Page 69 of Addicted
“Mom?” Aeron questions in that soft, calm tone he used before. She turns to look at him, a small smile coming onto her face. “I wanted you to meet someone.”
He tugs me forward, and my heart beats wildly in my chest as her gaze fastens onto mine, her eyes widening.
“Julie?”
My mouth drops open, no words escaping as I hear my mother’s name for the first time in years.
“They told me you’d died. Oh, Julie!” Tears fill her eyes, making the blue sparkle as she reaches out with both arms, her shawl slipping down to expose bony shoulders protruding through a white blouse.
“Julie was my mom,” I tell her finally, shifting on my feet as I see the confusion on her face, her arms dropping and hands resting in her lap. Aeron’s grip gets tighter. “I’m Lark, her daughter.”
“Lark? Her little songbird?” she whispers, her eyes drinking me in. My stomach bottoms out at the old nickname, one my mom always used as I loved to sing when I was little before Iknew the horrors of growing up. “Come here, let me have a look at you.”
Taking a deep breath, I let go of Aeron’s hand and go to her, this unknown connection of my mother’s. She grabs both my hands when I step in front of her and pulls me down so that I’m kneeling on the hard tile under our feet.
“How did you know my mom used to call me that?” My fingers tingle where she’s crushing them in her own, but I don’t care. I just want to talk to someone who knew my mom.
“You look so much like her when she was your age.” Her voice is full of soft wonder, and she releases one of my hands to cup my cheek. Her skin feels almost papery and her hand cool, but the touch is still comforting. “She loved you so, so much, Lark. Used to talk nonstop about how wonderful you were whenever we could sneak away to meet.”
“You used to meet up? How?” My head spins with everything that she’s revealed so far. How could the wives of the two rival gangs be friends? She chuckles, a dry rasping sound that has me wincing again.
“We were friends long before we met our husbands, and before they went to war,” she tells me, her stare going far once more. “And we kept up our friendship over the years, meeting and talking when we could, trying to soothe things between the men. Of course, it all changed that night—” She swallows, the motion visible in her bird-like neck.
“After what night?” I’m afraid to ask, there’s been so many fucking atrocious things happening between our families for so long.
“After your father caught us, letting his men punish us both for our friendship,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper, but I can tell by the tension around me that the guys have heard. Tears fill my eyes, knowing exactly which night she’s referring to.
I remember my mom coming back broken, bloody, and whimpering as she was dragged through the main room at our home and dumped onto the thin carpet floor. I was only eleven and a half; it was six months or so before my mom was killed, and I remember spying from the top of the staircase, feeling afraid as I heard their jeers and cruel laughter. It was the first time I truly feared my father and his men, and I ran to my room, shoving my pillow over my head when her screams became unbearable.
She couldn’t leave her bed for days afterwards, and my father tasked me with nursing her back to health, as though it wasn’t his fault that she was in such a mess. I’d heard about the Taylor lady, the men not caring of my child’s ears when they talked about how she screamed for them as they each took their turn. Sex was never something that was hidden particularly well with the Soldiers. Everything was always out in the open, regardless of any innocent children present.
“It’s okay, little Lark. It was a long time ago now,” she murmurs, and I blink when I feel her touch, her frail fingers swiping my tears away while she smiles down kindly at me, even if her pain is visible in the tightening around her eyes. “I’m sorry we took your mother away from you not long after.”
I bite my lips to try and hold back the sob, but it’s useless. The guys have opened the floodgates within me with their soft affection, and I could no sooner hold back my desolation than stop the stars from shining.
Without saying another word, she wraps her thin arms around me, pulling me into her body that smells floral and so similar to my mom’s old perfume that I just cry harder. My own hands clasp her back, and I can feel her blouse becoming wet under my cheek as I soak it with my sorrow; the sadness of a child who lost a parent and her innocence in a scant twenty-four hours overwhelming me.
“You’ll be alright, little Lark, you’re here now, and my boys will take good care of you,” she hums softly, and it’s enough to enable me to stem the flow a little, and pull away to look into her own tear-filled eyes. “I promised your mother that if anything happened to her, I would look after you. I’ve been too lost in my own sorrow to fulfill that vow, but I know my boys will. They’ll protect you from now on, darling.”
Fresh tears spill as I catch Aeron’s gaze and he gives a sharp nod, his brow furrowed in concern as he takes us in. I can see in the way his jaw is tight that he doesn’t like this, our sadness upsets him, and my heart flutters at the thought that he cares enough to be upset when I am. That he wants to make it better.
“She belongs to us now, Mom,” Jude states matter-of-factly, and I feel the blush stain my cheeks at the implication of his words. Heather doesn’t miss them either, if the knowing look in her eyes is any indication.
“Then you will keep her safe, even from your father.” It’s not a question. More of a command, and I see a glimmer of the Tailor lady inside her, the force that helped run their successful empire for so long.
“Even then,” Aeron agrees, coming closer and holding his hand out for me to take. With a soft kiss on my cheek, she lets me go, and I use his grip to get to my feet, albeit shakily.
“Good,” she says, a small smile gracing her thin lips when he wraps the arm around me and places a kiss atop my head. Warmth radiates from the spot. Jude, of fucking course, takes that moment to also wrap an arm around my waist, kissing my cheek and nuzzling into my hair. I can feel Tarl and Knox hover closer, and I cast a wary eye over to Heather, who just looks fit to burst into giggles.
“Off you go then,” she tells us, sounding weary all of a sudden and waving them away when Aeron starts to let go of me and go to her. “I’m fine, just a little tired is all. I’ll see you all soon?”
“Of course, Mom,” Jude beams, darting away and pressing a kiss on her cheek.
“Will you come too, Lark?”
“I–uh…” I trail off, thinking of what’s to come and that I may not be welcome again. “I’d love to.” I settle on the words after seeing the hopeful look in her eyes.
“I’d love to talk more about your mother, and all the mischief we used to get up to.”
