Page 48 of It Will Always Be You
“There are things I need to tell you…but I don’t know where to start. Talking about it, reliving it like that, feels like it’ll make it real, like there’s no going back once I open that Pandora’s Box. But I know you deserve answers, the truth,” she confesses, her eyes still closed. Taking a fortifying breath, she continues, “My real name is Helen Campbell, and when I was eighteen, I ran away from the Clan. I was meant to marry Angus and provide him with an heir, but I couldn’t face it. The rumours surrounding his previous wives’ deaths, the way he looked at my sister… I couldn’t do it. So, I ran, and I buried that part of my life in hopes it would mean Freya was safe.”
My heart breaks for this woman, whose selfless actions were in vain.
“I should have told you… There were so many times when I nearly did, but…” She finally opens her eyes, meeting my gaze.
“But you were scared about what would happen.”
“I know I should have trusted my gut, trusted you, but I couldn’t shake knowing what Angus would do if the shoe was on the other foot. If someone from a rival faction so much as dared set foot on the compound, never mind someone meant to marry his enemy, it would be a blood bath.” The pain in her confession lashes at my insides.
“Sweetheart, I don’t hold that against you. How the hell could I? You did what you needed to. You were trying to protect your sister from a monster. At the end of the day, it’s a name, and it means nothing in the face of that. I swear, it changes nothing,” I reassure her, stroking the silk of her skin and enjoying the privilege of being allowed to touch her.
“Sometimes, I wonder if I had just told you, would the same fate await me? It drives me mad, Johnathan, to know I might have escaped all the pain and hurt and heartbreak if only I hadn’t been such a coward. But at the same time, I don’t think Angus would ever have given up until he got his hands on me,” she confesses, her voice breaking at the end.
“We thought Angus was behind the hit and run, but we couldn’t find any evidence,” I murmur.
“That doesn’t surprise me. What he was doing…. It was an extremely sophisticated operation. From the moment of the accident until I was…sold, I was blindfolded and kept disoriented. I couldn’t even tell you how long I was kept in that holding cell or where I was before I ended up in Northern Ireland. Jonathan, he had to have people in government paid off to move us so seamlessly.” The spark of fire burning in her eyes is the most life I’ve seen from her since she showed up, and it’s almost enough to distract me from the words she’s saying—what she’s confirming.
“I swear to you, we will get to the bottom of this sick and twisted web one way or another. Things are already in motion to get to thebottom of it, and sure, it might take us longer without whatever insight you have, but no one is going to force you to talk before you’re ready, okay? I can promise you that,” I vow, watching as she lets out a shuddering breath, tears leaking down her face as she nods.
“I want to confess it all, but I just…can’t yet. I’m sorry.” I’d do anything to rid the broken tinge to her words, if only she’d let me.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. I thought I lost you forever, and if the price to pay to have you back is a bit of patience, then sweetheart, call me a saint. I don’t care how long it takes you to feel safe—I’m going nowhere, and anyone who has an issue with that will have to go through me.” With a watery laugh, she lets silence fall between us. I’d happily sit like this forever, pain at being hunkered down and all, if it means being close to her. Eventually, her stomach lets out a loud noise, and we both burst out in fits of laughter that deflates the heavy atmosphere, if only for a moment.
“Someone hungry, huh?” I ask her, rising with a wince and holding out a hand to help her up.
“Apparently.” She laughs, a blush coating her cheeks as she lets me help her up.
“Let’s see what we can do about that,” I say, making my way to the kitchen and spying the ingredients for chicken parm. Her favourite, the last I checked. Perfect.
“Why don’t you go get a shower while I get this ready, hmm? And then tomorrow, I’ll take you to the clinic,” I tell her. Her shaky inhale and quiet thanks are all the response I get, but it’s all I need. The last thing I want is for her to think her need to get tested is an awkward thing, and I’ll be damned if I let her sneak off to do it alone.
The sooner she accepts that I’m here for the long haul, the better.
Hours later, with her safely tucked in bed, dark thoughts swirl as I sit in my darkened office, whiskey in hand. Sitting in here late at night seems to be the norm these days. I can’t remember the last time I went to bed at a reasonable time. Too much to do, too little time.
It’s after midnight when soft footsteps alert me to Helen’spresence moments before she knocks lightly on the open door. Another nightmare has clearly chased her down here, if the haunted look on her face is anything to go by.
“Can’t sleep?” she asks, curling up in the chair opposite my desk.
“Something like that. Nightmares haunting you?” I ask, quirking a brow at her in question.
“Something like that,” she sasses back, and that brief flash of the Helen I know and love so dearly has my chest tightening.
“Care to share with the class?” I ask, getting up to make her a drink. Handing her the wine, I lean back against the front of my desk, inhaling her sweet scent that clings to every corner of my flat these days.
“Thank you. It was just the same old shit, but it did prompt me to remember something I need to share with you. Towards the end, I started overhearing a lot of phone calls. From the bits and pieces I managed to overhear, it seemed like there was a rat from here, filling him in.” She frowns as she mulls over her words, and my stomach drops. Fucking hell; this is the last thing we need.
“What makes you say that?”
“They would tell him things like you had been reunited with your daughter, or you were suspicious about something. They were the ones to tell Kyle Angus was killed, which was odd to me. It makes me wonder if Kyle wasn’t such a random player in this whole set up after all.” She frowns, looking up at me with confusion painting her features.
This is the last thing we need to add to the already piled high shitshow, but her slip of the tongue has me latching onto that name.Kyle. Sounds like an absolute wanker who needs an introduction to how we dish out justice over here.
Chapter 44
After another fitful night of sleep, the morning comes all too soon. I’m grateful to be able to broach this subject in my own time, but the thought of what awaits me has dread curling in my stomach. Yet, at the same time, leaving the house and letting a stranger be the one to do the examination is a far easier pill to swallow than calling Doc, even if that would mean I could stay in the penthouse. I doubt I’d ever be able to look the man in the face again. Jonathan’s steady support means more than words could ever convey.
“Are you sure about this?” I can’t help but ask as we step into the lift. He’s looking unfairly handsome this morning: dark suit, clearly tailored to flatter his every muscle, silver watch glinting in the early morning sunshine, stubble-covered jaw. His familiar cologne invades my senses; he’s my every fantasy wrapped into one six-foot two man I can’t have. Not anymore.
