“Claire and her family were all I had left. My parents named Claire’s parents as my legal guardians if anything was to ever happen to them. I moved in with them almost immediately. I was fourteen and little did I know my nightmare wasn’t only going to be my parents dying.”
MY HANDS WERE shaking as I let the memories race back into my mind. Thano looked pale. I could tell he was forcing himself to stay seated and not rush over to me. That comforted me a small bit.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Everyone treated me like I was a part of the family. Claire and I shared a room for the first year I lived with them. Then her father got a promotion at work and we moved to a bigger house. My parents’ estate was tied up in probate and all of it would go to me at twenty-three. There was a small amount of money that was given directly to Claire’s parents, but they insisted on setting it aside for me.”
I couldn’t help the small smile that spread across my face. “Kim and Scott, that’s their names, they honestly treated me like their own child. It still blows my mind to this day what they did and continue to do for me.”
“They sound like wonderful people.”
Looking at Thano, I nodded my head. “They are.”
I shook my head and blew out a breath. “After Scott got the promotion, I was able to have my own room. It seemed like once we moved, things changed between Peter and me. I’d, of course, always had a crush on him. You know . . . your best friend’s older brother. He was almost two years older than Claire and me and was always watching out for us. Protecting us.”
With a weak smile, I looked back at the small chip in the table and started running my finger over it again. “Peter used to tell me how beautiful I was and that someday when I got older, he’d show me how much he loved me. He was going to be my knight in shining armor. The one who would save me from the bad dreams I still had about my parents’ accident. Little did I know, at the time, he would become my worst nightmare.”
Peeking up, I saw Thano make a fist. He was probably already guessing what happened.
“What did he do to you, Kilyn?”
Years of therapy helped me to get past the betrayal of Peter’s trust. It helped me to understand I wasn’t at fault. There were moments, though, I found myself standing in the shower scrubbing my body to get his smell off me before I realized it really wasn’t there. I was at the point in my life I could talk about it if I had to. But one question from Thano and I was on the verge of breaking down.
My chin trembled before I closed my eyes and counted to twenty. Opening them again, I looked directly at him. Tackle it head on, Kilyn.
“When I turned sixteen, Peter took me out to dinner. He said he wanted to show me off to everyone. I was finally old enough for him to show me how much he loved me.” I slowly shook my head. “I was stupid and naïve and believed every word he said to me. I had no idea what he meant when he kept saying that. Scott went out of town for his new job often. He was supposed to be gone for two days. That night, Peter came into my room. I remember sitting up in bed and asking him what he was doing. He locked the door and gave me a smile. My heart leapt in my chest because he handed me single rose.”
I looked out the window and pressed my lips together. “To this day, I can’t stand to look at pink roses.”
Thano continued to watch me, not saying a word.
“I was dressed in nothing but a T-shirt and panties. When I got out of bed to take the rose, Peter looked at me like he had never looked at me before. It was like he was seeing me for the first time. He took my arm and pulled me to him. He kissed me and, at first, I liked it. But then he got rough. He bit my lip so hard it started to bleed.”
Anger moved over Thano’s face.
“When I told him to slow down, he said he was sorry, it was just that he wanted me so badly. It was then it all hit me. He wanted to have sex with me. I told him I wasn’t ready for that but he said I was. I was so scared. He pushed me down onto my bed and quickly unbuttoned his jeans and pulled out a condom. He told me if I yelled out, Claire and his mother would think I was a whore for having him in my room. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to yell out but I had gotten out of bed to take the rose. In my mind, I instantly thought I invited his thoughts by getting out of bed. But I also knew Claire knew me better than that. I’d never let a boy in my room. I got confused as to why I didn’t tell him to leave when he first came in.”