Page 6 of Hers to Claim

“Spirits, he hated that.” Rio laughed. “Especially when your father would make him read poetry before dinner.”

Mari leaned into him. “There were good times in there.”

Rio nodded, hugging her close. “There were bad times, too.”

She knew she was only aware of a fraction of the terrible things her father had done to him and Cisco. She hadn’t asked about the details because if they wanted her to know, they would tell her. “I’m ready to listen, if you’re ready to share.”

He looked around at the oasis of peace her father had loved so dearly. “I’m not sure if this is the best place to talk about it or the worst.”

Mari led him to one of the benches by the pond where huge koi swam in lazy circles. “I think it will be hard no matter where we are.” She sat slowly, holding his hand as he decided if he would join her. “We can also just sit here and watch the fish.”

“Most people thought having to bottom at his monthly orgies was the worst of it.” A sigh shook him as he sat heavily. He didn’t look at her as he spoke, only stared into the dark water of the pond beside them, his eyes unfocused. “But that was easy for me. Cisco would ask me all the time if I wanted him to make me forget, but I didn’t care about that. Most of the people in attendance were too afraid of your father to harm one of his favorite toys.”

Mari squeezed his hand, but didn’t say anything. This was his story to share or not, without pressure or judgment.

“It wasn’t until the end that things really started to get bad. Those parties changed overnight from free-for-all sex into snuff films.”

Mari couldn’t control the sob that escaped her. She’d had no idea it had gotten that bad. Why had no one told her? The answer came as quickly as the question itself. Because there was nothing she could have done and it would have killed her to know.

“I didn’t bottom forthoseparties. He always brought in people from the club.” His expression grew bleak. “For those parties, he made me top the poor souls he brought in. When I refused, he said he would kill them if I didn’t do it. And I knew with absolute certainty that he would do it.”

Mari rested her hand on his chest when his breath hitched, thinking about the scars that marked his skin underneath. It had been so much worse than she’d ever imagined it could be.

Rio swallowed thickly. “So, he made me hard with his magic and I did it. And I can’t forgive myself for it, even though I know it saved their lives.”

She leaned into him and hugged him as hard as she could as the tears overtook him. Her father had devised the perfect way to torture a kind soul like him.

They both cried quietly for a few minutes. When he started to back away from her, she let him go. As close as they’d become over the last few weeks, she’d realized that contact sometimes made him uncomfortable. And no wonder.

He wiped his face and shook his head, determined to finish what he had started. “After that I let Cisco make me forget.” He sniffled. “But there were only a few more parties. I have no idea what happened the night of the last one, but your father was dead the next day.”

Cisco stepped from the shadows. “I’ll tell you if you want to know. You deserve the truth about what happened if you want it.” He sighed, passing a hand over his face. “But I don’t think you should ask and I won’t restore those memories to you.”

Rio blinked up at him. “I trust you with everything I am. I don’t want to know.”

Cisco cupped the side of Rio’s face with one hand. “The only reason he walked out of that room alive was because there were too many of them. I couldn’t kill all of them before they would be able to take me down and I didn’t want to die trying and abandon you to that.”

Rio leaned into his touch. “I forgive you.”

“You’re so much more than I deserve.” Cisco’s eyes darted to Mari. “You both are. I’m more sorry than I can say that I let it get to that point.”

Mari reached to hold his free hand. “You thought you could help by being inside.”

Cisco nodded sadly. “I realized that night that any control I thought I’d had was part of the game to him. He couldn’t be tempered. He couldn’t be fixed. He was evil and if I didn’t do something to stop him, so was I.” He tightened his fingersaround Mari’s. “The next time I was alone with him, I killed him.”

He leaned down to kiss Mari, and then Rio, his lips soft and unhurried. “Why don’t both of you head to the pool house for a while and enjoy each other? I’ve got a few things to finish up and then I’ll be along.”

He escorted them both to the hallway and then left them each with a scorching kiss filled with the promise of pleasures untold. Mari and Rio walked hand in hand to the pool house.

Rio led Mari to the pool house in silent contemplation. The conversation from the solarium was obviously on his mind, but she didn’t think she was entitled to those thoughts. He shut the door behind them and started to disrobe mechanically.

When he reached to take off his joggers, Mari grabbed his hand and stood quietly next to him until he looked up at her. “Hey, what’s going on in there?”

He smiled reflexively, but there was little of his usual joy in it. “Cisco carries all of the worst memories of that time from you and me and who knows how many others. I worry that it’s too much to ask of him to hold on to all of that.”

Mari wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close, resting her head against his bare shoulder. “I worry about that too. Sometimes I wonder how much more there is that we don’t know about.”

“Yeah. He’s got some from Nova and Karma that I know about, but I’m sure there are more.” He hugged her, filling her with warmth, and sighed. “All of the stuff that was so bad that we can’t bear to remember it and he’s just carrying it all around inside of him. How is that not killing him?”

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