Page 149 of Her Daddies' Everything

“A shell?” Tobias asked. “What do you mean?”

Jenner could tell that Immy didn’t know how to explain her mom.

“Immy’s mom is basically a parrot,” Jenner said. “Whatever would come of her dad’s mouth, her mother repeated. She was a complete shell. No personality. No thoughts of her own. It was kind of freaky.”

Freaky was one word for it.

“She would never go against him,” Immy said. “At least, not as far back as I can remember. No matter what he did.”

“What he did?” Tobias asked in a quiet voice.

Tobias’ssoft tone fooled her into thinking he wasn’t that concerned about what she was saying. That he was calm.

Turns out, she should have paid closer attention.

To him and to Jenner.

That’s what happened when you were recovering from the flu, though. Sometimes, you didn’t guard your words as closely as you should.

“He was always berating me for being a child. Saying that I should grow up. Stop being so dumb, so stupid, such a child. I don’t remember ever having a toy. I knew about them from what the others told me. Sometimes, the Deity would take one of the kids into town with him. But never me. Oh, except for the time we snuck into town to watch a movie. Jenner spent most of the movie with his hands over my eyes.” She turned her head to give the other man a mock-glare.

“It was a horror. You would have had nightmares.”

She shrugged. “We were living in a real-life horror movie, how would that have been worse?”

Jenner winced. “I didn’t know your dad was so hard on you, baby. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Why would I do that? Everyone had bad stuff going on. My parents were just . . . well, my father was overly critical of everything I did. And my mother parroted him. He told me that once the Deity found a husband for me, I would finally have to grow up and then I would be worth something. As a breeder. My womb was the only thing that made me worthwhile. That made him want to keep me alive.”

Jenner sucked in a breath while Tobias suddenly picked up an egg and threw it against the wall.

She stared at the smashed egg in shock.

“That was fucking unsatisfying,” Tobias snarled. “That motherfucker. How could he say that to you? His fucking daughter!”

“It really wasn’t that bad.” And she decided not to point out his swearing. Maybe he did need a subscription rate for the swear jar.

It had been bad, though. Because it hadn’t just been once. His comments had been unrelenting. All the time. All she heard was how useless she was. How she wouldn’t be anything until she had a child. How she had to stop acting like a useless child all the time.

“You’re squirming,” Jenner pointed out. “So it really was that bad. You never told me this.” He half-turned her so she could look up into his face. The pain there made her flinch.

“I didn’t think it was worth telling anyone. And I had you guys to take care of me. I wasn’t alone. You guys were always there when I needed you to be. And Abe even made me that doll once. I had everything I needed.”

“That doll was made of fucking sticks and string,” Jenner said in a choked voice.

“I loved that doll. I called her Sticky. Not very original now that I think about it.”

“What happened after the cult was raided?” Tobias asked. “Please fucking tell me that your bastard father was arrested.”

She gave Tobias a surprised look. “No. He wasn’t a Sentinel, he was a sheep. But he was good at talking.”

“Believe it or not, Immy’s parents were some of the better ones. Well, I thought they were. Her dad convinced the authorities that he’d been brainwashed and once he’d seen the truth, he was scared to try and leave for fear of the Deity and Sentinels retaliation. And Immy’s mom backed him up.”

“You . . . you lived with him after?” Tobias asked in a choked voice.

“You’re not going to throw another egg, are you?” she asked.

“Fuck. Fuck!”

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