Page 101 of His Gentle Omega
Russell had the decency to look away, no longer able to meet my angry eyes.
“Edward was…troubled,” Graham said so softly I barely heard him. “He would be so cheerful one minute, just over the moon excited about something. But then something would happen, and his mood would just turn. And he was so…”
“Dangerous,” I supplied. “Evil. You have no idea what he did to me! But you knew some of it, didn’t you? You saw the bruises. The broken nose. The broken arm. And you ignored it. You helped create the monster he became, just as much as the alcohol and drugs did.”
“Shay,” Bennett’s quiet voice broke the silence that had fallen over the room. Russell’s throat moved convulsively, but he didn’t speak. Graham’s face was pale, his blue eyes shimmering with tears, while my chest heaved with my anger. “He was their child.”
The softly spoken words might as well have been a fist to my stomach, they hit just the same, and I gasped.
Bennett squeezed my hand, his eyes sad. “He was their child.”
Blinking, I shook my head, ashamed of my outburst, even though it had felt amazing to get all of those feelings out. “I’m…I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
“No,” Russell finally said, his voice small, “you’re right.”
“Russell!”
He turned to his mate, taking his hand, and frowned. “He’s right. We knew. We kept thinking we could fix Edward, but we went about it the wrong way. We should have gotten him proper help. Instead, we tried to make him behave how we wanted him to behave, that looked the best to our friends and the world. We thought if we got him mated, settled down with a pup, and a house, he would calm his…wild ways. We did him a disservice, and I can’t help but think if we had done something…anything differently, maybe he would still be here.” He swallowed hard. “We did see Shay’s bruises and we both ignored them. If we didn’t talk about it, we could pretend it wasn’t happening, and we could wash our hands of any responsibility.”
Graham sobbed softly, burying his head in his mate’s neck. Russell rubbed his back soothingly, then said to me, “We have the funeral arrangement information. We expect you and Lucas to be there.”
“You can expect whatever you want,” I said cooly, “Lucas and I won’t be at the funeral.”
“What will people think if neither of you is there?” Graham cried, “Lucas is his son!”
“Lucas is my son,” I hissed, “mine! I am the one that took care of him, not Edward. From the minute he was born, I have taken care of him. Every bottle, diaper, colic, earache, all of it, was me. I raised him, and he won’t be there!”
“Stop fighting!” Lucas shouted, standing in the hallway, little fists clenched at his side. Stamping his foot, he repeated, “Stop fighting! I don’t want to go!”
Asher stepped into the house, not even bothering to knock, and stood surveying the room. Giving me a flash of his smile,he told me, “Just came to see if you needed any help, big little brother.”
Nodding, I entwined my fingers with Bennett’s tightly. “I think I’m good. But thanks.”
Asher angled his head in Lucas’s direction, “Want me to take him with me?”
Shaking my head, I looked at my determined son. “I think he has something he wants to say.” Indicating that he should go ahead, Lucas came and stood by Bennett, facing his grandparents.
“Daddy told me it was my choice if I wanted to go to the funeral,” Lucas’s little voice was strong, and I was amazed at the way he stared his domineering grandfather down. “And I thought about it. For a whole day I thought about it,” he sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t want to go. Papa Edward didn’t like me. He didn’t like my daddy, and he was mean to him.”
“He loved you,” Graham interjected, and Lucas cut him off with another stamp of his foot.
“He didn’t! He told me he didn’t. Anytime he came home, he shouted it. He told Daddy how he didn’t want a kid ruining his fun, and he wished he would have just gotten rid of me like the others.”
Bennett gasped, his hand covering his mouth, his shocked eyes catching and holding mine. Shaking my head, I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t known Lucas had heard Edward say those things, had tried my best to shield him from the worst of it.
“I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I know he didn’t love me. And I don’t think I loved him.” Lucas looked so sad, I wanted to snatch him up in a huge hug and tell him I wished this wasn’t our life. That I had never meant any of this to be our lives. “He was mean, and he hit Daddy and hurt him. He scaredme. I love my Daddy, and I love Bennett, and I love my uncles and my cousins. But I didn’t love Papa Edward. I’m not going to his funeral, and you can’t make me.”
“I think it’s time for you to leave,” I told them, not unkindly, but we’d all been through enough.
Asher gave me an approving look and a small smile. “I’ll see you over there.”
Nodding, I stood the same time Graham and Russell did. Graham held out his arms to Lucas, and Lucas hugged him. He gave me a watery smile, “We would like to see Lucas if you are willing.”
“Supervised visits,” I said firmly, ignoring his crestfallen look. “My lawyer will be in touch. I’m sorry, that’s non-negotiable until he is much older.”
Russell nodded, guiding his mate to the door, and it hadn’t escaped me that he hadn’t hugged Lucas once since they had arrived. “We’ll see ourselves out.”
When they were gone, I took a steadying breath. Bennett slipped his arm around my waist, squeezing me tightly. He didn’t speak; we didn’t need to. We just stood there, letting it all wash over us.
