Page 31 of Hair, She Bears
It clattered to the ground.
“Good.” He loosened his grip, moving his knife away from her throat. Dragging the sharp point down the side of her face, it scratched her skin but did not draw blood. “Do you want to know why I chose you?”
She sat her teeth into her lower lip and nodded, a barely perceptible movement of her head.
“Your mother was a stunning woman, her coloring quite similar to yours, but she never looked more beautiful than the day she married your father,” Mother murmured against her cheek. “Yes, I was there. I stood at your father’s side, his best man.”
“I don’t believe you.” Zenna stared at the fireplace, her body numb. How could her parents befriend such a monster?
Mother spun her around, his fingers pinching her chin, jerking it up.
“I’ve known your father over half my life. He was a talented herbalist, and as luck would have it, he was assigned to my dormitory at university. But he had a gambling problem and ended up owing more than he could pay to a local bookie. We settled on a mutual arrangement—he grew the plant necessary to produce Votras Alute, and I cleared his debts. We continued in this partnership for some time until he met Anna.”
Releasing Zenna, Mother strode to the window. He smacked the latch up and shoved the shutters open. Moonlight streamed into the tower.
“She was good for him, your mother. Convinced him to stop gambling, stop drinking. He became more focused, dedicated to his work.” Mother spun around. “On my birthday, he presented me with a gift, a new strand of the plant. It was stronger, more potent, less required to make Votras Alute. Enzo planned to seed his land with it, but then, your mother fell ill, and your father, so desperately afraid to lose her,”—derision rolled through Mother’s voice—“made an unforgivable choice.”
“You took advantage of him.” Zenna’s hands clenched, and she took a step toward Mother.
“Your father stole from me!” Mother kicked the sofa, and it slid eight feet across the tower. She jumped out of the way, just before it crashed into the worktable, jarring the mortar and pestle. “He cut down my flower and boiled it into a broth, and your greedy mother drank every drop.”
“It saved her life.” Zenna grabbed the back of the sofa, her legs trembled. “How can you deny true love?”
“True love?” Mother snorted. “The first time I came for my plant, your father fell on his knees before me, a pathetic, whining, blubbering mess of a man, begging me for mercy because oftrue love.”
“You should have given it to him.”
“I did.” Mother stalked toward her. “I gave him five years to recreate a new plant. I lost thousands of dollars—”
“I know.” Zenna interrupted him with a grumble. “I’ve been paying it back.”
Ire flashed across his face, and then, a hint of amusement. He reached out and wrapped his hand around the back of her head, jerking her forward.
“When I returned for my plant the second time, your father had been unable to replicate his earlier success. He asked me to spare his life.”
“And my mother…”
“Your mother threw herself over his body and pleaded for a different solution.” He wrenched Zenna’s neck, pulling her forehead against his. “A physical arrangement.”
Zenna swallowed.
“She took me into their bedroom, while your father waited outside in the garden, a puddle of misery curled onto a stone bench. She pushed me back on their bed and removed her clothing one piece at a time.” He shuddered as the memory rolled over him.
“You cheated on your wife?” Shock dripped from Zenna’s voice.
“What do you know of Moira?” Mother frowned and leaned back, releasing her neck.
“I assumed you were with Malik’s mother at the time since he’s not much older than me.” Zenna leaned back against the rear of the sofa and folded her hands in her lap, pasting an innocent look on her face.
“We had an understanding—she looked the other way, and I let her keep her life.”
“If you had relations with my mother, why did you kidnap me?”
“I was distracted from completing our arrangement.” Mother drew one finger down her arm. Zenna shivered. “As Anna climbed on top of me and began grinding her pelvis against my erection,”—he smirked when Zenna frowned, appalled by his vulgarity—“I heard a soft noise, almost like the voice of an angel. I sat up, shoved your mother off my body, and yanked up my pants. Rising from the bed, I padded into the next room. She chased me, begging that I allow her to finish, but curiosity had diverted my interest. It was you I discovered in the next room, your golden hair surrounding you like a halo. I was disturbed, offended Enzo had failed to disclose your existence to me.”
“I’m sure he had good reason to protect his child from a murderer such as yourself.”
Mother’s hand tightened around her arm, squeezing until she cried out.
