Page 107 of Beautiful Exile

Arden reeled back, pulling herself from my hold and taking that scent of cherries with her. “What?”

I nodded. “Laying the groundwork in a variety of ways, just like he always does.”

Arden’s brows furrowed. “He’s done this before?”

I lowered myself to the mosaic bench, dropping my head andpinching the bridge of my nose. I didn’t know how to explain it. Even coming from someone who’d lived through it all, it sounded unhinged.

The scent of cherries returned as Arden sat, moving in close. She stroked a hand across my back in soothing circles, the kind of comfort I hadn’t gotten in well over a decade. “I’m here.”

Such a gentle promise. But grounded, too. Just like Arden.

“My father has a need for dominance in all things.”

Arden didn’t say a word, just kept up those circles.

“With every hobby I had as a child, he had to show he was better or that the activity was dumb. Everything from building model rockets to playing piano.” Countless memories swirled in my mind. Him accusing my mom of coddling me when she praised a painting I’d brought her. Stepping in during a piano lesson to show mehow it was really done. I hadn’t even realized that I’d started hiding the things I loved most from him in self-preservation.

“As I got older and saw who he really was, I pulled away,” I went on.

“I bet he didn’t like that.”

My lips twitched. “No.” My fingers gripped my knees, digging in. “My first serious relationship my sophomore year of college, I got an envelope by courier two weeks before we were supposed to move in together. Photos of him fucking her.”

Arden sucked in a breath. “Linc.”

“He always wants to take everything I care about. Won’t be happy until I come home and toe the line. Let him control every last thing in my life.”

“And that’s what he does to Ellie, too, isn’t it?” Arden asked softly.

I nodded, misery sweeping over me. “It’s a little less overt with her. More strategic. But he knows I already know exactly who he is. So, he doesn’t hide it. I think he actually gets a thrill out of me knowing.”

Arden took my hand, lifted it from my knee, and slid one of hers beneath it while covering it with the other. “It sounds like he’s sick.”

I was sure he was. People didn’t become that way in a vacuum. Maybe it was how my grandfather had been with him. But I wasn’t sure the reason mattered anymore.

“Sometimes it feels like it’ll never end. I keep thinking if I ignore him long enough, he’ll just…stop and let me live my life. But it never ends.”

Arden’s fingers tightened on mine. “Think he’d accept my challenge for a jujitsu match?”

That startled a laugh out of me. “Gonna take him down for me?”

“Oh, I’d love to. Maybe go for a nice castration at the end.”

My fingers curled, pulling our hands even tighter together. “Love you, Vicious.”

A flash of panic flared in her eyes, but she fought it back. “I talk about castrating your father, and you tell me you love me?”

“Well, you do say the sweetest things.”

Arden let out a soft laugh before sobering. “What can I do?”

“I don’t think there is anythingtodo until I have more information.”

“You’ll fight it, though?” she asked, and I didn’t miss the hint of hope in her voice.

“I’ll fight it. I just don’t want to stoop to his level in the process.”

“Hey.” Arden pulled our hands toward her, my attention along with them. “You won’t. You just need to remember that fighting him doesn’t mean you have to play his game. Just like a match. You don’t let your opponent force you into their game, you keep playing your own. But that doesn’t mean you don’t fight back.”

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