Chapter 16 - Selene
Our holiday is going so perfectly, I swear it feels like I am living in a movie.
This morning, we spent a few hours swimming with dolphins, and Solenne lost her mind with happiness when she got to hold onto the fin of one of them and have it pull her around.
And when we got back, as we were getting off the boat, Arron found a glass bottle, an old-looking bottle sealed with a cork and red wax.
And inside it was a treasure map. The map was made so beautifully, with such care and artistry, that it almost made me cry.
The man who puts in this much effort for my children is a man I want to keep close to my heart.
Simon helped Arron read the map, and together they tracked down and dug up the treasure.
It was buried pretty deep to be authentic.
When Arron helped Simon lift the real-looking treasure chest from the hole they had dug, they discovered it was filled with an emerald pendant, golden coins, and an abundance of toys…
He immediately gave me the emerald necklace.
It was obvious Simon had planned that part for me.
The green of the stone is a perfect match for the green of my eyes.
“Why are their toys in a pirate treasure box?” Arron asks, thrilled to find them, but not understanding how they got there.
“What? You don’t think kids can be pirates?” Simon says in shock. “I think this pirate was about your age. But it looks like this creature was buried years ago, so he would be older now.”
“What if he comes to look for his treasure!” Arron blurts out, suddenly worried.
“There is no way he can look for his treasure. You have the map. It’s pirate law. Whoever has the map, whoever finds the truer… it belongs to them now.”
“Really? This is my treasure now. For real?”
“For real,” Simon nods firmly.
I lean close to Simon and whisper, “Are those real gold coins?”
Simon grins and nods. “Of course they are.”
I shake my head. “You are completely and utter crazy,” I laugh. “You’d better help him put them somewhere safe.”
Arron insists on dividing the treasure with his co-pirate, Solenne. Then Simon helps them pack the coins away so that he can put them in the safe when we get home.
After all the excitement of the day, the twins are exhausted. We all are. But it’s the kind of exhaustion that still has you smiling from ear to ear while your heart sings happily and your skin holds the heat of the sun like a power source.
“I’m going to see if I can get the twins down for a nap,” Simon says, leaning over me where I’m lying on the deck reading.
“Alright, shout if you need help,” I reply.
“No, you relax. I’ll read to them a bit and probably fall asleep with them,” he chuckles.
“I promise not to wake you,” I grin.
He kisses me before wandering inside, calling the twins names.
I set my book down and sigh happily, letting my gaze wander over our private beach, the tall palm trees with their bright green leaves lining the property, and the crystal-clear blue water gently lapping the white shore.
Then something catches my eye in the tree line, and my heart jumps.
Two figures, standing in the shadows. I squint, pulling my sunglasses down and sitting up in the sun lounger.
It must be security.
But it isn’t.
And even from here, I can recognize the movements, the subtle gestures, the profile… of my twin brothers.
Yaroslav and Yakov. Older than me, but the youngest of my brothers.
The twins. They were never my father’s favorites.
He adored his oldest son and his second oldest. He spent more time grooming Vasya and Bogdan than he spent grooming the twins.
But still, the twins obey him. They always have.
Through fear or respect, I will never understand.
My entire body has tensed. My muscles are rigid as I consider my options.
If the twins are here, then my father has found us. Even on vacation, we weren’t as safe as we thought we were.
I glance back towards the house. It’s peaceful behind me. Whatever I do now, I don’t want to jeopardize my children’s safety. But I also don’t want to alert Simon’s guards and have them kill my brothers.
I bite my lip, running scenarios in my mind. Finally, I rise to my feet, wrapping the soft silk kimono around my body, and stroll casually into the sand as though I am doing nothing more than going for a walk on the beach.
I reach the water’s edge, letting it lap against my feet, then turn towards the trees. My brothers haven’t moved. They have been watching me, though.
I approach them with anxiety knotted in my stomach as I slip between the palms and into the shadows where they are.
“What are you doing here?” I blurt out.
“We got intel that you were here with the Volkov. We had to come find you,” Yaroslav says.
“Why?” I insist, eyeing them closely, ready to run if I need to.
“Because he’s using you, Selene! He’s using you, and he’s brainwashed you into thinking otherwise. We want you to come home with us, where it’s safe,” Yakov says sternly.
“Safe?” I mutter in disbelief. “Did father send you?”
“He doesn’t know we’re here. We risked a lot coming out here.”
I study Yaroslav’s expression. Nothing on his face indicates that he’s lying to me, but still, how can I trust him?
“I’m not going back, ever.” I keep my words careful and polite. But I make sure that my tone is firm.
“You have to. Don’t you understand, we want what’s best for you,” Yaroslav says, almost pleading.
I shake my head, closing my eyes for a moment. “How can you say that to me?” I ask, my throat closing over the words. “How can you say you want the best for me after you watched our father torture me for five years?”
It’s difficult to keep the accusation from my voice. It’s difficult to keep the emotions under control.
Yakov scoffs. “He didn’t torture you, Selene. Don’t be ridiculous. He kept you safe.”
My heart sinks. “That’s what you had to tell yourself to ease your own guilt.
You were there. You saw exactly what he did.
You saw the strike and the bruises. You heard the way he spoke to me.
You saw me begging for a moment outside the house with my children.
You heard me begging him not to shout at them, to let them be kids.
You saw me break, day after day, wasting away, losing myself…
don’t you dare tell me he didn’t torture me. Don’t you fucking dare.”
My anger surprises me as much as it surprises them.
Both of the twins glance at each other. I can see it on their faces. I can see the guilt they carry. I can see that they know exactly what I’m talking about.
“But that’s why we came here in secret. This isn’t about father.
We want you to be safe. We want you back.
We… we made a mistake in the past, but this time we want to make it right.
” Yaroslav‘s voice is flooded with remorse. It breaks my heart because I want to believe them. I want to trust that they truly want what’s best for me.
But I simply can’t. I know the extent of my father’s control over my brothers.
I will not risk the lives of my children on their words.
I shake my head, taking a step back. “If you truly want what’s best for me, then you need to leave.
Simon is their father. He is treating me with kindness and taking care of me in a way that my father never did.
He is a good man, and I trust him. With my life and with the children’s.
” And as soon as I get back to the beach house, I will tell him everything so that we can decide what it means together.
Yaroslav sighs heavily. Yakov clenches and unclenches his jaw.
“We only want to help,” Yakov says quietly.
“You can help by leaving. And you can help by not telling Father where we are.”
They both nod, and I feel a flicker of relief.
“Alright, little sister. We’ll go. But if we’re right, if he is using you… If you need help, you have to call us, okay?”
“Ok. I promise,” I say firmly. I’m eager to get back to Simon.
My brothers take a step back, fading more into the shadows.
I step out of the shadows and onto the beach, walking back to the water, splashing my feet, giving them time to leave, then heading back up to the beach house.
Simon is waiting for me on the deck.
And he looks furious.
The coldness in his eyes is like a shard of ice piercing my heart.
“Simon?” I mutter his name, nervous, unsure what he saw. “I need to talk to you,” I say carefully.
He laughs bitterly. “I imagine you need to talk to me only because you know you’ve been caught,” he snaps.
“Caught? No… I was just…”
“You were just sneaking back from a secret meeting you had with your brothers. Did you think the guards weren’t watching? Are you really that blind?”
“No, I figured they would be watching, but I didn’t want to call them for help because they would have killed…”
“They would have taken down the threat, yes. Instead, you walked right into the threat and didn’t hesitate to do so. What were you doing, Selene? Feeding them information? How many times has this happened since you moved in with me?”
“What?” I gasp in horror, realizing what he thinks happened. “No, Simon, you have it all wrong. I wanted to come right back here and tell you that I’d seen them. I didn’t even plan to hide this from you. I went to talk to them because I thought…”
“You didn’t think, though. That’s the problem.
I’ve been going out of my way to keep you safe—to keep our children safe—from your family.
But you walk straight to them! It can only mean one thing!
Maybe two! Either you are working with them…
or you are so naive and careless that you don’t give a shit about everything going on around you, or what happens to you or the twins! ”
“Stop shouting at me,” I yelp, scrunching my nose, feeling the hurt spread through my chest at his harsh words.
He laughs again, more bitterness, his eyes cold and numb as he stares at me.
Simon shakes his head. I lift my hand to reach for him, desperate to make him understand, but he steps back, sneering at me.
“Pack your things. We are leaving first thing in the morning. This holiday was a bad idea.”
“Simon, wait, no, please don’t do this, please talk to me.”
He glares at me in anger. “And what would we talk about? Would you tell me lies or would you tell the truth? And how would I be able to know which is which because apparently your cunning and deception is as skilled as your father’s.”
His words cut into my heart like a blade. “I’m nothing like him,” I murmur in shock.
Simon says nothing, but his expression says everything.
Tears stream down my face as he turns and walks away from me.
He doesn’t sleep in our bed that night. He sleeps on the sofa, his eyes on the doors, his security team on high alert.
I don’t sleep either. I pack our things, leaving the bags by the door, ready to leave this beautiful place far too early.
The twins are crying, upset that we can’t stay, and I hate him for that. Why dangle this dream experience in front of their faces only to snatch it away? I truly hate him for doing that to them.
But maybe this is my fault, not his. Maybe I really did put us all in danger. Maybe I was stupid and reactive and made a rash decision when I trusted my brothers enough to approach them alone.
It feels like I am holding the weight of the world on my shoulders when we fly back home. The entire family is sullen and quiet. Arron is clutching his treasure box on the seat next to him like it’s the last remnant of happiness he will ever experience.
Maybe I really did make a mistake.
But honestly, I thought Simon trusted me more than he did. I thought we had built something. I thought I could come back and tell him what happened, and he would be happy that I shared the information. He didn’t even give me a chance. The trust was shattered before I said a word to him.
Was it really that fragile to begin with? Was this the reason I should never have let myself start feeling for him again? Have I destroyed everything? … But apparently, there was so little to destroy.