Chapter Eighteen #3
Maddy’s gasp was loud in the night, and Tarek looked at her, calculation in his eyes. Cash put his arm around Madelyn and pulled her close, but before he could say anything, Telford interrupted.
“Threatening my sister and my brother’s family sounds like trouble.
You want that?” Telford asked quietly. “You’ll have that.
I can tie you up in family court for years, until Bronte’s in high school and you’re a grizzled old man limping along with Medicare in a hospice with a shot liver and diabetes from all the whiskey and junk food.
And I can hire a team of top investigators to see what else you’ve been up to, Dad.
” He made the word sound like a curse. “You cattle rustling—that sounds like wire fraud, and probably crossed a few state lines, and I might take after you in one way,” Telford said sounding almost philosophical.
“I’m not particularly forgiving. I can do all that because I’m rich.
And I can hound you in court, and I’ll enjoy myself and still be rich, so if you want trouble, bring it on, but you’ll be bringing it to me.
Not Cash. Not Madelyn. Not Witt. Not Miranda.
You’ll never see Bronte or Petal. Not ever. ”
“You’re a suit. You’re no good in a fight,” Tarek said, but his eyes definitely assessed his firstborn.
That we know of.
The thought had Ayana’s head spinning. Were there more young men and women out there making their way to Marietta deliberately or by a circuitous route deigned by fate?
“How do you think I got the suit. I fought and won a lot growing up. You left my mom to fend for herself and we thrived. Then I fought in boardrooms with my brain and my plans. So anything you bring, I’ll smell you coming before you’ve thought it through, and I’ll win.
I always win because I’m relentless and know no other way. ”
Silence.
If it had been summer, there’d be crickets. But late October the dark and the cold and the quiet streets swallowed any noise.
“I’ll be in touch,” Tarek said to his brother and not having the courage to meet Telford’s hard gaze and Cash’s equally hard look.
“Not interested in raising a brat. But may need a place to crash. I won’t go to your wedding.
I’ve avoided the noose this long by not being stupid and knowing when to cut my losses. ”
He walked off in the opposite direction, and to Ayana’s surprise, she saw Taryn’s shoulders slump and his wife, Sarah, slipped one hand in his and the other around his waist. She said something too quiet to hear, and Taryn nodded, then he bowed his head, and they pressed their foreheads together.
Riley sniffled beside her, and a few tears fell.
“I’m so angry I want to hit him,” Riley said while Cole wrapped his arms around his wife.
What would it be like to have that? A history, an ability to know what was wrong and be able to comfort and to be comforted? She’d never have that. She glanced up at the hotel and saw the triad standing mid-way on the stairs. Her courage faltered. She backed up, right into Telford’s hard chest.
She turned toward him and hugged him hard for what might be the last time. Her eyes filled with despair. “Sorry,” she whispered, never meaning a word more. “I’m so sorry.”
“So am I, baby. I never wanted you to witness that. Not ever. I didn’t want you to see my mean.”
“I want to see all of you,” she said on a gulp. “But I wanted to tell you … I need to tell you, but … I wanted to pretend. I wanted to wait.” She cast a look back at the three Family members.
“I keep hoping he’ll come around,” Taryn said, his voice dark.
His daughter Riley hugged him, but Ayana had the feeling no one else hoped that Tarek would come around ever again.
“Ayana.” The Father approached. “Your husband and duty await you. You’ve shirked God’s purpose for you long enough. Time to come home, child.”
She backed up, heart rioting in fear, but Telford’s arm was a steel band around her middle.
“She’s not going anywhere with you.” Telford sounded confident, and more than a little pissed. “She’s my wife. This is her family and this is our home.”
“She was always a disobedient child. Always full of lies and dreams and the devil’s temptation. But she cannot be your wife as she has a husband. She abandoned him nearly eight years ago.”
Telford stiffened and she closed her eyes and winced.
This was it. He’d reject her. And by running she’d made this all worse because his entire family and Cash’s friends would witness her humiliation.
But she wasn’t going with the Family. Not ever.
Telford might be disgusted with her, but he would help her to hide.
“Eight years ago, she was fourteen. That is not the age of consent,” Telford said softly. “So any marriage was illegal.”
“She had the Family’s permission. We live separately from the laws of nonbelievers.”
“Like hell,” Telford snapped.
“Looks like you got another court case,” Boone said, dryly, not in his usual cheeky way.
“Or we can settle this old-school, brother,” Cash said stepping up next to him.
“No,” Ayana said, straightening her spine.
“No court. No fighting. And no.” She looked up at the three people who’d struck such fear into her heart, but she’d had a chance to process, to find her strength, and seeing Telford and Cash face their father, she too could do the same.
“I’m not going back with any of you ever.
I’m an adult. I get to choose my life. Create my future.
Women don’t belong to men. I won’t be owned by anyone—a man or a church or a Family. You killed Alissa.”
She was shaking, but she locked her knees.
“Alissa was disobedient. She followed you instead of the Family. She stepped off the righteous path. Lost God’s light and love. There was no way back for her.”
“You didn’t protect her,” she accused her mother. “And you didn’t protect me.”
“You never learned your place,” her mother said. “If you had submitted.”
“What? No.” Ayana practically yelled the last syllable, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the same word uttered by Telford with deep conviction.
“Not submit.” She felt stronger now. “Children should be guided but allowed to be who they are. Not forced into a box. Not made to do menial chores and work all the time while others boss them and find fault and benefit from that society while so many—especially the women—are oppressed.”
Her mother stared at her. “I am so shocked. So disappointed in you, Ayana, to hear you spew such blasphemous words.”
“I’m sorry.” Ayana turned to Telford. She couldn’t resist touching his face as it might be the last time.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my past. But when I was almost fifteen, I was forced to marry.
I was a bad wife. It took me some time to plan my escape, and I ran and kept running so I wasn’t free to enter into a marriage with you. Not really.”
She breathed in deeply and stared at the beautiful brown cowboy boots he had purchased for her. She should give them back.
“You’re free, Telford. Free. The contract’s null. I’ll return …” She had to stop speaking because he kissed her.
And her fear and sorrow and exhaustion at being finally run to ground caught up to her, and all she could do was cling to the man she loved that she was about to lose.
*
He, who had always abhorred PDA as it seemed such a flex or so revealing-dominating, kissed Ayana as if it was the last time, and he knew that she thought it was. To hell with that.
“You’re not going anywhere with them. And you’re not breaking up our marriage unless you want out. Not because of some pedophile child-trafficking ring dressing themselves up as a religion.”
“What?” She gaped at him.