Page 154 of Theirs to Corrupt

Slowly, slowly, I turn.

Link looks broken, defeated in a way I’ve never seen him before.

Clearing his throat, he starts again. “The truth is, I love you. I don’t fucking know how to act.”

“About goddamn time,” Pax all but growls.

My knees wobble. I can’t possibly have heard right.

“I don’t deserve you, little dove. Don’t deserve a second chance.” He swallows deeply. “But I can’t let you go without a fight.”

“You…?”

“I love you.” His voice breaks.

“Keep going,” Pax clips. “While you still have the chance.”

“My father…” He stops.

Everything inside me urges me to go to him, to run my fingers across his furrowed brow to soothe his emotional pain. Instead I force myself to stay where I am.

“Link,” Pax warns.

“I was five. Kindergarten. It was close to Mother’s Day. The teacher had us all make gifts for our mom.”

I remember doing the same thing. Cards. Paper flowers. Decorated plant pots.

“On Mother’s Day morning, at breakfast, I ran upstairs to my room to get her gift, and I gave it to her. She smiled and thanked me.” He gives a half smile. “I got teary and kissed her on the cheek, and I told her I loved her.”

His words are halting.

“My father dragged me outside and beat me.”

No.Losing my grip, I sink down onto a stair. My heart breaks for the boy he’d been.

“Merritts don’t show emotion.”

Weakness.

“The last time I almost cried was the day of her funeral. I was thirteen. After placing a rose on her casket, my father pulled me away. I stopped to look back.” He swallows deeply. When he goes on, his voice shakes. “She was in that box. All alone.” He pauses for a moment, and Pax nods at him. “My dad warned me not to cry. But because there were people around, he settled for pinching me and reminding me who I was.”

A Merritt who wasn’t allowed to be human, even at his own mother’s graveside.

“After everyone left, he beat me.”

Tears stream down my face. “Oh, Link.”

He scoffs. “The irony is, my dad cared for my mom. He was scared of something happening to her. So he showed love in the only way he knew how.”

God. It makes so much sense.

“He suffocated her.”

I understand Link so much better now. And Pax as well. He knows Link’s secrets and has remained by his side. That kind of loyalty means something.

“I won’t blame you if you can’t forgive me.”

“I…”

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