“Loves her,” I boast, unable to keep the joy out of my tone. “We’ve never had a real family like this. She has all of mom’s old things and knows stuff about my parents that I’d never been able to find out on my own. It’s incredible. She looks just like mom too and I was enrolled in the same school mom went to…”
“Wait. Enrolled? What do you mean enrolled? You were going to school there?”
“Umm…yeah.”
She pulls back ever so slightly, looking crushed. “You weren’t planning on coming back, were you?”
I shake my head and lower my voice. “I would have rather died than come back here.”
She sucks in a deep breath. “What happened to you, Sky?” she whispers. “If I’d known there was some awful reason keeping you from coming home, I wouldn’t have spent every day in Lucien’s office trying to find you.”
“Wait…what do you mean you spent every day in Lucien’s office?”
“Yeah,” she scoffs, not impressed with herself. “How stupid could I have been? He called me right after you left and asked if I could help track you down. We’ve been working together ever since, but it turns out that was all bullshit…”
“Yeah,” I tell her, reaching for her hand while wondering what his game plan was. “He knew where I was heading before I even knew.”
“I don’t understand it,” she murmurs. “Why would he act as though he didn’t know where you were? It’s like he was desperate to find you. He missed you so much. He would tell me every day that you and Blake were everything to him. Maria too. She was devastated. Did they really deserve that? They’ve done everything for you and Blake. They gave you guys a home and raised you as if you were their own.”
“Luce,” I groan. “How could you be so naive?”
She instantly takes offense, hating being called out like that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Maria and Lucien aren’t the doting parents you’ve always wanted to believe they were. They’re awful. Maria is the reason my parents are dead. Blake and I were targeted by her and they paid Anton Mathers a lot of money to get us.”
She shakes her head. “You’re kidding, right? That seems a little far fetched.”
“I’m not joking, Luce. I’d never joke where my parents are concerned. We weren’t adopted like Maria and Lucien tell everyone. We were kidnapped and raised by awful people.”
“No…I don’t believe it.”
“I met with Anton, Luce. I finally got the other half of the story. Maria is his cousin and hired him to complete the job because she hated my mom.”
“You’re not kidding, are you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Fuck. You’re sure about this? Anton could have lied.”
I shake my head, absolutely certain. “No. it’s true. Maria and Lucien went to school in Aston Creek with my mom. That’s how they know her.”
“Shit, Sky. I’m so sorry. All this time you’ve been living with kidnappers! That’s fucking wild. I mean, I’ve been here how many times? Shit.”
“Yuuup.”
“But…wait.” Her brows furrow. “If you found that out while visiting Anton, then that doesn’t explain why you ran.”
My eyes drop away, that familiar shame creeping up on me. “I kinda knew bits and pieces,” I admit. “I’ve always known we weren’t adopted. I remember being taken after my parents were killed and when Anton Mathers is involved, I was smart to assume we were just sold to the highest bidder. I always thought Lucien was behind how we got here. I never knew it was Maria.”
“You’re avoiding the question.”
I bite down on my lip. I hate how she knows me so damn well.
Letting out a sigh, I meet her eyes and let her see the horror deep within that I’ve had to deal with since I was fourteen years old. “Lucien sold me for a business deal nearly four years ago and in twelve days, on my birthday, I’m due to marry Marcus Mahony.”
She sucks in a sharp breath, her hand flying to her mouth. “Marcus Mahony?” she gasps in horror, knowing exactly who he is after her father ended up in hot water with the guy over a shitty deal that went south.
“Shit, Luce, that’s not even close to scratching the surface yet.”
“What’s been going on?” she demands in a no-bullshit tone.
I let out a sigh, deciding not to sugar coat it. If I’m going to tell her this, then I need to be straight with her. “Marcus and Lucien have been sexually assaulting me since I was fourteen and the night I ran…the night I packed up my shit and finally left it all behind, was the night that Lucien snuck into my room and raped me.”
Luce’s eyes grow watery with tears. “Please tell me this is some twisted joke?” she begs.
“Fuck, Luce. You don’t know how desperately I wish that it was.”
She pulls me into a tight hug and I feel her tears dropping down onto my shoulder. “I’m so sorry. This was going on for nearly four years?”
“Yeah.”
“How could I have been so blind to this? I’m so sorry. I wish you felt like you could have told me.”
“No,” I pull back, finding it important for her to truly understand what I’m about to tell her. “You and Blake were the only good in my life. You were my escape after a shitty night. I could go to you and know that I didn’t need to think about it. I could just be me and pretend that part of my life didn’t exist. Trust me, not having you know was the only thing that was getting me through it.”
Luce’s eyes drop and I reach for her hands. “I don’t know whether to be happy or sad about that,” she tells me. “One part of me is happy that I could be that escape for you but the other really wishes that you would have told me so I could have done something about it.”
“There’s nothing you could have done, Luce. This is Lucien and Maria Valentine. They have every police officer on this side of the globe in their back pocket and of the few who aren’t, they’re terrified of them.”
She shakes her head, lost in thought. “I can’t believe I agreed to help him find you. How could I be so stupid?”
“Don’t,” I tell her. “You didn’t know and that’s on me. You were just trying to help bring me home where you needed me to belong.”
“You don’t know how true that is.”
Tears continue falling down both of our cheeks but when a loud, domineering voice echoes through the kitchen, Luce’s back straightens as shivers run through my body. “It’s time to go home, Lucy,” Lucien warns in a tone that suggests she gets absolutely no say.
Luce’s head whips around to Lucien and she narrows her eyes, being the defiant best friend I’ve always known her as. Within seconds, Lucien knows that I’ve told her the truth and for a moment, I fear for her well-being. Then I’m reminded that her parents can be just as bad as Lucien and Maria. When it comes to protecting their little girl, they’re unstoppable.
Luce is safe. Lucien may want to hurt her and the thought of taking out the girl who now knows his secret is most likely going to keep him up at night, but he’ll never touch her. That’s just asking for trouble that not even he is stupid enough to get involved in.