Stolen Beauty (Jackson Family 1)

“You’re so good to me, James,” she whispered, her pretty, brown eyes roving over my face.

I flashed her a smile as I eased her sweatpants down her legs. “Only to you, little one. Don’t ever forget that. You’re all that matters to me.”

A low moan of pain slid from her lips as she lifted her leg one by one to step out of her sweatpants and panties. I brushed a kiss to the outside of her gauze. “You’re being so strong, little one. I’m proud of you,” I praised, knowing how much my praise meant to her.

And just as I knew they would, her eyes brightened at my words. I quickly turned the shower on and stripped out of my own clothes before I lifted her into my arms, stepping into the shower with her. After sitting on one of the bench seats in the shower, I settled her down on my lap and began to take care of her just as I promised her that I would.

“How’s your mom?” she asked me.

I sighed, my mood dimming again. I almost told her that I didn’t want to talk about it, but I bit my tongue. I wanted to be honest with Emmaline and to be open with her. True dominant and submissive relationships didn’t work if there wasn’t one hundred percent honesty. If I broke her trust in me outside of our sessions, then our sex life would also suffer. She wouldn’t be able to truly give in to me during our sessions, and that would not only screw with my head, but it would also screw with hers. She relied on our sessions for structure.

“Mom knew about the hit my father placed on you,” I said quietly. Emmaline stayed silent. I leaned my head back against the shower wall and tightened my arms around the woman on my lap. “She said that he threatened to kill my brother Darren if she told me what he was planning, so she kept silent. I’ve got her locked away right now.” I drew in a deep breath. “I’m so fucking pissed at her. She fucking betrayed me.”

“James, your mother was trying to protect one of her children,” Emmaline said quietly.

I scoffed. “Like hell she was. All my mother has ever been concerned with is protecting herself, which led to an extremely shitty childhood growing up.” I sighed. “I mean, fuck, Emmaline, I suffered a traumatic brain injury – lost part of my childhood memories because of it. And she still wouldn’t leave him. I don’t fucking get it.”

“James,” Emmaline said quietly, drawing my eyes down to her, but she wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes were on her lap, “your father wasn’t the reason you suffered a brain injury.”

I bristled. “What the fuck are you talking about, Emmaline?” I demanded, getting angry. “How the fuck did you even know what in the hell I was talking about?”

Nervousness crept into her eyes. I reined in my temper, not wanting to upset her. “Jaxon told me a little while ago,” she softly spoke up. I clenched my jaw, my nostrils flaring in rage. How in the fuck did Jaxon even know? Jaxon shouldn’t know a goddamn thing about me. “James, Jaxon was your best friend before you lost your memories.” Some of my rage evaporated. I stared down at her, disbelief clear on my face. “You were in a horrible car accident with your mom. I don’t know the details, but that is how you lost your memories – not because of your father. Jaxon kept it to himself because apparently, jogging your memory could do more harm than good,” she softly explained.

I ran my eyes over her face. The silence between us was deafening, but when Emmaline began to slowly tense up in my arms, I ran my hand over her back and closed my eyes, drawing in a deep breath. “Sorry, little one,” I gruffly apologized. “I just need a fucking minute. I’m not angry at you,” I assured her. “You told me – you didn’t keep it from me.”

Her body relaxed again, and she placed her head on my shoulder, her hand coming up to splay over my chest. With a small sigh, I turned my head and pressed my lips to her forehead, covering her hand with mine to ground myself.

“She let me believe all of these years that it was because of him.” Emmaline stayed silent, allowing me to think out loud. “Question is – why?”

And that single question was pissing me off because that meant Mom was an even bigger monster than I could ever be.

She’d put her children in the line of fire for an ulterior motive. I just wasn’t sure of what that ulterior motive was.