Wendy had numerous fail-safes in place so I couldn’t touch her or any of the Future Lawmakers without sacrificing everything.
Which meant we couldn’t tell anyone what happened. Talon couldn’t get the help he needed.
For a while, I allowed myself to think we’d be okay. Talon didn’t want to talk about what happened, and he seemed to be himself. A little quieter, but still Talon. He loved his little sister and spent a lot of time with her. She seemed to be healing him, at least a little bit.
I wanted to get him help. Wanted to so badly, but I couldn’t.
For reasons I now realize were complete bullshit.
But you make the decisions you have to at the time, because you don’t know what else to do.
And in the end, I made the right one.
Less than two years later, Daphne completely broke from reality. I staged her suicide and whisked her to the safe house in Florida.
I was all my children had at that point. I had to be there for them, and I was, until Marjorie turned eighteen.
Then I gave my life to Daphne once more. I moved her to the island where I’d had a replica of our ranch house built. I’d planned for the two of us to live there for the rest of our lives.
I sighed, as I often did when running through the events of my life. Would I do anything differently?
How could I? I wouldn’t have my four children if I had. And despite my many mistakes, they all ended up healthy and happy.
No thanks to me, of course, but for that I’m truly grateful.
Jonah came once more.
Alone.
I’d been certain I’d never see his face again.
Indeed, he wouldn’t have come unless he had something big to tell me.
I cleared my throat as I picked up the phone. “Son.”
“Dad.”
“To what do I owe the pleasure of another visit?”
“I’m here on behalf of the four of us. We talked about all coming, but the other three weren’t sure they could hold it together.”
“And you could?”
“I will. I’m the oldest, and I have to.”
His words could have come out of my own mouth. He was so like me. So strong. So eager to protect those he loved. So willing to hold everything together in the face of horror.
“What is it, then?”
He shook his head slowly. “You kept so much from us.”
“I know. I’ve said I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything other than that. I’m paying for my sins. I’ll never make peace with my children or myself.”
“Did you ever make peace with Mom?”
How I wanted to say yes. I still loved Daphne more than anything, but the last time I’d seen her, she didn’t even know me.
I shook my head. “No, Jonah. I did not.”
“I can see why.”
I scoffed. “You think you can see why. There are things you don’t know. Things you’ll never know. Things I’ll take to my grave.”
He stared at me for a moment.
Then the stare turned into a dark glare.
“Now’s the time for confession,” my son said.
“I have nothing more to confess.”
He sneered at me. “How about the names of the three men who raped Mom?”
A dagger struck my heart. Nausea clawed up my throat. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words emerged. The acid had lodged in my larynx, or so it felt.
“Did you think we wouldn’t find out?”
“I don’t— No— They were never caught.”
“No thanks to you.”
“But I never knew— How did you—”
“It took me a long time to deal with this. Finding out my mother had been viciously raped by three men when she was sixteen made me want to go out and shoot someone. So I did. I shot a target. Used over a hundred rounds. But you didn’t teach me to shoot, did you, Dad?”
“You know my reasons for that.”
“But you know who did teach me, and you knew. All that time. Before Tal. Before Luke Walker. Before Justin Valente.”
Thoughts whirred in my head like a buzz saw. What? My son was talking nonsense. No one knew who’d raped Daphne. No one.
No one.
“Your mother didn’t remember. We kept it from her. Her parents, her doctors, and me. It was better that way.”
“Better? You let her live with that horrendous memory trapped in her subconscious? Damn it! You did the same thing to her that you did to Talon.”
“No. Daphne didn’t remember. It was different.”
“It wasn’t any fucking different, and you know it. But that’s not even the worst thing you did.”
He wasn’t wrong. It was far from the worst thing I’d done.
“The worst thing is that you kept the names of the men who raped her secret.”
I jerked in surprise. “I didn’t! They were never caught. I never knew who they were!”
“Stop lying, Dad. It’s over.”
“I’m not lying!”
A guard cocked his head at my outburst, so I lowered my voice.