4. Re
CHAPTER FOUR
reunion
DRAVEN
My heart thundered like roaring hoofbeats in my ears as I walked with Jenna to the base.
She blindfolded me to keep me from figuring out the way there.
I couldn’t blame her. All the things I had done.
I kidnapped her. Tortured her. I fucked her hard and made her bleed.
I enjoyed it. Fuck, how I had enjoyed hearing her call me daddy and scream my name.
The first woman to break my resolve was leading me back to my wife.
It was ironic.
When we made it there, she finally took the blindfold off, and I was standing in a dimly lit room in what I could only assume was a bunker of some sort because of the stairs I took going down. There were no windows, so we couldn’t be anywhere that led outside.
There she was. Standing there as brilliant and beautiful as the day I saw her. The day they took her and Maddie away.
“Anne,” I said her name softly, tears instantly glistening from my eyes.
Anne’s face didn’t change. She was stoic and brave. Her eyes flicked over to Jenna, taking in her appearance.
“They tortured you?” Anne asked Jenna.
Jenna nodded. “Yes, but Draven helped me escape.”
She lied…for me. Jenna’s eyes darted back to mine, and something in them told me to stay quiet.
“You were gone for weeks. I thought you were dead,” Anne said, her dirty blond hair scrubbing her shoulders as she turned and inspected Jenna. Her hands ran over Jenna’s face before going to her shoulders. “You’re okay?”
Jenna nodded. “I’m okay. I promise.”
Anne pressed her lips together in a line. “Okay. Go get cleaned up. I’ll deal with Draven.”
“What…what are you going to do to him? Anne…he saved me.”
She was pushing it. Anne could always tell when someone was lying.
“We have some things to discuss before he can get cleaned up, too.”
That answer satisfied Jenna, and she disappeared to follow Anne’s instructions.
“Anne…I thought you were dead,” I said, choking up.
“No, I only wished I had died,” Anne said, and she turned to me. She framed my face in her hands, and her green eyes studied me fiercely. “You work for the King.”
“They told me I had to. They told me that you and Maddie would be safe if I did,” I said, my bottom lip quivering.
Anne placed a kiss on my cheek. “Twelve years passed, and you thought that they kept us alive? Why not try to save us? To fight against them?”
“I didn’t want to be the one who got you killed. Anne, I loved you.”
“I loved you once, too, Draven,” she said and backed away.
“How far did you go?”
“What?”
Anne turned and faced me after a few paces. “Jenna is marked up. Cut and bruised. The stench of cum and blood on her skin.”
I swallowed. I knew that Anne could see past any deception I would try to come up with, and I was tired of the fa?ade anyway.
“I took her. I chained her up. It was me that marked her body. At first, it was because I was told to break her down. But each day…she reminded me of you, and I…I couldn’t stop. I did fuck her. Many times. I don’t have an excuse for it, and I don’t want to give one either.”
“Honey, I heard Jenna is back,” a man interrupted, walking into the room. His hair was long and blonde, pulled back in a bun, and he had one blue eye and the other was covered with an eyepatch. “Oh. I’m interrupting.”
Anne looked at the man and smiled. “Jenna is back. Henrich, this is Draven.”
Henrich’s brows shot up as his eyes met mine. “Oh, Maddie’s dad. I thought he was with the regime.”
“He saved Jenna from the King. She brought him here because she feels that he will help our cause.”
“Maddie…she’s alive?” I nearly sobbed.
Anne’s eyes darkened. “No. Not anymore. She was killed in a raid the same night you took Jenna.”
“No.”
“Yes. The regime killed her, and you have no one to blame but yourself!” Anne lost her composure.
I hung my head, sobs wrenching hard from my chest. “Maddie.”
“Anne…” Henrich murmured. “Don’t. Don’t do that.”
“Maddie…no…”
Anne sighed. “Shut the fuck up. She’s not dead.”
My eyes rounded, and I shook my head. “What?”
“You deserved that pain you felt just now.”
“How did I deserve that? She’s my fucking daughter, Anne!” I took a step toward her, but Henrich put himself squarely in between us. “That is cruel.”
“The regime is cruel. Millions of people, Draven.”
“I fought for the regime for you and Maddie. To protect you both, because I didn’t want you to be murdered. How is that my fault!”
“You could have fought them!”
“And what? Get us all killed!”
“YES!” Anne exploded, tears flooding down her cheeks.
I shook my head. “Why would I allow them to kill my ten-year-old daughter? What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you saying that you would let them kill Maddie and me if the roles were reversed?”
“Genocide. No one is above that. Our lives are not more important because we have a connection.”
I wiped my face and shook my head. “I did what I did out of love for you and Maddie. I got lost along the way. I get that, but I…I never would jeopardize the people I loved.”
Jenna returned, interrupting us. “What’s going on?”
“Maddie is alive. When I asked you about my daughter, you lied to me,” I turned on Jenna.
Jenna shook her head, frowning. “I didn’t know that Maddie was her daughter. I thought she was just one of the leaders.”
“No one could know that Maddie was my daughter because that would have put us both in danger,” Anne said. “Henrich is the only one who knew.”
“Where is she now?” I asked, and Anne didn’t answer. “ANSWER ME, GOD DAMNIT!” I roared, and everyone flinched but Jenna.
Jenna’s hand found my arm, and I felt the calm wash over me. “She’s at a camp.”
Henrich’s eyes looked at me with sorrow. I could see that he felt nearly the same as I did. He would also do anything for love. He loved Anne, and that was okay. Someone had to.
“I want to see her.”
“No, you will not. She hasn’t thought about you in a long time. And it will jeopardize everything. You will not leave this base. I can’t have you bringing your regime buddies to kill us all.”
“Do you really think I would bring them here? To find you? To find my daughter?” I spat out in disgust. “You think so low of me. I can see why you moved on and married again.”
“Please, like you’re one to talk. You replaced me, too,” Anne spat. “Get him out of my face, Jenna,” she said, and Jenna tugged on my arm, leading me away from the room.
I disassociated because when I came back, I was standing in a bathroom, and Jenna was stripping me.
“What?”
“Come on, get in the shower and wash off,” Jenna said softly.
I listened, getting in the glass shower and turning on the water.
“I’m not dreaming, am I?”
Jenna shook her head. “No, you’re not.”
I sighed, closing my eyes and letting the hot water wash over me. The last twelve years have been a waste.