Page 100 of A Captive Situation

“What happened?”

“Tab’s dad had political ambitions. He was a judge back then. He’s also a piece of shit as a husband, father, and person. He found out and went crazy. He forced her to divorce me after EJ was born.”

“Did you fight it? Did you want the marriage?”

His eyes lifted to mine, a stark expression in them. “No.” He sighed again. “I didn’t want to be married, to be honest. We’d been together for three years in high school.”

“Your family was against the marriage too?”

He nodded, his gaze falling back to my chest, slowly descending. “My parents were okay with it. They wanted to support me, do what they could, but Tab’s father went to my uncles and promised to use all his resources to go after the family if they didn’t make me go through with the divorce. They ... forced my hand. Said they would tell my parents what I’d been doing for them. I ... I think my uncles were picking their battles, and I guess I did too. I didn’t love her enough to go against my family, or hers. When Tab realized I wasn’t going to fight it, she took off to California. Took EJ with her.”

“She took your son from you? Did you follow her?”

His hand ran to the back of my thigh, pulling me tighter against him. “At first, yeah. I moved into a place down the block and got a job. My uncles left me alone, and things were okay. I enjoyed having the freedom, but then my parents were in a car accident.”

“Jake,” I murmured, my palm against his chest again.

“They didn’t make it, and there was Justin. He was still a teenager. My uncles offered to take him in, but fuck if I was going to let them brainwash him to be like them. I knew what they would do to him, so I went back to raise him. Tab refused to come with me. That waswhen her father asked for a meeting. He was powerful by then, and he threatened me. Said he could make my family’s life hell if I didn’t agree to leave Tab and my son alone. I didn’t believe him, told him to fuck off. Nothing and no one was going to come between my son and me, you know? I was young and pissed. My parentsjustdied. I’d already divorced her, but there was no way I was going to give up being a part of my son’s life. I didn’t give a fuck what he said. The family didn’t rally around us after my parents’ death. They died while they were exiled so the family didn’t see it any other way. Even in death, they were still exiled.

“My mental state wasn’t too stable, I guess you could say. I didn’t care whatever Tab’s dad had on my family, until he showed me a file. At first I thought he knew about whatI’ddone for them, but it was a lot of circumstantial evidence on my uncles. Nothing that they couldn’t have fought against themselves, but then he pulled out a photo of a young girl.”

I waited for him to keep going. He didn’t, too lost in the past.

“Who was the girl?”

His gaze jerked up to me, the same haunted expression floated in and took hold. “My dad had an affair. He’d been financially supporting the woman and the little girl. My dad’s daughter. Tab’s father had everything. Who the mother was. Where they lived. The money trail.”

“You have a sister?”

His eyes darkened. “I took over the payments. The mother doesn’t know my dad is dead. She just knows the money shows up in her account every month and she seems okay with it.”

“That’s why you stayed away from your son? Tabitha’s dad blackmailed you?”

“No. There’s more.” He pulled me further against him, both of his hands gripping behind me, beginning to roll me over him. Back and forth. “Tab was there. I didn’t know that. She’d left EJ in California with her aunt, and came because she knew her dad was going to make this play. I told her dad to go to hell, but when he was threatening to expose my sister, Justin showed up.” He stopped, swallowing thickly.Those shadows seemed to flit across his face. He was tormented. One of his hands shook on my hip before clamping down once more. “Justin was not in a good mindset either. He knew about the mob business, but Justin, he—he wasn’t like me or the rest. He was good. He was always good. Popular. Athletic. He was the definition of a golden boy, but he came to the house and overheard the last part. He lost it when he heard Tabitha’s dad threaten to expose our sister to the rest of the family. We would’ve been fine with her. We would’ve loved her. I do love her, but exposing her would’ve put her on our uncles’ radar. Justin knew what would happen if that occurred. They would’ve forced her and her mother into our family. Girls in the Mafia are sometimes married off for an alliance. My uncles back then liked to still do that. Her life would’ve been ruined. Justin, he—” He stopped again, his chest rising sharply. “Justin killed him.”

“What?” I froze.

“Tab was there, saw the whole thing.”

I was starting to put the pieces together with a sinking feeling. “Tab’s father didn’t blackmail you to stay away from your son because—”

His eyes held mine, so tortured, so lost. “Tab did. She threatened to expose our sister and Justin.”

“It was her dad. Wasn’t she—I mean—”

“Wasn’t she grief-stricken?” An ugly laugh came from him. “No. Like I said, her dad was a piece of shit, but Tab capitalized on what happened.” His hands held me firm, yanking me to him, crushing my chest to his, but his gaze was focused behind me. I didn’t think he was still in this room. He was back there, in his past. “She had video footage. She threatened to expose Justin for what he did, and expose our sister if I didn’t stay away from her and EJ until he turned eighteen. I started to tell her to go fuck herself, but then I got a good look at Justin. He wasn’t there. There was an unhinged look in his eyes, and he took off after that. I had to go after him. I didn’t know what he was going to do.”

He had to choose between his brother and sister, or his son.

He began kneading my thighs, moving me over him again. I wasn’t sure if he was aware of his ministrations.

“Jake,” I murmured softly.

I wished I could’ve been there. I wished I could’ve done something for him, reason with Tabitha, help watch over Justin. Anything. “What happened after all of that?”

“Justin’s good. Every part of his DNA is, just, good. What he did, on top of the grief from losing our parents ... By the time I found him, he’d snapped. His mind broke. He didn’t remember what he did. He didn’t remember anything, not even hearing about our new sister.”

“He had no idea what he’d done?”

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