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The more I thought about it, the more I realized I would never get a fair shake with my name. My father had rubbed so many people the wrong way, they didn’t trust me.
I knew if it came down to it, these men wouldn’t have my back.
If it came down to it, I would be Taz, left naked and alone in the elements to die.
Hell, I was sure if they could get away with it, they’d kill me themselves.
After returning from Australia with Taz on my arm, I hit the ground running. Though they were giving me a few days off to get my body back used to the Thai weather and time zone, I asked to meet with my captain.
That meeting was a little later—after I faced one of the demons that had been chasing me since that day, years before, when I found out the kind of man my father was.
I stood in the massive ballroom of my father’s house. It was mine now—after he ran off with people’s money, there was a lot of court proceedings, selling off his assets to pay back the people he’d ripped off. While I released all the artwork he had, I held onto the house.
I wasn’t sure why.
“My father liked beautiful things.” I managed after coughing. “Cars, women, art. While digging through his things I lost count on how many women he’d taken to his bed even though he’d been married to my mother. The more I found out about him, the more I realized that if my mother hadn’t died when she did—she would have killed him.”
“Why do you say that?”
Taz’s voice was soft and comforting from behind me.
“Everything my father did was wrong in every sense of the word.” I replied. “My mother was a strong woman—but at some point—”
“Enough would have been enough.”
“Mm.”
“This place obviously holds some darkness for you. The kind of darkness that hurts you.” Taz pressed a gentle palm to my back. “I guess what I’m trying to ask is, why keep it?”
“Um.” I blinked, trying to register her question. “I thought I could change the memories. Exorcize the demons by raising my family here. I thought once I got married, my wife would like a big house with an ocean view.”
“I don’t require a big house with an ocean view.”
Taz walked away from me to stare out the window on the other side.
“And our kids are not growing up here.” She added.
I laughed softly.
“What?” She wanted to know.
Shaking my head, I walked to her and pulled her into my arms.
“Our kids.” I answered.
Taz turned in my arms to look up into my face.
“You don’t want kids?” She asked.
“All of them.” I replied.
She kissed my chin.
We continued through the house until we arrived in the room my parents had used for their master. It was twice the size of any of the other rooms in the house. I had chosen the smallest room for my own—it overlooked the water and a rock outcropping that resembled a drinking elephant.
Above the space where the bed used to be, sat a framed painting. It bright colours and beautiful—if you didn’t know precisely what it was. For me, the beauty vanished when I found out.
Taz gasped. “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.”