Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Mercy
I can’t believe this is happening. Any of it. I’m still stuck in the tornado. I’m scared out of my mind that it isn’t going to let me out of the funnel cloud.
It’s not possible that two giant alien men waltzed into Zack’s office, swept me off my feet, and carried me up to this apartment. Maybe I fell outside and hit my head, and this is all a dream.
I’ve always had a vivid imagination. I believe it’s because for most of my life all I had to entertain myself was my imagination. Mostly because I’ve spent so much time alone, but also because my mind has always been my way of escaping my reality.
Kafran grips my chin, smiling at me. “Good girl. Tell me what you were doing with the scissors when we entered the office, Little one.”
I wipe my tears away and giggle. I’m not sure if I keep laughing because I’m slaphappy or relieved or just coping, but it feels good. I pluck at the mountain of material in my lap. It’s so high that I have to push it down just to keep it below my chin. “I was cutting off the bottom of the dress.”
Skarg sits next to me and wraps an arm around me, pulling me into his side. He’s so huge that my head barely comes up to his chest. “Why?” he asks.
“It’s too long. After I took my shoes off, I was tripping over the front. And there’s so much material that I couldn’t hold it up. I figured I could only hide out in Zack’s office for so long, and then I would have to leave again, on foot.”
Kafran lifts the frayed front of the dress where I’d started cutting. “No more scissors, Little one. They aren’t safe.”
I stare at him. He’s making no sense.
Skarg gives me a squeeze. “You’ll learn we Papis are very overprotective. Your days of using sharp objects are over.”
I turn my attention to him. “I don’t think scissors are usually considered a dangerous tool,” I joke.
He lifts both brows. “It’s not up for debate. No scissors. No knives. No forks. Nothing sharp and pointy. Would you like to keep arguing with us?”
I swallow. “No, Sir.” I’m confused, but it doesn’t seem like continuing to state my case is going to be helpful. In fact, I clench my butt cheeks at the thought of one of them spanking me. Were they serious?
Kafran picks up one of my feet and looks at the bottom, wincing. “There are cuts on your soles, Little one. We need to wash them and put some antiseptic on them before they get infected.”
Skarg continues, “We need to get this ridiculous dress off you and give you a bath. You’ll feel so much better after a soak in Eleadian water.”
Before I can fully grasp his intention, Skarg leans back, grabs the zipper at the top of my neck, and lowers it all the way down my back.
I gasp and clutch the front of the pile of tulle to keep it from falling away from my chest. They don’t seem to understand what’s under the piles of material. How could they? It’s hiding me.
Though in truth, it’s not hiding anything.
When I saw myself in the mirror right before the wedding, I nearly fainted.
I’m well aware that I’m chubby, but this dress makes me look ten times larger.
It’s not necessary. I think my mother-in-law made me wear this hideous dress so that I would look like a laughingstock, and it worked.
It wasn’t until the last minute when the dress was zipped on me that I discovered she must have added several more layers of gaudy fabric to make me look even uglier.
I heard people chuckling all around the church during the ceremony. They were laughing at me. My face was heated the entire time. I wanted a crack to open up in the floor and swallow me whole.
Skarg’s hand spreads on my naked back. “This dress is giving you anxiety, Baby girl. Please let us get it off you and remove it from your line of sight.”
I nod. “Okay, but can I have a T-shirt or something?”
Kafran grips my thighs. “We’ll never let you cover yourself or hide from us, Little one. I know it seems odd to you right now, but eventually you’ll get used to our customs.”
I’m on an emotional roller coaster, probably from exhaustion. I haven’t slept well for several nights, worrying about today. Last night, I didn’t sleep at all. Just a minute ago, I was laughing. Now tears are falling again. I can’t stop them.
Skarg kisses the top of my head. Well, he tries to anyway. I can hear the peck of his lips, but my hair is in a ridiculous updo that prevents him from getting his mouth near my scalp.
“Talk to us,” Kafran says gently.
I let out a sob. “They were laughing at me.” The words tumble from my lips before I can stop them.
“Who was laughing at you, Baby girl?” Skarg asks.
“The people in the church,” I mutter, hiccupping.
“Your friends?” Kafran flinches.
I’m holding the dress tightly to my chest as I look at him. “Friends?” Another sob comes out. “I don’t have friends,” I inform him.
“What do you mean, Baby girl?” Skarg asks, rubbing my back.
The only thing between his fingers and my skin is my bra strap.
Even my bra is ugly. I didn’t pick it either.
A woman should have pretty lingerie on her wedding day.
My mother-in-law didn’t think it was necessary.
She told me it wouldn’t matter. I should remove my clothes tonight and be waiting under the covers for my husband.
The thought makes me shudder again, even now.
“Weren’t your friends at your wedding?” Kafran encourages.
I shake my head, which hurts because of all the stupid pins holding my hair up. Holding the dress with one hand against my breasts, I lift the other to adjust the place on my head that’s pulling.
Skarg grabs my fingers and kisses them. “How about if I take all these pins out of your hair while you tell us more about your situation, Baby girl. Tell us everything.”
I use my free hand to swipe at the tears again, sniffling.
I think it would be best if I just gave them the abridged version of my life up until now.
Otherwise they’re going to keep asking questions out of order until they know everything anyway.
They’re persistent, and no one has paid this much attention to me since my grandmother was alive.
True to his word, Skarg is meticulously removing every pin from my hair. Each time he pulls one out, it’s like a pound is lifted off my head. Maybe by the time he’s done, I’ll float across the room.
Taking a big breath, I swallow my tears and dive in. “To put it bluntly, I was born into the mafia.”
Kafran nods as if I just told him I was heading to the store for eggs.
“Do you know what the mafia is?”
He shrugs. “We get the gist, Little one. Powerful families that rival each other for territory and money.”
I’m surprised. “Yeah, basically that’s it. Anyway, my parents were murdered when I was four.”
Both men gasp. Kafran’s eyes go wide. “I’m so sorry, Little one.”
I shrug. “It was sixteen years ago. I barely remember them.”
“Who raised you?” Skarg asks as he continues to lighten my load metaphorically.
“My grandmother, sort of. The problem is that I had been promised to my future husband when I was about three years old. So my future in-laws took me in. They reluctantly let my grandmother come with me. She took care of me and tried to give me as normal a life as possible, but the reality is we were basically prisoners in that mansion. She died when I was twelve, which left me alone in the world, living in a house where nobody paid me any attention.”
“Why would they take you in and then ignore you?” Kafran’s brow is furrowed.
“Family blood lines and stuff I don’t understand.”
“I thought that sort of thing was only in your movies,” Skarg says.
I snort. “I wish.”
Kafran gives me an encouraging smile. “Go on, Little one.”
“Well, you asked if I had friends, and the answer is no. I don’t have a single friend. A few of the maids in the house were nice to me, but that’s about it. The only time I ever left that mansion since I was a child was to attend church. Even when I needed a doctor, they brought one to me.”
“You didn’t even go to school?” Skarg asks.
My face heats with embarrassment as I shake my head. “No.”
Kafran frowns. “And their son, Fredrick, he lived in that house, too?”
“Yes, but I rarely saw him. Plus, he’s five years older than me, so he was away at college for several years. He doesn’t like me. He made that clear every chance he got.” More tears fall. Darn it.
“So, let me get this straight,” Skarg says. “Neither of you was interested in entering into one of these flimsy Earth marriages, and yet you did it anyway today.”
“Basically.”
“Then what happened?” Kafran asks.
“The entire day seemed like a blur as if I hadn’t been participating in it.
People fixed my hair and makeup, dressed me in this godawful pile of fluff, and told me what to do.
I went through the motions of the ceremony like a zombie.
Afterward, there were pictures and lines of people waiting to give us their fake regards.
By the time I got into the back of the limo with my husband after the reception, I was exhausted and on the verge of tears. ”
“I’m so sorry, Little one,” Kafran says.
I sniffle again.
“Tell us what happened next,” Skarg encourages.
“Fredrick has always been mean to me. I know he doesn’t like me, nor does he find me attractive. He’s always making jokes about my weight. He…” My voice trails off. They don’t need to hear what that dickface said to me in the limo.
“He what?” Kafran growls. “Finish.”
Fine. Why should I care? “He told me I was disgusting and he didn’t want to see me any more than absolutely necessary.
He expected me to stay out of his sight if I knew what was good for me.
We would have separate rooms and he wanted me to provide him with my menstrual calendar so he could come to me on my fertile nights.
That I should be naked under the covers in the dark on my stomach so he could… ” My breath hitches.
Kafran is seething. Literally. His fingers are stiff on my thighs, and his eyes are red. I think he might turn and punch a hole in the wall. To be honest, it feels kind of nice to have someone listen to me and give a fuck. Two men. I’ve slipped into another dimension.
I decide to finish my sentence. “So he could fuck me from behind without having to look at my face or see my fat rolls. As soon as I got pregnant, he would stop coming to me.” I draw in a breath, trying not to let my emotions take over again, but I lose that battle. A sob escapes.
I think Skarg has removed all of the pins because he suddenly threads his fingers in my loose hair and pulls me against his chest. “I’m so sorry, Baby girl. That man was an ass. He didn’t deserve you, and you’ll never see him again.”
“He’s right,” Kafran says, his hands sliding up my outer thighs. “What a dick.”
A choked laugh escapes between my crying sobs. “That’s the nickname I used in my head. Dick.”
Neither man laughs, but Kafran gives me a wan smile. “You were dealt a crappy life up until now, Little one, but it’s over. From today forward, you will be worshipped and loved and doted on for centuries.”
I gasp as I glance at him. “Centuries?”
Kafran nods. “Yes. You’ll age slower on Eleadia, the same as Skarg and me. We live healthier on Eleadia. We have cleaner air and food. We will live hundreds of years together, and we promise that you will know you are loved every single day of your life.”
I stare at him. Loved? It’s been so long since I’ve been around anyone who even liked me. The only person I recall loving me was my grandmother. Should I tell them the only education I’ve had is what my grandmother taught me while the two of us were sequestered in that stupid mansion?
I decide not to. I’m too embarrassed to admit how ignorant I am about most things.
Na?ve and ignorant. The only reason I know what Fredrick meant when he said he would fuck me is because one of the maids explained the birds and bees to me seven years ago when I got my first period.
I thought I’d been dying when blood started coming out of me.
Kafran lifts my free hand to his lips, holds it tightly, and pricks my middle finger again.
I wince, trying to pull away, but he doesn’t let me.
“My serum will calm you, Little one. Let it do its job.”
“That’s so weird,” I say, sucking back the last of my tears.
It would appear that I’m free from the horrifying life I had expected to live.
Even running from my husband wouldn’t have changed the trajectory.
He would have caught me and probably locked me in his house, only opening the door to my bedroom on the nights he intended to fuck me.
I’d been kidding myself if I thought I would have actually gotten away from him. It’s not like I have anyone I could have called. I don’t have enough education to get any sort of job.
The entire mafia family would have been looking for me.
They would have found me, dragged me to my matrimonial home, and shackled me if necessary.
I would have spent my entire life as a prisoner to those people, nothing but an incubator, my only job being to bear children for that hideous, cruel man.
Am I free? “Are you really going to take me from this planet?”
“Yes, Baby girl,” Skarg assures me. He tips to one side and pulls his cell phone from his pocket to glance at the screen. “In fact, Riand is on the roof with the pod now.”
I know I will feel a tremendous relief as soon as I’m no longer on Earth. Right now, it seems like my husband is going to get past John and anyone else who gets in his way. I’m surprised he hasn’t stormed into this apartment already.
“Please, can we go?” I beg, glancing from one Papi to the other.
Kafran smiles. I love his smiles. “Riand will wait, Little one. No need to fret. We’re not taking this dress with us, however. It belongs in your past. Are you ready to let go of it?”
I nod and sit up taller. I need to be brave.
It’s not like I can hide from them forever.
If they’re going to be turned off by my body, I might as well know it now because the truth is I have a strange attraction to these two men.
Both of them. It will really hurt me if they look at me in disgust, but I’d rather see their winced expressions sooner than later. Then I’ll know.