“Is there something going on there?”
“No, but she’s Lara’s best friend.”
“You’re lying to the wrong man.”
“It’s complicated.”
“I never thought twice about snatching up Lara. Don’t regret it when she finally has a boyfriend in the picture.”
“That shit’s not going to happen,” he snarls, standing up. “I’ve got to go.”
“Good luck,” I say to him, but I’m not sure I don’t mean it for myself either.
Walking him out and then heading back to our room, I think about all the years of pain my family put me through in one way or another, and I want it to be over.
When I enter the room, the sun is still down, so I strip out of my clothes back down to my tee and boxers. Sliding under the covers, I gently pull my wife to me and cradle her. Things are about to get worse when I finally tell her the truth about me and my past.
A while later, I wake up to my wife pressing her lips to my neck. “Mm…Lara,” I moan.
“Good morning, husband.”
I turn my head to see her smiling at me softly. “Good morning, beautiful. How are you feeling?”
“Okay, so far, but I have to go to the bathroom again.”
I nod and quickly jump off the bed, walking to the other side to aid my wife. “Okay, let’s do this, my love.” I scoop her up in my arms and carry her back to the bathroom and then wait for her to finish before going through my own morning routine.
Once we’re good, I settle us down on the bed to talk. We need to have a good heart-to-heart.
“What’s going on, Landon?”
“So, there’s a lot I never told you about my past.”
“Pretty much nothing.”
“That’s for a good reason. My past wasn’t a good one. I grew up in a fucked-up family with less-than-good parents, terrible ones at that. I loved them because I didn’t know better, and I hoped that they just didn’t realize the damage they were doing to me, but after all these years, I know that nothing they did was ever for me.”
“I’m sorry, Landon. If you don’t want to talk about it right now, that’s fine.”
“No, I need to get this out now. Shit’s about to go down, and I want you to know the truth first.”
“Okay.”
“My parents were professional thieves. They broke in and stole things, petty crimes mostly, but it became dangerous and they continued to steal, and they included me in their heists. When I was twelve, I was arrested for hacking into a bank’s computer system.” She gasps at my revelation.
“Oh, Landon.”
“It’s fine. I was let go under a few conditions. I had to go into foster care and change my ways. Of course, I did. Stealing had never been something I wanted to do, having been forced with the threat of violence being my motivation.”
“I have a feeling there’s more.”
“There is. When I was fifteen, I was kidnapped after school. My parents had robbed the wrong people and they wanted their money back on top of seeking revenge for having been swindled.”
“Oh, no. How did…”
“How did I get through it?”
“I escaped after they killed my mother. The kidnappers were arrested, and a couple were killed. Apparently, it had been orchestrated against the boss’s orders. I wasn’t supposed to be taken, but I was. Still, to this day, I take security seriously, and I’ve built my empire based on protection.”
“My love,” she sobs, running her hand over my chest. “I’m so glad that you were strong enough to make it out. I don’t know what I’d ever do without your love, and now I understand why you never take my safety for granted.”
“I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t. Now, hold me.”
Chapter Eighteen
Landon
I stare at the man who raised me, and my sympathies, love, respect, or any type of familial devotion have long since flown out the window. The only thing left simmering is pure satisfaction that it will all be over soon. The truth is clearer now than it had ever been. For years, I believed a lie, fear planted there by him, a seed growing until I became a man obsessed with developing walls that only Lara could scale.
“Johnny, boy. Do you have anything to say?” I ask him, feeling nothing but fiery rage for him. All these years, lies after lies, pain, fear, heartache had been driven by him. However nothing compared to what he did to Lara. That was unforgivable.
“I don’t know why you’re doing this, son,” he says, playing innocent, but there’s no way I’d believe his weak lies.
“Don’t call me ‘son.’ I’m not your son, and I never was.” I practically spit in his face. Despite everything between us, I’d given this man before me every opportunity for a family with love and respect, yet he decided to destroy my happiness.