Page 4 of The Destruction You Desire

"No." I hop up, anger once again taking precedence over the hurt. "You don't get to sit there and pull that face at me like you're innocent in all of this. That is not how this works, Luca."

"That's not—"

I march up to where he's sitting and loom over him. It's probably one of the only times in my life I've ever properly stood up to him, but that confused little boy inside gives me the strength to do what's needed.

"Six years ago, your sick cunt of a father got his hands on my sister. I have no idea what fucking game he was playing, or if he has a thing for high school seniors but he got her fucking pregnant, Luca. She was barely an adult and he fucked everything up. She was weak, you know that as well as I do, and he used it against her to get what he wanted. He's sick, Luca. And you stood there and told me that I was the one in the wrong when I told you about the conversation I'd overheard between Libby and Mom. I tried to warn you. To allow you to come to terms with it before whatever happened next. But you called me a liar. I'm not a fucking liar, Luc. I've never lied to you."

"Fuck that, P." He climbs to his feet, taking away my height advantage. "He's five years old for fuck's sake. At what point were you going to tell me that he even existed?"

"I don't know, Luc. Maybe when you weren't locking me inside people's pool houses and taking out all your anger on me."

"You should have told me."

I stare at him, my jaw working overtime as I try to keep my cool.

"That little boy in there is the only thing I care about right now. Libby is gone, Luc. She fucked off when he was a baby. My mom is dead and he—" A sob rips from my throat once more as I think about how small and vulnerable he looked in those early days after the accident. I already knew by then that Mom hadn't made it and I spent every second I could sitting by his bedside, holding his hand and praying that he wasn't going to leave me too.

"What happened?"

"Car accident," I grit out.

Silence falls between us and when I look away from his tormented eyes, I find Aunt Fee standing at the kitchen window watching us.

Straightening my spine, I swallow down my apprehension and force the words I need to say past my lips.

"I need you to leave."

A bitter laugh rips from his throat.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. You can't drop a bomb like that and expect me just to leave."

"You weren't invited here, Luca, and you're not welcome. I need to go inside and make sure Kayden is okay. And you, you need to go and get your head straight because I can assure you that if I let you meet him properly, that you're not going to be in the state you are now."

"If you let me?" he spits, repeating my words back at me.

"Yeah, asshole.If.You lost any right to me or my family the day you called me a liar and walked away from me."

"Your family. He's mine too. Fuck."

I laugh but there's no humor in it. Just pain and anger.

"Yeah, so maybe you should think about how you want to deal with that because he deserves better than you. He's lost everything, Luc. Everything apart from me and there's no fucking way I'm letting you or anyone else hurt him any more than he already is."

Turning away from him, I storm toward the house needing to see my boy and make sure he's okay.

"Peyton, wait."

I don't want to do as he says, but the emotion cracking in his voice forces my body to stop at his demand.

"What, Luc?" I snap, looking over my shoulder, but not at him. I can't bear the agony and confusion in his eyes any longer.

"I-I'm sorry."

I scoff. "Too little too late, Luca."

Before he can reply, I yank the back door open and leave it to slam behind me.

The second our connection is severed, my knees give out and I start to fall, only what I fall into is a warm body as Aunt Fee's floral scent engulfs me as her arms wrap tightly around me.