Chapter 62
FREYA
The entire ride he had just looked out of the window, not uttering a single word. On our way bark, I had called Reyna and asked her to take Gia along to her place. The day was hard on Aiden and I figured he could use a safe space to vent in case he wanted to without having to worry about
On reaching home, he walked past Carlos and headed straight for the bedroom. The old man cast a glance at his retreating back. When he looked back at me there was worry in his eyes.
I told him in short about what had happened before going into our bedroom. “I
The door was left ajar.
Aiden was sitting at the edge of the bed, fingers intertwined as he looked into the distance. I walked closer.
“What can I do! Do you need anything?” I didn’t know what else to say to him. I wanted to ask what he was
thinking. There were so many questions on my mind. I wanted him to talk to me, to get it off his chest but 1 knew we weren’t there yet where he would share his feelings with me. He wasn’t ready yet. He had shut me down so many times and pushing him didn’t do any good.
So when he shook his head in response to my question I accepted it. “I’ll leave you alone”
“Don’t.”
The word was so quiet. I almost missed it. I froze
I sat down beside him.
- it. I froze. He wanted me to stay. “Okay” I whispered.
“My father. He was abusive. “Aiden’s voice was low, rough, as if each word cost him something to say. I could feel the air grow tense around us, his confesson filling the room. I barely breathed, afraid that any movement might stop lum from speaking-
“He had anger issues. It got worse when he was drink. My mother and J. He hit both of us.”
I felt my heart tighten, a sharp pang of anger mixed with sorrow swelling within me as I listened. I kept my gaze on him, silently urging him to go
“When I was five, Cillian was born. He was a beautiful baby, my baby brother. When I first saw him, I knew I would protect him from everything. I promised myself that I wouldn’t let him feel any pain.”
The tenderness in his voice surprised me, an echo of something deeply cherished. There was something so raw in his words, a fierce love that had sustained him even then, when he was just a child himself. I could picture it: a small boy, shouldering the impossible responsibility of protecting his baby brother from a world that had only shown him cruelty. It made my heart ache in a way I hadn’t expected.
“I used to lock the door to his room every time Preston Knight came home drunk.” The bluerness in his voice was p He took a shaky breath, and I could feel him hesitating, as though he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue. But he did.
was palpable,
“And then my mother found out he shook her she turned to drinking. She was always drunk and used to stay locked up in her room. Somehow that put her out of my father’s radar.
was clacating on lier. Even after being abused, she actually loved him up until this point. So this revelation He didn’t hurt her anymore. Just the
“Hurt you” I repeated softly, more to myself than to him. It wasn’t a question, more like I was afraid to question what that word comprised. As if Aiden was privy to my thoughts he answered it himself.
“Yeah Slape, punches, kicks, cigarette burns take your pick.” His tone was detached. I felt the air woosh out of me, my stomach feeling like lead. “Your mom didn’t try to “began, nnd even sure what I was asking. I wanted to believe that she’d tried to protect him, that she’d somehow been there for hun in some small way.
“No. She couldn’t care less. She was just relieved it wasn’t her anymore. And most of the time, she was way too drunk to care.”
He let our inter chuckle. “I started cleaning up after her when I was right?
I could barely comprehend it. Eight years old, forced to take care of the one person who should have been taking care of him. A part of me felt furious at his mother, while another part just felt hollow. It was like every new detail only made the weight in my chest heavier.
“You know, I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but it did. She started doing drugs. Always high, passed out. Frankly, I didn’t care anymore–not for
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Chapter 62
either of them, just my brother”
He paused, and I saw his jaw clench
“So this one time. Preston was on a business trip. I was down with a fever and had stayed the day in bed. My mother had some of her shady friends over Drug buddies. I guessed” He paused as if he was gathering the will to relive the moment. I put my hand on his. He intertwined our fingers before continuing
“I came down onor to get some water. One of the guys spotted me. They dragged me to where they were. I saw my mother and another guy passed out. The rest of them were high too. They wanted me to entertain them, dance or sing or whatever. I refused”
Unconsciously he squeezed my hand. I braced myself for what came next. I had a faint idea what it could be but nothing came close to actually hear the words leave his mouth
“I was only ten years old. I was confused and angry at everything, and I said no. The next thing I knew, they were beating the shit out of me. Three guys. They kicked and punched and it was horrifying. I remember being so scared. I was bleeding, and it hurt everywhere, till I passed out.”
My mind was reeling, unable to process it all. The pain, the fear he must have felt–it was unimaginable. The trauma it can cause to a child.
was scared she’d be arrested for drug abuse.”
When I woke up, my mother was cradling my face, sitting on the floor. She didn’t call 911 because she was s
Every word that came out of his mouth somehow managed to stun me even more. How can someone be so selfish? How was she still thinking about herself when her child was bleeding and injured all because of her!
“When Preston came back the next evening, he brought me to the hospital. Six broken ribs, one fractured arm, and some internal bleeding. He spun some half–baked story about robbers and shit. The cops probably were bribed, because no one ever asked me anything”
I felt a lump in my throat. I couldn’t imagine how hard it was for him to relieve the painful traumatic memories. I itched to throw my hands around him and hold him close. But I wanted him to get it off, to share everything he wanted to.
“He had her committed to rehab. That incident stopped the physical abuse.”
“Cillian doesn’t know anything about this. He believed the robber’s story, and he was too small to pick up on details. After six months of rehab and then some, the dunged. She was good to Cillian. A little distant at times, but a decent mother to him.”
There was agony in his tone, a resentment that was painfully understandable. He’d never known a mother that cared for him and now for his urge to protect his brother, he had to act like things were better than they were.
“He loves our mother, and I didn’t want to take that away from him. I protected his feelings. He thinks my anger is misplaced because she was a victim too. He thinks it’s my responsibility to care for our mother.” He looked at me, his eyes shone with vulnerability that I had never witnessed in him. He was always this composed collected man. This uncertainty felt so out of his element,
“But it’s not. I don’t have to care for her
In that moment, he was like a little boy again, seeking validation, yearning for someone to tell him that he didn’t owe her anything, that he wasn’t wrong for feeling the way he did.
Without thinking about anything else. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He leaned into the hug. “No. No, you don’t.” My words were soft, but I made sure he heard the conviction in them
He hugged me back, and it was like something in him shattered. He pulled me into his lap, his face buried in the crook of my neck as his body shook with silent sobs. I held him close, running my fingers through his hair, trying to pour all the love and comfort I could into that embrace. This beautiful, strong man was lanraking down in my arms, and all I could do was hold him and hope that somehow helped.
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