Chapter 8 #2
The storm in Choyce's eyes, hate tangled in love, started to thin. Her shoulders sagged as the fight drained out of her. For the first time since the day she was thrown in the van, I saw her. Not the woman hardened by survival, but the little sister I raised and loved.
"Choyce," I whispered, stepping closer, lifting my hand before I chickened out.
My fingers brushed under her eyes, wiping away tears I should've wiped moments before.
"All you had to do was ask," I told her.
"I don't care how much time has passed. You're my sister, and there's nothing… nothing I wouldn't do for you."
Her lips shook as her words broke free, trembling with all the fear she carried.
"I… I didn't think you cared anymore. You had River and—"
"I love River," I interrupted, "but my love for her doesn't take anything away from my love for you. There was never a competition."
Choyce swallowed, looking away as if the truth were too hard to hear.
"It was hard living with Lucian and marrying Talon. I didn't have anyone to protect me how you did."
My stomach dropped. "Lucian didn't touch—"
"No," she rushed, cutting me off, "not in that way.
Talon didn't touch me until I turned eighteen, but Lucian beat me.
Every time Talon stayed out all night with his lovers, Lucian took it out on me and Chance…
" She weakly laughed. "Chance didn't care.
Sometimes he watched, and other times he joined in. "
The room went silent, weighted with everything she'd survived and everything I hadn't been there to stop.
"I can't change what happened, but I can change how we deal with each other from this moment on. I don't know if we'll ever be as close as we were, but I want you in my life. I want to know my niece, and I want you to know yours."
Choyce threw her arms around me, pulling me into a hug, and I squeezed her back as my eyes flooded with tears.
"Aw, isn't this just a sight for sore eyes?" Emersyn hummed. "For a second, I thought I was gonna have to come in here, sit y'all asses down, and preach about the importance of family."
I laughed, pulling out of Choyce's embrace. "We're fine, right, Choyce?"
It took her a second to respond, but when she did, a smile brightened her face.
"We're good but let me go to the bathroom before the food gets here."
Choyce stepped away, and I took my seat back on the couch. My eyes drifted over to Emersyn. She looked at me like everything was fine, but I caught the skepticism lingering in her eyes.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yup, I just have a question."
"Ask away." I shrugged.
"Are you really trying to mend things with Choyce, or is this some kind of payback?"
"Bit—"
"Let's not do that," she quipped. "I'm not being malicious, but I have to ask."
"And just why do you have to ask?"
"Choyce can be naive. I don't know much about what she went through living with Lucian, but I understand the mental games he plays. He'll break you then build you up in his image, and if you're not in the right mental space, it can eat you alive."
"You think he did that to her?"
"I think she did it to herself. She went to live with him at what age?"
"Twelve," I answered.
"So Choyce's formative years were spent amongst men who didn't give a damn about her.
They overlooked her and disregarded her until she found the strength to stand up for herself.
She survived without support or love and turned herself into a person she can't even recognize.
The small part of her old self she holds onto is tied to you.
So, when you iced her out, it was hard for her to comprehend because in her mind, she did what you would've done in that situation.
She moved smartly, militantly, and did what none of the men around her expected her to do.
Now she's caught between two worlds, two personalities, trying to figure out her place, all the while being a mother.
If none of that is enough, she craves love and protection from a man who reserves both for a woman who happens to be one of your best friends. Do you see what I'm getting at?"
Everything Emersyn said hit like a ton of bricks because none of it was expected.
"All I'm asking is that if you didn't mean any of what you said, then leave now and I'll tell Choyce you were trying to get her back for what she did to you."
"Why do you care so much? I thought Crown was your only friend."
"Up until today, he was, but I see a lot of myself in Choyce, and because of that, I believe she's destined for great things."
"And I'm somehow going to mess that up?"
"No, but you can stifle it. There's going to be a time when you have to choose between Navy and Choyce. I can't tell you who to choose, but I will say your choice will make or break your sister. Just like you, she wants to be chosen and loved for who she is."
Emersyn didn't give me a chance to respond. She walked out of the living room just seconds before the doorbell rang. By the time she came back, Choyce was heading into the living room with another bottle of wine and an extra glass.
"You want?" She gestured toward the wine.
"More like I need," I joked, forcing a smile.
The question Emersyn planted didn't fade as the wine's sweetness coated my tongue. If the day ever came for me to make a choice, the price would be someone I loved, and I wasn't sure which loss would mess me up more.