34. Ophelia
OPHELIA
Cain is only out of the room long enough to allow Roman to make us all coffee. I’ve barely had a few sips when he reenters.
“It’s on,” he tells us, his huge form taking up space in the kitchen once more. “My father has agreed to send men to Verona Falls to act as security for us, and Nataniele is onboard as well. The only person we need to convince now is Ophelia’s father.”
My stomach twists in knots. I hate feeling so responsible for each of our futures. The guys should be able to return to Verona Falls, to continue their education and appease their families. I don’t want to be the one standing in the way of all that, but I know they won’t go if I’m not with them.
Cain passes me the phone. “Do you know the number to your house?”
I nod. I have memorized it. I used to try to sneak off during the odd times I left the compound, hoping to find a payphone so I could call home, but I never managed to get far enough to find one.
There were no phones on the commune land, except for the Prophet’s.
He and a couple of his henchmen had cell phones, but they never let them out of their sight.
“Just keep it simple,” Mal counsels. “Tell him you’re safe. That you’re sorry you haven’t been in touch, and you want to come see him.”
“Shall I tell him about what happened? With Carter? He needs to know.”
Mal shakes his head. “I’d save that for when you’re there. It’s not something he’d want to hear over the phone.”
“Agreed,” Cain says.
I worry about that. If he knew what happened to me there, it might soften how he is when we arrive. On the other hand, it might flip him out even more, and he could do something crazy. No, they’re right; I’ll wait until we see him. Something so serious shouldn’t be said over the phone.
With shaking hands, I dial my home number.
“Yes?” It’s my mother’s voice—sharp with worry—and my knees go weak with relief.
“Mom?” My voice catches.
She sobs into the phone. “Oh, Ophelia. My darling. Are you okay? Where are you? What happened? They said—oh, darling?—”
The next moment, my father’s deeper tones takeover. It’s clear he’s plucked the phone out of my mother’s hands.
“Ophelia. Where the hell are you?”
“I’m safe, Daddy.” The way he speaks to me reverts me to a little girl, reducing me to my childhood self.
“Where are you ?” His voice rises.
My mother speaks in the background, but I can’t tell what she’s saying.
“I’m coming home,” I tell him. “I need to talk with you and Mom. It’s urgent.”
“Damn right, it is. Are those bastards with you?”
I swallow hard. “Yes, but Daddy, it’s not what you think. They helped me. Just let us explain when we see you.”
“Fine.” The word is terse, snapped off at the end, but it’s a start. He’s not threatening to kill them, which is a good sign. “When will you be here?”
I glance at Cain, who is listening in. He mouths tonight , to me.
“This evening,” I say. “If that’s okay?”
He sucks in a ragged breath. “Of course it’s okay, Ophelia. We need you home. Where you belong. Your mother has damn well lost her mind.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “We can explain.”
“I’ll see you this evening. Tell those men to drive carefully. And, Ophelia?”
“Yes?”
“A call to let us know you were safe and sound would have been the adult thing to do. When you keep behaving this way, and putting us through hell, you must understand why we are hard on you.”
“Yes, Dad.”
I end the call and pass Cain the phone.
Malachi ducks his head to hold my gaze. “How do you think it went?”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “As expected.”
Roman grimaces. “I guess we can’t ask for more than that. When do we leave?”
“He’s expecting us this evening,” I say. “I might go rest for a bit before we set off. We have a long drive.”
“You okay, Angel?” Cain frowns at me.
I force a smile. “Yeah, it’s just… a lot.”
I leave the room, needing a few moments to process everything.
Speaking to my parents has hit me harder than I’d anticipated.
The pain and worry in my mother’s voice had been clear.
I hate that I hurt her, even if it wasn’t my fault.
My dad had been right when he’d said I could have let them know I was safe.
But I was scared to after what they did to me when they sent me to that awful place.
I’m so confused about how I feel when it comes to them.
I understand that I scared them by talking about hearing the Prophet’s voice, but he didn’t need to do that.
I am so happy I have the love of my men to protect me, especially as I prepare to face my father, but how the hell do I try to reason with the man who sent me away to that place?
I understand he thought he was doing the right thing, but he can’t have checked out the facility too well.
Did he just trust in the doctor he called out to see me to do the right thing?
He's used the man for years to work with his guards and protectors when they get injured, but you’d think he’d give a little more consideration as to who he put in charge of his only daughter’s care.
Will he listen to reason? And if he does, and we head back to Verona Falls, what then?
My men love me, but that love has given them rose-colored glasses when it comes to how they view me.
I’m not strong enough to overcome the Prophet by myself, and I’m scared once they realize that, they’ll slowly lose their feelings for me.
No one wants someone so weak that they can’t even fight a voice in their own head.
I wander listlessly around the bedroom we’ve been using, and I’m tempted to take some of the clothes with me when we leave, but that would be stealing. Still, I like the slip dress I’m wearing, so I might keep that. Maybe I should buy some more at some point.
With what, though? I don’t have much money, and that’s something else I should talk to my father about.
He pays my fees at Verona Falls, or he did, and gives me a small allowance for food and other things, but it’s not enough to let me buy nice clothes or even do things like own a car if I wanted to.
Not that I can drive. I obviously never learned while in the cult and, since I’ve been back home, I was focused on recovery before anything else.
I want independence, and I know how hypocritical it is to ask my father to give me more money so I can be more independent, but my only other option is getting a job, and I doubt he’d be happy for me to do that.
“Hey, are you okay?” Roman comes into the room and walks to the bed where he flops down, one arm above his head. He pats the covers next to him, and I join him, lying on my back, staring at the ceiling.
“I don’t want to let you all down. What if I can’t control the voice?” It’s easier to put my fears into words when he’s not looking at me.
“Ophelia, you could never let me down. And I know I speak for Cain and Mal on this, too.” He sighs and his pinky finger entwines with mine, making me smile. “We just want you to feel in control, but we shouldn’t have pushed.”
I voice my other fear, reassured by his understanding. “I’m also scared about how my dad will react to us asking to return to Verona Falls.”
He twitches his finger against mine. “We’ll deal with it, whatever comes our way. We have more than most people because we’ve got each other. You’re my family now.”
You’re my family now . His words hit me deep, and I sit with them for a moment, taking them in. “You’ll take over one day, though, won’t you? As the head of your family?”
He huffs out a long breath. “I don’t think so. No.”
“What will you do?” I turn my head to look at him, and find myself admiring his profile, with his strong jawline, angular cheekbones, and straight nose. His face has a rugged sharpness to it. I don’t think he has any idea how gorgeous he is.
“Who knows, but I don’t want them in my life anymore. I did have plans to exact my revenge on them, to tear away everything that’s important, but now I’m unsure. It doesn’t seem to matter anymore. I’ve found something more important.”
“What?” I whisper, anticipating his answer, my breath locked in my throat.
He turns his head, and his stormy green gaze, like the ocean in winter, locks with mine. “You.”
Holy crap . “Me?” I squeak.
“Getting my revenge will put a target on my back and on the back of anyone I love. That didn’t matter before. It does now.”
“How will you live?” I ask. “I’ve thought about what I will do if my father cuts me off, and I’d be lost. I’d have nothing.”
“I’d flip burgers or wait tables if it came down to it, but I have money. We all do. You don’t get to be the first son in families like ours and not have some money. I also … I, um, well, I play the stock markets. I’ve amassed a decent return.”
It’s not something I would have expected from Roman. Cain, sure, maybe Malachi as well, but Roman seems so esoteric.
It’s great they have other avenues to support themselves, but it brings my own situation into stark clarity.
How come they all have money, and I have nothing?
I think that in some ways our families in this world aren’t so very different from the commune.
The men rule things, and the women are passed around from fathers to husbands, and God forbid if you don’t get a good husband.
That applies as much to life within organized crime communities as it does to the women in the cult.
My father may have his faults, but he genuinely loves my mother. I expect in a lot of crime families the same isn’t true.
“What time do we leave?” I ask.
“We ought to try to be on the road within a couple of hours.”
I nod and turn on my side, cuddling into him, as I close my eyes and let myself drift.
The time to face the music will come soon enough; might as well enjoy this moment of peace while I can.