Page 93 of The Disputed Legacy

“When we got home and Damon grabbed me?” He nodded. “I was scared too. I was scared when Maxim got you, too. But now that I know they’re Saul’s brothers, it’s okay.” A yawn escaped him, and I wondered if he’d be so innocent and trusting if he were more alert.

“Everything will be okay,” I agreed, realizing that I could actually mean that now.

I sat with him, talking about everyone we’d met, but he was out before I got past my opinions about the cute niece Saul had held, the smiling cherub everyone called Isa.

“Good night,” I whispered to my son. I leaned in to kiss his brow and sat there for another moment, just watching him.

But I couldn’t hide in here all night.

Saul wanted answers. He’d given me so many already, and it was my turn to tell him my secrets.

It wouldn’t be easy, but now that he’d shown—again—how much he valued our lives and keeping us safe, I felt silly to worry that I couldn’t trust him.

I slipped out of Oscar’s room and closed the door behind me. As I turned to go through the enormous living room, I stopped short at the sight of Saul pacing.

He looked up at me, holding the back of his head. “Is he all right?”

I nodded, approaching him.

“I mean it. It’s a lot to take in. I told my brothers ahead of time to tone it down around him, but it’s a lot. I get it. He’s not overwhelmed?”

I shook my head. “Not yet.”

“He wasn’t too scared about Damon and Maxim getting you out of there?”

“A little, but we talked about it.”

He sighed and reached for my hand to guide me to the couch. After he sat, he stopped me from sitting next to him to guide me onto his lap.

“Talk, Willow. Please talk. I’ve opened up. I told you what I was hesitating to share with you for the last two months. It is your turn.”

I cringed but nodded. “I… know.”

“Whoownsyou?”

He would lead with that. I’d kept him in the dark and tried to maintain distance between us, but he realized that one question would be the most important to explain it all.

I cleared my throat and drew a deep breath.

“Wait.” He framed my face and kissed me hard, tender but with possessive force. “Remember that I love you. No matter what.”

I didn’t understand how I deserved him. His love. I had yet to tell him that I loved him back, but I owed him these answers first.

“My parents weren’t very kind. My mother wanted nothing to do with me, upset that her body had changed so much from her pregnancy. I was a burden, not a blessing. She never failed to remind me that I was a mistake. My father wasn’t any better, unloving and not caring about my happiness. But as I got older, he seemed to see me as an asset. It was ironic because he was supposed to be a priest, a man of religion and loving and kind. To his church members, he was. But to me? I was a pawn.

“He had a gambling habit, using the donations to the church to try to earn whatever he could to fund his porn obsession. But when he got in too deep with losing bets and not winning at the tables, he used me as a payment. He ‘sold’ me to someone else in the community who was just as influential as he was supposed to be.”

He tightened his grip on my waist and I saw the tic in his cheek. “Go on.”

“He sold me to a cop. To…” I lifted my hand. “To do with as he pleased.”

“You married him?”

“No. I was just his thing. His fuck toy. He raped me, and when he saw fit, he let his coworker cops have their turns.” I heaved out a deep breath, proud of myself to have gotten it all out.

Saul didn’t judge. He didn’t move, watching me and rubbing his hand over my knee.

“I was held at this cop’s house for maybe a month. He did as he pleased with me, which wasn’t much. Just to rape me, missionary, nothing else. He said he’d breed me, and I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t believe that my father sold me to a man who’d treat me like that. So, I broke out the first time.”