Page 75 of Break

“Vince,” Ethan mumbles out a warning.

She sighs as she shakes her head. “Not really. I honestly thought it was normal. That it was how everyone was raised. I didn’t realize until I got into high school that things were different at my house. Then when my mother died, everything sort of spiraled for both me and my father. I thought that maybe he would ease up on me and realize that we only had each other left.” Her eyes water, but she fights it off, refusing to let even a single tear fall. “But nothing ever changed.”

I feel like my heart is going to explode as I hear the utter disappointment she felt with her father. Memories of my own childhood do their best to slam into my head. Ones that share the same pain of battered bodies and vitriolic words spewed in anger.

“I just wanted them to love me.” Her confession is quiet, but it’s these words that rip my wall down and I know I need to get out of here before I fall apart in front of her.

“Momma, why is Dad so angry with us? Why won’t he love us like everyone else’s dads?” I sob into my mom’s chest with arms wrapped around my aching stomach.

“Shh, my little man. He loves us, he just doesn’t always know how to show it.” Momma’s arms are warm around me, but they’re shaking. They always shake when Dad gets angry because it’s so scary.

Rubbing a fist into my eyes, I get angry at her because I know that she’s lying to me this time. “He doesn’t! He even told us tonight that he hated me, and he hated you, and the house, and his job!” Shoving her away, I get up from the bed, still holding my stomach and turn to her, glaring and wishing I could scream. “Stop lying! You don’t love me either because you don’t lie to people you love!”

Standing up, I walk over to Mina, keeping my rage under control for just a few minutes longer until I can get away from the house and let it out. I squat down and place my hand on her knee, giving her a light squeeze.

“No oneeverfucking deserves to be treated like that, especially by their own parents. I’m sorry you ever had to experience even an ounce of abuse. You deserved better.” She looks surprised at what I’ve said, but I can’t stay in here any longer. So, I stand back up and lean over, pressing my lips against her temple, then the top of her head. “You deserve the world, Mina.”

Turning, I ignore the concerned looks from Ethan and Vincent, and head for the front door. Before I step outside, I give a sharp whistle to Walter and shut the door behind me as quietly as possible once he’s outside.

Making my way to my shop, I slam the door shut, bracing my hands on the other side of it with my head hung low. I can’t stop the quickening breaths as memory after memory of my dad’s fists come flying at me until I’ve finally had enough.

Spinning around, I grab the first thing I see on my worktable and hurl it at the wall, then let out a bellow of absolute rage over the injustice of it all.

Chapter 34

The Light

Max

“Are you okay, Max?”

Mina’s voice carries through my workshop like an exploding bomb, even though she practically whispers the question. I didn’t even hear her enter my space and I’m immediately embarrassed that she may have seen me losing my shit.

She seems wary of me right now and it makes me feel fucking terrible for breaking down like this. I’ve had years to deal with the fact that my father was an abusive asshole. Knowing that she experienced a similar upbringing makes me nauseous and desperate to fucking annihilate someone.

Looking around me, I see the destruction I’ve wrought in just the few minutes I’ve been alone in here and wince at the mess. “I’m sorry for this.” I’m not sure what else to say, so I ask, “What are you doing out here?”

She inspects the broken wood and tools scattered across the floor but doesn’t back out. In fact, she takes a few steps in and shuts the door behind her. She’s twisting her fingers together nervously, and I want to grab hold of them to help her relax. Sucking in a shaky breath, she finally brings her eyes up to lock on mine.

“I know we don’t know each other well, but it’s obvious that what I shared with you has affected you… and I don’t like that.” She pauses, and then considers her words and looks at me thoughtfully. “Not that I don’t like you having feelings about it. I mean that I don’t like that it’s affecting you in a way that may have more behind it… maybe?” She looks down at the floor. “I don’t know what I’m trying to say, but I feel like something is wrong, and I caused it. The other two said that you just needed a minute, and that I didn’t need to feel like I had to come out here, but I felt compelled, so here I am. Are you okay, Max?”

I think this is the most that she’s said directly to me over the course of her time in my home. It does something to me that she’s worried, and just hearing her soothing tone eases some of this pent-up anger I’ve got building inside of me.

“Mina, honey.” When her eyes find mine again, I give her a smile, so she knows it’s fine that she came out to ask me. “First, I wouldn’t agree that we don’t know each other well; we just don’t know everything yet.”

Her shoulders drop, relaxing even more at my teasing, so I do my best to explain where my heads at.

“I’m really fucking pissed. So irate over the audacity of your parents and Danny to believe that they had the right to treat you like less than human.”

My confession doesn’t seem to have cleared up anything for her. Her head is tilted sideways as she considers what I said, but there’s a deepening frown spreading, and I know I should explain more. I just don’t want to make her think about my thing. Her next question, though, is what helps me make the decision to share.

“Why does it bother you so much? I’m not saying that you shouldn’t feel empathy for people in tough situations, but this is more than that,” she says, holding both hands out to indicate my workshop I’ve destroyed.

“You want to sit?” I ask her, then realize there isn’t anywhere for hertosit. Looking around quickly, I find a spot that isn’t completely covered and clear it off. “Come over here,” I tell her, waving her over.

This time, she doesn’t hesitate as she moves closer, slipping between my body and the counter. Mina reaches up to pull herself onto it, but I take advantage of having her close and wrap my hands around her waist, lifting her myself. I release her once she’s settled, but don’t move away. I choose to stay in front of her and rest my hands flat against the surface on either side of her thigh. Our faces are only about a foot apart, and I want to stay here, in her space.

“Am I okay right here?” I ask her, wanting to make sure I don’t overstep her boundaries.

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