Page 19 of Branches of Betrayal

A knock at the door a few hours later interrupted her rather boring movie marathon. "It’s Piper.”

Peyton sighed. While she loved Piper, she wanted nothing more than to just chill on her own. But Piper had never done her wrong, that much she knew.

“Come in.”

Piper opened the door, popping her head inside. “Up for some company?”

Peyton plastered on a fake smile. “Sure! Come on in.”

“I just wanted to check in on you,” Piper said, spinning her curly hair around until it resembled a bun on top of her head. She clambered up onto the bed beside Peyton, nudging their shoulders. “I’m always here if you need to talk.”

“I don’t want to talk,” Peyton answered bluntly. “I have everything playing on repeat in my mind. Talking won’t help that.”

Piper pursed her plump lips, nodding ever so slightly. “I can understand that. How about we just be sloths and watch trash TV then? Keep your mind distracted.”

Peyton could hardly imagine how Piper of all people would be able to understand, but she appreciated the sentiment. “Sounds good to me.”

Handing Piper the control, they flipped through a bunch of channels before Piper landed on some sort of soap opera. She began to explain to Peyton what the show was about, but Peyton couldn’t take any of it in. She just nodded and pretended to focus on the show, laughing at whatever quips elicited a giggle from Piper.

“It was…my mom. She’s the one who hit me.”

Without realizing, the show had delved into a more serious tone. A young boy bore bruises on his arm which caught the attention of his teacher. The pain in his voice was what caught Peyton’s attention, but the fact it was his mother hurting him? Something inside her snapped and she began to sob uncontrollably.

“Shit, Pey… I’m so sorry!” Piper turned the TV off and wrapped her arms around Peyton.

The tightness of Piper’s grip on her was agony on her damaged body, but Peyton stayed in the embrace. She would rather feel the physical pain of a comforting hug, than the mental anguish over what Demi had done to her.

“I hate this!” Peyton cried out between sobs. “I feel so freaking weak, Piper. I can’t believe this is who I am now. I’m a weak, cowardlymurderer!”

Piper rocked them slightly, running her hand over Peyton’s hair. “You’re neither weak nor cowardly, Peyton Dimitra. And for the other part—you had no choice. It was self defense.”

Peyton shook her head, pulling out of Piper’s grip. “No, you don’t understand! It wasn’t self defense. I killed those men and I feltjoy. I was happy that I was taking their lives after they made me suffer so much. Do you know how wrong that is? I took two human lives and I can’t believe that’s who I am now. Even if they did deserve it, it was wrong.”

“It’s something you have to learn to deal with, Pey. Because you can’t let it eat you up like this.”

“I’m so scared,” she admitted. “I’m scared of how angry I am. It’s a fire in me and no matter what I do, it won’t extinguish. And I don’t think it ever will; at least not until Demi is dead in the ground. And even that is so fucked up.” Peyton took a deep breath, her sobs making her body shudder. “I never thought my life would turn out like this, Piper. And I love Hadi, with everything in me, and I don’t want to lose her, but I don’t know how to do this. I’m going to be a weakness in the Adis chain and I can’t do that to you all.”

Piper hushed her gently, grabbing her some tissue from the bathroom to wipe her face. “You’re not a weakness and you never will be. I always thought of myself like that too. I’m the baby sister, the creative one, the one who stayed as far away from the family business as possible. But neither of my sisters have ever viewed me as weak. If you choose to be part of the family, it doesn’t mean you have to be part of the business.”

“That’s the thing,” Peyton mumbled, “I reallywantto be part of the business. And that scares me even more.”

“What about therapy?”

Peyton balked. “Are you joking? I can’t tell anyone any of this.”

“Not that kind of therapy.Adis therapy.” Piper crossed her legs, letting her hands fall into her lap. “When my mom died, I was so little, but I’ve grown up with so many memories of a woman who loved me more than she loved herself. That’s an amazing feeling, for sure, but it’s also so much pressure. And the loss of that love, combined with knowing I had to make myself worthy of it as I grew, pushed me into being someone you’d never recognize. I was so angry and bitter and I lashed out at everyone.

“I remember running away once. I was barely at the edge of town when Adrian pulled up beside me in one of the family cars. He told me to get in and when I did, he turned the car off. We sat there for an hour, in silence, until I finally broke down. He told me that my mom would have wanted me to grow up being whoeverIwanted to be, and that simple piece of information changed my life.”

Despite her hurt, Peyton smiled at the tenderness in Piper’s voice. The emotion was pouring from her, and Peyton didn’t miss the faint blush at the mention of Harris.

“He took me to some of our training locations. Taught me how to box, let me beat the shit out of some punching bags. Took me to a shooting range. Made me go running. He made me try everything to help me release the rage and the hurt that was stuck inside me.”

Peyton sighed. “I love that he did that for you; really, I do. But I’m hardly in a fit state for that type of therapy.”

Piper patted Peyton’s hand. “Adis therapy will be there for you when you’re healed and ready, because those feelings don’t just go away.” She grinned, leaning forward as though they were sharing a secret. “Besides, Adis & Co. have a shrink on the books too, just in case you do want to go the traditional way.”

Wiping at her tear stained cheeks, Peyton snorted. “That’s good to know.”

---