Page 62 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part Two
Her dad reached out to grab her, but then Hendrick was there. “No.” Aviva’s dad raised his fist in Hendrick’s direction, but he just laughed in the man’s face. “My father spent half my childhood beating me. Try your best, but I can take a hit, and I will take every fucking one for her. Every. Single. One.”
I tucked Aviva to my chest, holding her tightly as she cried silently. It was the worst, those silent tears. I could see her heart breaking, but it was like the sound had become lodged in her chest like a knife.
Rage that I hadn’t felt in a long time bubbled up inside me. It was the impotent rage I felt whenever Hendrick returned beaten and broken. I wouldn’t let that happen to Aviva.
“We are taking Aviva home now. You’re welcome to try and get their marriage annulled, but know this—we will use every resource we have, including all that money you seem to think has made us terrible people, and we will use it to ensure that whatAvivawants, happens. If she wanted to leave tomorrow, we would kiss her on the cheek and wish her the best. What Aviva needs is more important to us than anything, you included.”
I paused, sucking in a deep breath. “You love your daughter—that much is obvious. We love her too. But right now, you are the ones hurting her. I hope you find it in yourselves to look past your own prejudices, so Aviva can have all the love in the world, both from us and from you. Until then, she stays with us. We’ll work on mending what you broke today, and then if Aviva wants to contact you again soon, we’ll fly back down here and try again. But no one hurts her. Not us, and definitely not her own flesh and blood.”
I moved Aviva toward the door as her parents gaped back at me. Hendrick looked back over his shoulder. “Thank you for inviting us into your home. Have the day you deserve.”
We didn’t even get Aviva to the car before her panic attack set in.
Chapter31
Aviva
Iwas dying. I couldn’t draw enough oxygen into my lungs, and I was about to suffocate in the backseat of a hire car. Black spots crept into the edges of my vision, while my chest felt like it was about to cave in.
Hendrick held me tightly to his chest. “I’ve got you, Viva. I’m right here. Listen to my voice, feel my arms holding you. Let your hurt and anxiety sink into me, because I can take it, baby. I can hold that hurt for you; you just gotta let it go. Give it to me.”
I sucked in the scent of him, trying to draw him in like he said. He wasn’t done though.
“Think about Evan. He makes you feel safe, right? I mean, it could be those broad as fuck shoulders or the way he always looks like he wants to murder something—”
“Drix, is that helpful?” Otto coughed from the driver's seat, and Drix shrugged.
“Fine. Think about Otto. Think about how handsome he looks when he’s reading in the sun, and the light hits his head just right and he looks like an angel and makes you breathless.”
I could imagine it. I’d seen it. He was a gorgeous man, too pretty to be real. And that beautifulness permeated him, inside and out.
My chest loosened as I thought about how Otto always held me so gently in his arms, and how he was always there, making sure I took my meds in an unobtrusive way. How he was the first person on my side, every single time.
“Think of Sampson, and the way you were too irresistible to him. How much he loves you, despite fighting it so hard. The way his eyes follow you around the room like you’re the very sun he needs to thrive.”
I took a shuddering breath, but didn’t lift my head from his chest. I could feel we were speeding through the streets, Otto probably anxious to get me home where he could take care of me.
“I’m okay,” I croaked out, but he didn’t slow down. “Otto, I promise. I’m okay now. Slow down so you don’t get arrested.”
The car slowed a little. Hendrick lifted me out of his lap and put me onto the seat beside him, buckling me in properly. I looked out the window, and realized we were almost back at the hotel already. Geez, how many speed laws had Otto broken?
Actually, we weren’t too far away from… “Do you want to see it?”
Hendrick raised an eyebrow at me. “Always. But in the spirit of fairness, I’ll show you mine first.” He started unzipping his pants, and I slapped his hand.
“Not that! The tree. The one that got me sent to the Heath Buckley Center.”
“Oh shit,thattree!” Hendrick yelled, and Otto met my eyes in the rearview mirror.
He searched my face for a moment, before asking, “Do you want to show us?”
That tree had been the start of everything. I would never have met them without it.
“Yeah, I think so. Take a left up here.”
I directed them through the back streets, along the path I used to use when I drove home from college. I wasn’t sure why I made myself drive past the Petersons’ house every time; it wasn’t something I did consciously. Maybe it was some kind of self-punishment, like their beige happiness was the best I could hope for as my future. Or maybe I was flagellating myself that deep down, I would never be that unburdened.
My parents’ hateful words echoed around my brain. The worst part was, I kind of got it. I could see it from their point of view, how it must look. They were open and loving people normally, but societal bigotry went both ways. They’d hated Hendrick immediately because he was rich and because he was a playboy. I’d done the exact same thing.
