Page 115 of Damaged Prince
Hand in hand with Kai, we head inside. “Laney,” Kai rasps, pulling her into his arms when she meets us at the door.
“I’ve missed you so fucking much, big guy,” Laney says, kissing Kai much like he just kissed me. I can’t help but smile, my heart feeling full again. “Thank you for avenging our man,” Laney whispers against his lips, and my eyes sting.
“Always,” he growls before kissing her again.
Dad watches us, a happy smile on his face.
“You look happy. Too happy.” I narrow my eyes on him.
He laughs. “Because I am. There's stuff we need to talk about.”
We all gather in the kitchen, joining Logan and Benny, who are sitting in his high chair, eating lunch.
“What do you need to talk about?”
“Daniel and Evelyn have been arrested.”
“What? Really?” My eyes widen.
His face goes sober. “They opened an investigation into them, gaining access to their computers. What they found.” Dad sighs, looking away. “It wasn’t good.” He clears his throat whilemy stomach drops. I don’t want details. I don’t wanna know. “And before you blame yourself for not coming forward sooner, all of the evidence was dated back around the time things were happening to you.” I hate how broken he looks; he blames himself, and I know the guilt is eating him alive. “Still, it’s enough to open an investigation on them. That's all I know for now. But what I do know is they’re not going to get out of this, Elijah. They will go to jail by the end of this. I’ll fucking make sure of it,” my dad vows.
I believe him, and I wish I felt like I could have gone to him sooner. “I want to testify against them,” I say.
“Are you sure?” Kai growls, his arm pulling me closer.
I nod. “I want to make sure the world knows everything they’ve done. I want to tell my story.”
When I opened up and told Dad and Laney the details of my nightmares, I told myself never again.
But I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and decided if they were going to be charged, I want everything I say or do to help put them behind bars.
Even if that means telling my story to more than just the people I trust. It’s worth it if the other people they hurt get their justice too.
“Okay,” Dad says, nodding. “I’m so proud of you, Eli.” His eyes grow glassy, as do mine.
“Thank you.”
Dad pulls me into a hug, nearly crushing me.
The night I gave my statement, before we got to the lawyer’s office, Dad broke down in the car on the way there. We had to pull over onto the side of the road so we didn’t crash.
He cried. I cried with him. He told me how sorry he was, how he failed me, and he wished I had come to him.
I promised him he did nothing wrong, and my not coming to him had nothing to do with him.
I was a scared little boy who believed the words of his abusers. And as time went by, I didn’t know how to say the words I wanted to.
I know my dad loves me. He’s always done his best for me and my brothers. He’s my hero. And I know now that he will always be there for me, fight for me, and look after me.
My mindset isn’t the same as it was back then. I’m older, stronger. And a lot of it has to do with the help of my lovers and my loved ones.
“What about you?” I ask Kai after Dad finishes filling us in and leaves.
“Well.” He blows out a breath. “Still out on bail,” he chuckles. “But I think I’m going to be okay.”
“Any judge in the world would see why you did what you did.” Laney looks so damn cute when she’s pissed. “I’d have done the same thing. Or worse,” she mutters.
“Careful, Sweetheart. Your stabby side is turning me on,” Kai chuckles. Not gonna lie, it’s doing the same for me.
