Page 78 of Traitorous Lies
“Until you can, I'm going to keep showing you all the ways I see you,” he vowed.
With a shake of her head, Monique broke free of his hold. “I can't … Ineed some space,” she whispered as she turned and took off through the trees, leaving him standing, watching her go.
This wasn't how he’d planned their picnic lunch date to go, but in a way it had gone even better. Monique had broken down, shown him her pain and anger, and he had to believe that now she could start dealing with it instead of ignoring it.
Then he had to believe they could work on repairing their bond.
Because he wasn't giving up on getting his miracle.
November 13th
5:25 P.M
Ugh, that man was annoying.
Just who did Jax Holloway think he was being so understanding and taking her anger like he knew he deserved it?
Was he trying to make her fall harder in love with him?
Because if he was, it was working.
Monique sighed as she dropped down onto the bed in her room. She’d fled there after her confrontation out in the woods and hadn't been brave enough to leave yet.
It had felt so good to let out all her rage, to tell him exactly how she was feeling and how his words had hurt her. It was like she’d let go of a heavy boulder she’d been dragging around with her these last few days.
Actually, it was like setting down a boulder she’d been carrying around most of her life.
Just because she didn't allow her grandparents to dictate her life didn't mean she didn't have big feelings about everything they’d done to her. Denying her the love and affection she’d needed as a child, the care and comfort she’d needed after her kidnapping and rape, the support she’d needed as she built her adult life.
There was anger at her dad, too, for walking away after her mom ditched them both. For not wanting her either. And she absolutely helda huge amount of anger directed at the mother who had abandoned her so easily.
But she’d never allowed herself the freedom to tell the people who had hurt her the damage they had caused.
Maybe it was something she needed to start doing.
When her phone began to ring, she shoved herself off the bed and crossed to the dresser where she’d dropped it earlier. It was probably the rescue calling to check in. She’d asked them to keep her in the loop of any issues and any new arrivals.
Only when she reached her phone, it wasn't the rescue’s number on the screen, it was her father’s.
Sucking in a sharp breath, she froze. Should she answer? Get Jax? Last time she’d spoken with her dad, he’d freaked out on her. If she didn't answer now, though, who knew when she’d get another chance. This was the first time he’d called her back since she’d delivered the news that he had another daughter.
She had to answer.
She needed her father to convince Jax and his family that he wasn't a rapist so that maybe she and Jax could move forward. Maybe. If he kept showing her that he saw her.
Snatching up the phone, she accepted the call. “Dad, I've been trying to talk to you for days. Why didn't you call me back?”
“Maybe because I just learned I had another child, Monique,” her father snapped in that brisk tone of his she knew so well. He wasn't doing well, knowing he had another daughter, which she supposed she could get. Cassandra was twenty-four, which meant he’d missed out on a huge portion of her life.
Although he’d also willingly missed out on almost all of her life, too.
“You need to meet with this family, Dad. You need to tell them that you're not a rapist.”
Silence met her request.
Why was he being so stubborn about this? He had to know that the Charleston Holloway family worked for Prey Security. Eagle Oswald was not someone to be messed with. If her dad didn't agree to talk with Jax and his family, she had no doubt that Eagle would pull whatever strings he needed to force her father’s hand.
“Dad—”
