Page 42 of Traitorous Lies
“Look, it’s not like that, okay? She’s not like she’s portrayed to be. She’s sweet, shy, and introverted. She’s funny and I enjoyed talking to her. She also shared some stuff that happened to her when she was a kid, allowing me to see her vulnerabilities.”
Sighing, he dragged his fingers through his hair. This wasn't how he’d expected their homecoming to be. He’d pictured taking Monique back home with him, washing every inch of her beautiful body, then falling asleep in a proper bed with her in his arms.
Instead, she’d gone home alone, and she never wanted to see him again.
To make it worse, his brothers seemed to want to talk him out of caring about Monique, and he wasn't about to let that happen.
Any of it.
But he had to fight this battle first. If he was going to win over Monique, apologize to her and make it up to her for keeping secrets, then he needed his family on his side. Without their support, Monique would never feel comfortable with any of them.
“Since she didn't know about her father’s involvement in all of this, she thought when we were run off the road that it was a kidnapping for ransom attempt. That those men were after her and not me. She believed that since it was her they wanted, because she’s been through something like that before. Thought I was collateral damage, so she tried to make a deal for them to keep me alive.” Once again, he raked his fingers through his hair, tugging enough to feel a sting in an attempt to let out a little of the raging emotions inside him every time he thought of her doing that for him. “She offered to let them use her body however they wanted if they didn't kill me.”
For a long moment his brothers just stared at him in shock.
He got it. That didn't vibe with the image the media had of the young heiress, but that was just all it was. An image. Not the real Monique. Not the woman who hated being judged because of who she was and treated accordingly, even though none of the things she was portrayed as were true.
Monique deserved to be seen.
Not just by him, but by everyone and that started with his family.
There was no way in hell he was going to allow them to judge her when they didn't even know a thing about her. The fact that she’d offered them a DNA sample after he’d lied to her and she didn't even believe them should be enough to convince them she was not just a decent human being but an amazing one.
“I'm sorry she went through that,” Cole said softly. None of them had to ask to know that he was thinking about how Susanna had been raped because Monique’s father and the other men involved in this had thought she was Cole’s girlfriend, and that hurting her would get them to back off in their search for answers. Susanna was now Cole’s girlfriend, but at the time, she’d been nothing more than his neighbor who he hated.
“Yeah, me too,” Connor added as he rubbed at his chest. His girlfriend Becca had been raped while they were in college and in the aftermath their relationship had crumbled until he tracked her down a couple of months ago and they rebuilt what they’d lost.
“She was prepared to go through that again to save me. I think she deserves your respect,” he told them firmly. If there was any possible way for him to win Monique back, he would. He wasn't giving up on her, and if he was successful, his family would become her family. A family he wanted to love and care about her, give her what her biological one hadn't.
“No one is disrespecting her, Jax, we’re all just surprised she’s not what we expected,” Jake assured him.
“And she’s … she’s Cassandra’s half-sister,” Cole added.
“Half-sister who didn't have a great childhood, who doesn’t have the same support system that Cassandra does, who isn’t responsible in the least for her father’s actions. She’s just a woman looking to be loved and accepted, nothing more and nothing less. I don’t want to have to choose sides, especially between two women who have done nothing wrong, but I won't allow anyone to disparage Monique for any reason,” he warned, prepared and ready to draw his line in the sand. It was the least he owed Monique.
“You saying you’d pick her over your family?” Jake asked, eyes widening in shock.
“No. I'm saying I don’t want to have to choose, but I can't explain how I feel about Monique, it was quick, but it was powerful. She’s all alone, and I lied to her, I won't let her down again.”
“We wouldn't ask you to,” Cooper assured him. “You're right, Monique is already family. She might not believe it, but she’s Cassandra’s half-sister which means she’s one of us.”
“One of us,” Connor repeated with a firm nod.
“We’ve got your back and hers,” Cole added.
Jax looked to Jake, needing his big brother to get how important this was to him. They might not have set out to hurt Monique, but they had, and she didn't deserve that.
“I'm with you, brother,” Jake promised. “You say she’s important to you, and that’s all I need to know. Everything we’ve seen over the last few hours supports that she’s not the spoiled, pampered princess we were expecting. Whatever you need from us you have it.”
“Right now, all I need is your prayers for a miracle. I'm not letting Monique go without a fight. She needs space and I’ll give it to her. I'm going to watch over her and make sure her father doesn’t decide she’s become a liability. Then I'm going to figure out how to prove to her how sorry I am and that I’ll never let her down again.”
For which he would definitely need a miracle.
November 7th
6:52 P.M.
“Aww, thanks, my little cutie pie.”
