“I just went and told him to stop harassing us,” she’s saying, her small hand still in mine, her gaze level as if daring her family to comment on the gesture. “He denied doing any of it. And that was it. I left and headed home.”
But there’s something she’s not saying. I’m so damn attuned to her by now, I know she’s holding back. She has a tell, I realize. She’s gone very still, barely breathing.
What happened out there? Why won’t she tell her family? The urge to get her alone is getting stronger by the second.
“It has to be Ross,” I tell her. She went and faced him, and then she was attacked. It’s clear as day. That motherfucker Ross went into a rage and tried to hurt her.
She thinks it’s not him? Fuck that. Of course it’s him, the little coward.
“I told the police all this, what I saw, what I thought,” she says. “On the phone.”
“And what did they s
ay?” Merc asks.
“That I should file a report as soon as I can, and that I shouldn’t walk outside alone at night.” A flush colors her cheeks. “As if I haven’t been doing that all my life. It’s safe here.”
“Obviously not anymore,” her mom says sternly, and I glance at her. Something tells me she’s not normally this severe, if the laughter lines around her mouth and eyes are anything to go by. A happy little family. The doting mom, the funny little sister, the pensive younger boy.
And Octavia… They’re scared for her, and I’m the cause. I need to solve this fucking riddle, but how can I protect her without pushing her away?
I’m done pretending. Tired of fighting it. Fighting how much I need her in my life.
And yet I’ll do anything it takes to keep her safe.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Octavia
With Matt’s muscular arm around my shoulders, his big hand around mine, I feel stronger. The fact he drove right over with the kids the moment I called him? Priceless.
Makes me feel precious. Wanted. Cherished.
And I don’t know if I should trust this feeling, this moment with him by my side, but I can’t help but bask in it. Soak in the warmth and power of his presence, the feel of his strong thigh pressed to mine, his scent filling my senses.
Makes me feel I can take on the world.
Or at least confront my mom about what Ross said. I can’t ignore it, can’t rest until I know the truth. Gigi and Merc deserve to know.
I deserve to know, and whatever her reasons for keeping the knowledge of who our father is a secret, it’s time she talked. I’m a big girl now, and Gigi and Merc are barely shy of adulthood.
It’s time.
But not while Matt is here. Don’t want to do this in front of him and his kids. Not just because this is my life, but mainly because I don’t want to see the look on his face when he finds out. I mean, it’s not only that Jasper is my dad and Ross my half-brother, but the fact I hadn’t known. Hadn’t realized that we really are the little filthy bastards everyone teased and bullied us about.
We’ve been living all our lives in the same town as our dad who never wanted us. Who was already married with a kid of his own, and never even bothered to acknowledge us, or even be nice to us. All those times he cursed my name when I walked past his garage, when he let his son call me names, when he called my mom a slut.
My blood is running hot and cold in turns. I’m not even sure who I’m angrier with, and which of all those things makes me more miserable.
When Matt says he has to go, put the kids to bed as it’s way past their time, I’m both terrified and relieved.
I don’t want him to go. And God, I’d love to be there when he sits on their beds and covers them up, kisses their foreheads and tells them to have sweet dreams. Does he read stories to them? Has he found his way to their heart—like he did to mine?
He tells me we should take a raincheck on the picnic we talked about. Tells me to rest and let him know if I feel up to working on Monday.
And although he’s worried about me, and it warms me all the way to my bones, I’m sad. I wanted that picnic so much. I still do. I don’t see how it will help not being with him tomorrow, but by then he’s out the door, and I’m finally alone with Mom, Gigi and Merc.
It’s all too much. My face too hot, and my eyes burning. “Mom… when were you going to tell us that Jasper is our dad?”