chapter 16 - Blair #2
Our second night on holiday, and I’ve forgotten about the things that woman said to me at the gala.
I’m relaxed, body, mind, and soul, and enjoying every moment of being with Simon.
He’s taken me to all his favorite places, including a bar where everything is served in coconut shells and a little beach shack where a lady handmakes colorful dresses in soft, flowing fabrics.
We walk through the little villages and avoid the commercial areas, savoring the quiet and the beauty of this place.
Simon is so relaxed out here, and so attentive and sweet, that I can’t help but forget about my insecurities, too.
We go snorkeling and have dinner on the beach, eating fish caught in the ocean and cooked on an open flame.
Simon stretches his legs out in front of himself and leans back in the wooden beach chair, looking up at the stars. “No storm tonight,” he says thoughtfully.
“It’s so quiet. All I can hear is the ocean,” I say, looking up at the stars too.
“The ocean and the crackle of the fire. It’s how life should be. No city noises and chaos,” he replies.
I smile, realizing how happy my heart is in this moment.
“Thank you for this, Simon. It’s been really amazing. You were right. We did need a reset.”
“I’m really glad that you’ve enjoyed yourself. Maybe we should sell everything in Miami and move out here,” he muses.
“When I was little, I always daydreamed about owning a cottage in the forest,” I laugh quietly.
“What about a little villa on the beach?” he asks.
“I think it would work just as well,” I say.
“When I was little, life was all about learning to stay safe and be vigilant. All my life has been around the bratva and trying not only to survive in that world but to thrive in it,” he says.
“Your family seems to have done really well at that,” I reply. “Thriving, I mean.”
“We did. I think it’s because we stuck together. A lot of Bratva families don’t make it this far because the greed seeps in like a virus. That taste for power… it can become so deadly it rips families apart. We never let that happen. Not one of us would choose money over family.”
“It must be amazing to have that kind of trust in your own family,” I say quietly.
“You, uh, you left your parents when you were quite young. Did something happen?” he asks, his eyes drifting onto me, filled with quiet curiosity.
I sigh. This is something I haven’t spoken about for years. In fact, since I left, I haven’t told anyone. I wanted to walk away from everything and forget that any of it had happened.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about,” he says, noticing my hesitation.
“No, it’s fine. Maybe I need to talk about it. Maybe it’s time,” I whisper.
“When I was younger, my mother remarried. My stepfather wasn’t the greatest man. I never got on with him, but he was good to my mom, so it didn’t matter. He moved into our home with his son. The son, Jarrod, was five years older than me and… he creeped me out.”
“What do you mean?” he asks after I pause for too long.
“He, um, he would make an effort to accidentally walk in on me while I was showering or changing. That’s how it started.
Then, later, it escalated to him making blatant sexual advances toward me.
I kept saying no. I thought I was making it as clear as day that I didn’t want anything like that, but he wouldn’t stop. ”
Simon growls, a low, dangerous sound of disapproval.
“One day, he really pushed too far, and I got so angry I screamed at him. I was scared. I was young. I didn’t really know how to handle it.
Anyway, he backed off, but I still went to talk to my stepfather for help.
But he brushed it off. he made it sound like I was overreacting and being a dramatic girl.
My mother shared his point of view. I think it was easier to make light of it than to deal with it.
It hurt a lot to not have support from the people I called family. ”
“What happened after that?” Simon asks gruffly. “Did your stepbrother stop?”
“No. Because there were no consequences, he tried harder until one day I told him that if he ever tried to touch me again, I would go to the police. So, he stopped.”
“That’s good, well done. That was very brave of you,” he says.
“Unfortunately, that’s not where the story ends,” I sigh.
“My stepbrother was furious. I didn’t know it, but he set up a hidden video camera in my room.
He sent naked photos of me to everyone in the town we lived in.
Everyone. People got the wrong idea about me.
Guys started hitting on me, thinking I was easy and that they could get what they wanted from me.
It wouldn’t stop. It got worse and worse, and still no one stood up for me.
My stepbrother’s friends were the worst. They must have known what he did, but they still took advantage of the situation and hounded me.
The guys in that town treated me like I was a toy, coming on so strong that it terrified me.
So I left before anything worse could happen because I felt in danger.
Like someone was going to take it too far.
I didn’t feel like I had any other choice. ”
Simon is deathly quiet at the end of my story, and for a moment, I wonder if he had been listening. I glance across at his face, and it’s so dangerously dark from anger that it looks as though he’s struggling to control himself.
“Simon?” I whisper nervously. “It was a long time ago.”
“What is your stepbrother’s name?” he asks, his voice tight.
“It was a really long time ago, and I haven’t spoken a word to him or my stepfather since the day I left. They are in the past. They don’t matter anymore,” I tell him.
“Of course it matters. He should never be allowed to get away with what he did to you!” Simon growls.
I reach over and take his hand, shaking my head. Simon looks down in surprise at my hand on his, my fingers threaded through his.
“In time, I will forget they even exist,” I smile. “I made a new life for myself in the city. They really mean nothing to me now,” I reassure him.
He sighs and places his other hand over both of our hands.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you, Blair. You never deserved that. I will never let anything like that happen to you again.” He reaches over and pulls my beach chair closer to his and wraps his arm around me.
I smile and lean into him, resting my head on his shoulder, and we watch the stars in peaceful silence.
I feel lighter after sharing my story. Lighter because he didn’t judge me, and he gave me a safe place to speak.
I can leave all of that in the past. I can forget all about it.
I hope. I hope that one day I won’t even remember my stepbrother’s name.