Page 28 of Obsession

I grab the tray and get up from the table. “This is perfect. Thank you for everything, Azadeh.”

CHAPTER 19

Hans

Ishould be suffocating from Xander’s tight hold, but I only want to burrow beneath his skin to get closer. “You think she’ll leave us?”

Xander kisses the top of my head. “No, I don’t. What I think is that she needs a bit more time. We’ll go to my house today and get you both settled. I have a good psychologist you and Maggie should start seeing right away.”

I press my palms to his sides and move back to peer into his face. “Why do we need to see a psychologist?”

“She specializes in cults. Works with survivors, deconstructing their faith. You and Maggie need coping mechanisms. As much as I wish I could be everything for you, I can’t help with that part. I have a lot of rage for The Covenant. You need to speak to someone who can be objective without holding so much hostile anger.”

“You’re a very sensitive man for a brute.”

Xander and I look up at Margarete as she appears in the doorway with a tray of food.

“Given the close surveillance you’ve had your whole life, your stealth is impressive,” Xander remarks.

Maggie ignores him and approaches the bed, placing the tray of food and hot tea in front of me. Xander adjusts us so I’m sitting up, keeping his arms around me.

The bed shifts as Maggie sits on the corner. “I’d like to see the therapist.”

“You would?” Xander asks.

“Yes. I talked to Azadeh, and she made me realize I need help. I want to lose every ounce of guilt that keeps me from being happy.”

Xander beams as he looks at her. “You sure?”

She nods. “Yes. You should go, too, Hans. I think you have a lot to work out. As great as the sex is and as loving as Xander has been, they messed with our heads.”

I push off the bed, ignoring the food and my ravenous stomach, and kneel before her. “If you want us to see the therapist, we’ll see the therapist. But I need a promise from you.”

Maggie’s smile is like the sun rising. “What would you like me to promise?”

My throat constricts. “That you won’t leave.”

Maggie lowers herself to the floor with me, cupping my face and pulling me close for her kiss. It’s light and so gentle that I barely feel it. “I love you, Hans. I’m never leaving you.” She turns to Xander, offering her hand, which he takes. “I want to explore this. The three of us. To discover the possibilities. It might take me time, but time is something I’m willing to invest. Xander, Ineed something from you. I want you to tell us who you avenged. Why is The Covenant such a point of contention for you?”

CHAPTER 20

Xander

Margarete’s question is a bullet to my heart. I don’t talk about my mother. I keep all my thoughts and memories of her locked away, close to my heart. She sacrificed so much for me, but no matter how hard she tried to battle the memories that haunted her, she couldn’t.

“The Covenant took my mother from me. They raped her when she was sixteen. She got pregnant, and they discarded her like garbage. You know what the fuckers who violated her got? Fucking everything. Rather than being punished or doing penance, they all received rewards.” I look Maggie directly in the eye. “Your mother lied for one of the rapists. Your father, Maggie.”

Maggie’s eyes widen. “Are you my brother?”

I shake my head. “No. Both your fathers held her down for Samuel Becket, the man who donated the sperm that created my life while ruining hers.”

I frown. “Samuel Becket? They found him hung in a tree over a decade ago. It caused a stir. That’s when the forest became a no-go zone. They were terrified of the forest after that.”

I’d stalked The Covenant for years, watching him. The piece of shit had a wife and kids. He was a pillar of his community. Every motherfucker looked at him like he hung the moon. No one knew he was a piece of shit rapist. My mother wasn’t the first woman he’d ruined, and from the terrified look on his daughter’s face every time he came near her, I was sure that she wasn’t the last. What the fuck was it with this place and violating children? American pedophiles all locked and loaded in the same fuckin’ commune.

I wanted to stab the fucker where he stood, but he wasn’t worth my life. He’d already taken my mother’s, and that was all he would ever take from me. So I waited, camped out in the forest for weeks. Until he came to me.

Turned out the fucker liked to collect souvenirs. He’d dug himself a little hole on the outskirts where he collected the underwear of his victims. Sick fuck had thirty of them. He’d harmed thirty little girls.

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