Chapter 61 Jade
Iwake alone in bed. I’m typically a light sleeper, but this pain medication really knocks me out.
After I woke up alone, my first night here, the guys stayed with me.
Unfortunately, the medication also makes me sleep much longer than I’m used to, so they were sitting around for hours, unwilling to leave me.
It was sweet, really, but after two days of it, I told them they could leave.
Just knowing they were in the house was enough for me.
Now I wish I hadn’t told them to go. I hear raised voices even before I leave the bedroom, which isn’t a good sign.
In a house this big, that has to mean someone’s arguing.
I don't even bother changing, instead rushing down the hall and then down the stairs in nothing more than sleep shorts and Kratos’s shirt.
“Leave my daughter alone.”
I stop momentarily, wondering who she could be arguing with this early in the morning. Maybe the doctor wanted to check on me?
No, she's not due back until tomorrow.
“We’re not going anywhere unless Jade tells us to.”
Kratos’s words are harsh, bordering on more of a growl than actually speaking, and I can hear just how upset he is. My feet are moving again, even before I make the conscious decision. The need to be near him feels like something’s tugging at my chest.
“What do you want? Money, power, sex?” My mother spits the words, her tone darker than I thought possible with how sweet she seemed.
I should have known better. You don’t make it as the Bratva leader's wife without being able to hold your own. The world would have chewed her up and spit her out years ago.
“We have our own money and power,” Jake scoffs, “and sex wasn’t even a factor.”
“It is a nice bonus, though,” I hear Zander mumble, and damn my slower-than-normal pace.
“Then why are you still here?” My mother snaps as I reach the bottom of the stairs, rounding the corner to find them in a standoff in the dining area. All eyes turn my way the moment I enter the room, and I can’t stop myself from looking at each of them. A silent check-in to see how they are.
They look annoyed but otherwise unharmed, and I watch some of the tension drain from them as their eyes find me.
“We're here because we love her,” Spencer says, making my head snap in his direction.
He’s hinted at his feelings in the past, but he’d never come right out and said them. Hearing him say them now pulls a stupid grin to my face that isn’t at all appropriate for this situation, but I can’t help it.
“That’s ridiculous. You can’t all love her.
” My mother says, ruining the moment. I turn to look at her and find her focus on the guys instead of me.
I don’t think she meant her words to hurt me.
She just doesn’t understand, but they do, regardless of what she intended.
I feel them settle in my stomach like a weight. She’s right; it is ridiculous.
Who could love a monster?
“Why is that ridiculous?” Zander asks, pushing up off the chair he’d been lazily reclining in. His face set in a serious look that’s rare for him.
“I’m pretty sure you met her, and even if you didn’t get the full story yet, it’s pretty obvious how amazing she is.
How could we not love her?” he asks as if it’s stupid, something he couldn’t even comprehend.
My mother opens her mouth to answer him, but quickly snaps it shut again a moment later. She shakes her head with a sigh.
“That’s not what I meant,” she says finally, sounding defeated.
“Then what did you mean, Mother?” I’m unable to hide the hurt in my words, and honestly, I don’t even try.
“Jade, dear…” Her voice is soft as she steps toward me, but I just as quickly take one back, needing to keep a distance between us.
Her lips turn down as she watches me, but I can't find it in myself to feel bad right now.
“I’ve seen the way you look at them, all of them.” She gestures around the room as if I’m unaware of who she’s talking about. “I just don’t want to see you hurt.”
Her words are quiet, nothing more than a whisper, but I hear the emotion in them, and I know she's being sincere.
“We would never hurt her,” Rick says, his voice hard, taking her words as a personal attack. But I see the pain in her eyes.
“You won’t have a choice. Making her choose will do that all on its own.”
Understanding seems to dawn on all of us at the same time, and I can't help but chuckle, which seems to only further confuse her.
“There won’t be any choosing,” Kratos says, and my mother's eyes widen. She doesn’t get the chance to respond, though, before my father walks in, and somehow, this doesn’t feel as funny anymore.
“There won’t be any heartbreaking, either,” he says, his voice booming around the room, making everyone turn to him. “I’d hate to have to call in favors over in the States just to handle you, boys.” His words sound teasing, but his face is dead serious.
“No, sir. Besides, I doubt that would be necessary. She can handle us just fine,” Jake says, making my father laugh.
“That she can.”
“And if she won’t, there are always other ways.”
Leo’s voice calls down from the top of the stairs, Dom leaning on him for support.
“Why would you not take the elevator?” I call before I can stop myself.
“Aw, look, Jade cares about you now?” Leo teases as they slowly make their way down. “A guy can’t go away for a few days without missing all the fun.”
I wait for them to reach the bottom, glaring at him, but just like always, it doesn’t seem to bother him at all.
Asshole.
“Come, we have much to discuss.”
With a wave to the table, everyone begins taking their seats.
The tension was high when I first entered the room, but now it’s almost nonexistent.
The guys drop kisses on my head, cheek, and temple as they move around.
Somehow, I end up being shuffled toward my parents.
Rick pulls my chair out and pushes me in, pressing a kiss on the top of my head before he disappears into the kitchen to start cooking.
It’s not until after he’s gone that I realize I’ve been seated between my mother and Kratos, across from Leo.
The guys take up the whole right side of the table, while my family sits to the left.
It should feel strange, and in a way, I guess it does, but something about it also feels right.
Now, I just have to hope they still want this once they know everything.
We talk all day. Like, actually, all day.
The whole time, I wait, expecting them to finally say it’s too much every time I have to explain something. But they never do.
My mother cries a few times, reaching out to squeeze my hand. The first time she did it, I almost pulled away, but now, as she holds my hand while I recite what happened with Ivan, I begin to find comfort in it.
Father isn’t so big on the tears, though. Instead, he often looks full of rage. As if he’s ready to go out and kill every person he can, whoever thought to touch me, but he can’t. I’ve handled most of them, and the rest are mine to deal with.
By the time I finish, we’re all on our third or maybe fourth helping of coffee since we ate dinner. Except for Spencer, who’s had so many cups, he might as well have drunk an entire pot to himself.
I can’t bring myself to look at them; my eyes fixated on the table. I don’t want to see the look in their eyes. The confirmation that I am, in fact, a monster, that I’m not what they wanted as a daughter.
A chair scratches across the ground as someone pushes away from the table. A moment later, my mother untangles her fingers from mine.
This is it. At least I’ll still have the guys. They love me even as a monster; hell, maybe even more because I am.
My mother’s smaller frame leans into me as her arms wrap around me, and my breath catches in my throat.
My heart almost stops completely when my father drapes himself over my other side, his arms wrapping around both of us.
I hadn’t even heard Kratos move, but he must have.
Dom reaches across the table and grabs my hand, and all I can do is stare at our almost perfectly matched skin tone against the dark table.
My eyes blur, and I try to push back the tears.
It’s just a hug.
But it’s not, and I know that. This is the family I always wanted, that I dreamed about when I was just a girl, and while they didn’t save me from being a monster, they seem to love me, anyway.
“We’re sorry for everything you had to go through alone,” Mother says, her words thick with emotion that has me squeezing my eyes closed against my own.
“But you're not alone anymore, and you never will be again,” Dom adds, squeezing my hand.
“We are so proud of you, принцесса,” Father whispers, and damn it.
A sob forces its way out even as I fight against it. Tears run down my face, and something inside of me feels like it’s breaking but also putting itself back together.
I’m home. I’m loved. I’m enough.
Broken pieces and all.