Chapter Sixty-five — Trinity
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
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TRINITY
Istepped back against the bathroom door to put some distance between us. “What do you want, Val?”
“I don’t know what shit it is that you’re pulling, faking this scent match so you can infiltrate our lives more, but it’s not going to work.”
“Are you fucking serious right now?”
“Very.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved past her into the kitchen.
“You can’t fake a scent match. I don’t know if you have the direct line to the universe or something, but take it up with biology.
And believe me, I don’t care about you enough to ‘infiltrate your life.’ In fact, I do everything I can to stay out of it. ”
“So you just happened to scent match with the son of your father’s fiancée? Which means that not only will they be here all the time, but you’ll be here all the time? I thought I made myself clear when you moved out that you weren’t welcome and to minimize your time here as much as possible.”
I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge to hide my shaking. History and instinct told me to make myself smaller and quieter. To make her happy so she would leave me alone. But I couldn’t do that anymore. My Alphas had my back, and it had gone on long enough.
My voice still shook. “And I have done that.” Turning my neck, I gestured to the visible bite. “I’m not sure why you think you’re important enough for me to bond with a pack just to spite you, but you’re not. You mean nothing to me.”
The water flew everywhere as she snatched the bottle and threw it in the sink. The flash of light followed by pain made me dizzy and sent me right back to those moments on the dock, full of mortal fear. She hit me. She almost never hit me before, and now…
I couldn’t quite see. My mind confused images of where I was with where I’d been. Terror and confusion and—
Val was shoved forcefully away from me at the same time I was pulled back, straight into Logan’s chest. “Don’t you fucking touch her. You’re never going to touch her again, do you understand?”
Everyone cascaded into the kitchen in a wave. Paige went straight to Val, checking her, and Matt wasn’t far behind. Dad and Liz stood in the doorway, looking confused. The rest of the guys arranged themselves around me like a shield.
“What’s going on?” Dad asked.
“This was what Trinity was going to speak to you about. There’s more to tell you than her being our Omega,” Theo said.
Val froze. “No, there’s not.”
Logan subtly wrapped his arms around me, keeping me upright. Grounding me. Fury laced all our bonds, but none of it was aimed at me. And it had never felt so good to have someone back me up.
Their touch and their protection brought me back enough to focus on the present. And everyone was staring at me. Waiting.
I thought when this moment came that I would panic, feel sick, and possibly throw up before I could get any words out. Instead, I felt oddly calm. Because they were with me. No matter what happened, we were leaving this place and going home together.
But the kitchen was not the venue I’d imagined for this conversation.
“Bastian,” Dad said. “Please explain to me why you have your hands on a member of my pack?”
My Alpha had his hand on Val’s shoulder, keeping her against the counter so she couldn’t try to leave the room or come at me.
My father was stiff and standing tall. As tall as he could. Every one of my Alphas towered over him. Bastian snorted a laugh and looked at him. “Because she put hands on your daughter, and it’s not the first time.”
“What a horrible thing to say,” Val protested with a gasp. “You don’t know me.”
“We know enough. And none of it is good.” Brooks also looked at my father. “Your pack isn’t who you think they are, sir.”
Dad looked at me, then at Val. “What is he talking about?”
“Nothing.” The word came out of Matt like a rocket. “He’s not talking about shit. Just more lies about us from your daughter. I’m sure she’s already told you enough.”
All the air disappeared from the room.
Val closed her eyes slowly, realizing how badly he’d just fucked up. Paige fidgeted, biting her lip and crossing her arms. She never did anything to me, but she let it happen. She did nothing to intervene. She watched.
The energy around Dad changed. He suddenly seemed a little taller and a little colder. “More lies? What lies do you think Trinity has told me about you? Because Trinity rarely, if ever, speaks to me about the three of you.” He glanced at me. “Now I’m wondering why that is.”
My throat began to close. So much for calm.
It was disappearing fast. I didn’t know if I could say it.
How many times had I imagined telling him everything and letting it all pour out in a wave?
Every day, back when I thought it might make a difference.
The fantasy of releasing every pain and secret felt gorgeous and cathartic, and now that I was here, every reason why I’d never told him rose up and blocked the words.
Frustration burned beneath my skin.
“Trinity,” Logan said quietly. “Are you having trouble speaking right now?”
I nodded.
Dad’s eyebrows rose. “Why?”
“Would you like us to help?” Logan asked, ignoring him.
“Yes.” I managed the single word, melting into relief.
Brooks cleared his throat. “Your pack has been emotionally, mentally, verbally, and sometimes physically abusing Trinity since she was eight years old.”
Liz sucked in a breath, her eyes going wide. “Is that true?” The question was directed at me.
It felt like it took every piece of strength I’d ever gathered to speak again. “Yes.”
“See?” Matt hissed. “Lies.”
“Cecil,” Aiden said. “Why don’t you follow us and see for yourself?
” He strode out of the kitchen, and we followed.
Logan scooped me up because my legs shook too much for me to move quickly.
I didn’t bother to wonder how Aiden knew where he was going.
Knowing him, he’d looked up the floor plans of the house as soon as I’d told them all the truth.
Val burst out of the kitchen as soon as she saw where Aiden was leading him. She held out her hands and blocked the stairs. “No. You agreed. That wing is ours.”
“I did. I never said I wouldn’t step foot in it. Move, Val.”
“I will not.”
Never in my life had I heard my father’s voice sound like this. Low and nearly feral. “I have no idea what the fuck is going on, Valerie, but this isn’t the way to convince me that it’s nothing. Move.”
Aiden simply picked her up and set her back down a few feet away. She tried to hit him, but Aiden was a rock. “The eastern guest room.” Dad didn’t wait for an invitation. He was halfway up the stairs before the rest of us started moving.
My body tightened out of instinct and memory. It was okay. I wasn’t going into the closet. I’d never have to go into it again, or even come back to this house if I didn’t want to, and it gave me just enough space to breathe.
Ahead of us, Dad shoved the door to the guest room open and went in. He stood staring at the closet. It was closed and locked, but pretty clearly not normal. Not with a lock that big and a door that looked like it belonged in a bank vault.
“What’s the code?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. Not that it would have helped me if I did. You couldn’t enter the code from the inside.
He pushed to the door and yelled past the rest of us. “One of the three of you better get the fuck up here and tell me this code, I swear to god.”
“I’m sure I could find something to break it,” Aiden said mildly. “Or blow it open.”
I smiled at him in spite of everything. He never let a chance for mischief or destruction pass by without notice.
“There’s nothing you need to see in there. It’s private property.” Val stood in front of the closet and crossed her arms. “It’s not a crime to have a closet with a lock.”
“Yeah, but it is to lock someone inside,” Theo muttered.
Dad’s head snapped toward Theo and slid slowly back toward Val like a sniper taking aim. “Open the door, or I will rip it off the hinges with my bare hands.”
Paige slid behind Val and put in the code before Val grabbed her away. “What are you doing?”
“Do you really think this is going well, Val?” she sighed. “The best thing you can do is get it over with.”
Dad pushed her aside and hauled open the door to find my own personal hell. Small, dark, soundproof, locked. There was still a small blanket in the corner I’d stashed in there one time when it was open, so I could be a little more comfortable when it happened again.
“What have you done?” He asked.
Val rolled her eyes. “We didn’t do anything, Cecil. All we did was ask Trinity to be quiet and keep to herself when guests were over. She understood. It was voluntary.”
“Voluntary?” My voice creaked, but it was there. “You’re joking, right?”
The look she sent my way was filled with malice. “Yes. Voluntary. Tell him.”
Logan set me on my feet, feeling that I finally had the strength to do this.
The secret was out, and I was free. “Was it voluntary when you locked me in my room during your parties? When you stole things from me?” I looked at Dad.
“Like that boombox you bought me. I didn’t break it.
Val took it because I was being ‘too loud.’
“Was it voluntary when you and Matt duct-taped my hands, feet, and mouth and shoved me in your closet for hours? Was it voluntary when you shoved me in that tiny space, even when I said I would leave so you could have your party in peace? Was it voluntary when you sealed the window in my bedroom so I couldn’t leave that way, and you locked me in there without food many, many times?
“You know, I write for a living. And there’s a lot of people, especially right now, who think I’m pretty damn good at my job, so I’m going to go out on a limb and say I know what the word voluntary means. None of it was.”
Dad stared at me, mouth open. Grief and anger warred on his face. I nodded once. I was telling the truth. Finally. His expression settled into the embodiment of rage.