Page 61 of Tying the Knot
“You’re magnificent. Do you feel better, though?”
She sighs. “Yes, but I really want to say all of that to Adam.”
“What about the other two?”
“I don’t give a shit about them. I don’t even want to see them, let alone speak to them. They all knew, and they didn’t do anything.”
I pause, wanting to bring it up. We all heard her, but I needed the opening she just gave me. “Do you really think that’s what they did?”
She snaps her head to the side to glare at me. I can feel the heat from it searing into my skin. “I know that’s what they did.”
“If you have evidence, you can press charges.”
“I don’t. I swept them all up off the floor and threw them away. No, I don’t knowfor sure, but I know he swapped my vitamins out. I confirmed that the night they were arrested, and I know that with four mates and eight years later, I have no baby.”
“I see.” Rage is bubbling up inside me, the likes of which I have never felt before. I want to murder these arseholes with my bare hands. How could they be so cruel? “I’m sorry they prevented you from having what you wanted.”
She snorts. “Gee, you sound really sincere.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “I am. But I’m taking a stab in the dark that you wanted kids. Unsure rather than insincere.”
“Just ask,” she chides. “Anything you want to know. Do I want children? Of course I do. It’s etched into my soul and being childless at this age has left me empty and sad.”
“You’re hardly an old crone.”
“No, but that’s not the point.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“You need to stop apologising for the stuff thattheycaused.”
“I know.” I twist my mouth into a half smile, half grimace. “It’s a throwback from my youth. When my dad left my mum, it became an automatic reaction whenever I upset her or even thought I’d upset her, which was all the time.”
“Your dad also left your mum?”
“You too?”
She shakes her head. “No, Kaleb mentioned his parents earlier. My parents are still together. I presume. I haven’t spoken to them in years. Adam isolated me from them.”
“Of course he did,” I mutter.
“What a shitshow.”
“You can say that again, but you are here now, and we are so excited to have you as part of our pack. We want to take care of you and give you all the love you deserve.” I turn to give her a soft smile.
She returns it before I look back at the road. We are nearly home.
As I pull up, she says, “I want to work and contribute. But you will have to bear with me. I’ve never worked a proper job, and I don’t know how hireable I am or what I’m good at. I hope that’s okay?”
“More than okay. You don’t even have to do that. We want to take care of you in every way.” I can say this with the utmost confidence. Even Elijah would agree that if she wanted to lie about all day doing nothing but existing, he would welcome it.
She shakes her head defiantly as I put the car into park and turn to look at her. “No. I will pay my way. I am done beingkept.”
Her bitterness hurts my heart. “That’s not what you would be.”
“I know,” she says, cupping my face. “But it’s how I would feel. I’m already a ball of anxiety and worry. I don’t need that adding to it.”
“You are stronger than you think.”
