Page 65 of Ensnared By Silence
“I love the cabin and I won’t let Tucker take something else from me I love,” I admitted. And he kissed me with one hand on the back of my head and the other on my lower back.
Feeling my desire for him growing, I pulled back. “I’ll see you soon.”
He watched from the front porch until I backed out of the driveway and drove away. I reached over and touched my backpack briefly as I stopped for the railroad tracks. Checking I was clear, I drove the rest of the way to the condo in peaceful silence.
The underground parking garage was chilly as I pulled in and turned the car off. Gripping my backpack firmly in my hand, I made my way to the elevator and punched in my code before the door opened. Standing in the mirrored car, I saw the bruise on my cheek, dark and angry, and the smile on my face was out of place for the visible injury.
The doors opened, and I turned to the left as the door to the private office opened. James was waiting with a concerned look as I approached him. He pulled me into a gentle hug and whispered, “Are you doing okay?”
I smiled up at him and explained, “I’m not made of glass, James. Yesterday was horrible, but I woke up in Hayden’s arms this morning, feeling like everything is better.”
He rubbed his hand on my back as he escorted me into the apartment. Devlin was sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in his hand. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled as I sat down in front of him. James poured a cup of coffee and handed it to me before he made himself one and sat down next to Devlin.
My backpack sat at my feet and I sipped on my coffee before placing the cup on the table and leaning forward.
“What’s going on, Aubrey?”
I twisted my hands together, debating on where to start, and James wrinkled his forehead in worry as I exhaled and leaned back.
I bit my lip before exhaling. “My father had a girlfriend named Tiffany who moved in when I was eleven. She was a terrible person who flaunted his affection for her in my face, reminding me my own mother didn’t even want me,” I admitted and glanced at James, whose face was full of rage. I looked down as I continued, “My father was horrible, but she was . . . worse. I’m not comfortable going into the details, if that’s okay.”
They both nodded and Devlin’s body went rigid as I spoke. “She . . . she molested me and, um, she . . .” I swiped an errant tear as I pushed through, looking at Devlin as I whispered, “I know it was you who killed them.”
His blue eyes opened in shock and he looked at James with worry. Leaning forward, they both tried to speak, but I held my hand up, stopping them.
“I also think I know what you were looking for,” I admitted. “I just don’t understand how you knew. No one knew, so I’m confused on how you wound up there that night.” I paused, then asked, “Why didn’t you take me from them if I was James’s sister? Didn’t you want me?” The question was ended with a sob breaking free and he went to stand.
The elevator door opened, and all our attention jumped at the sound. Elise walked in, tears flowing down her cheeks, and Devlin tried to stand. She shook her head and walked forward, picking at her hands as she explained, “They didn’t know who you were, but Devlin found out about you from my first set of adoptive parents. It’s all my fault.”
I looked at her, confused, as she whispered, “The condo is covered in cameras. Devlin didn’t know I used the password to turn them on.” She turned to her husband and said, “Please, don’t be mad, but she deserves to know everything that happened to her is my fault.”
He gripped her by the shoulders and leaned his forehead against her as he whispered, “None of this is your fault, lamb. If the blame belongs to anyone, it’s me.”
“The blame is on the people who hurt me, but I need someone to explain what’s going on. Elise, why do you think this is your fault?”
She came to sit next to me, leaving a distance between us as Devlin sat next to James. His gaze was bouncing between his wife and me, and I turned my attention to her.
“I was born in a whorehouse in the Flats, and I lived there until I was five. The things I saw and experienced were . . .” She shook her head as tears fell. “I was saved by Delvin and James one night and they left me at a church to be found. They were kids themselves and took an enormous risk saving me. For a few years, I was in foster care, and when I was eleven, I was adopted by Roger and Sally. Things were good for a while, then suddenly, they began to beat me, starve me.” Her eyes glanced to her lap, and I reached out to her.
“I’m sorry you had to live through that, but where do I fit into this picture?”
She smiled sadly and continued, “Shortly after my sixteenth birthday, things got terrible and one night, Devlin came back to find me in awful shape. During his rescue, he . . .”
Her eyes cut to his, and he explained.
“I found out Roger wanted to pimp her out but couldn’t, knowing I was watching them, and when I went there to kill them for what they were trying to do, I found Roger with some pretty horrible things on his laptop.”
His blue eyes met mine and I was flooded with all the painful memories of that shed, worried that people saw what I never wanted anyone to see. “I looked for you and it took me a week. I’m . . . I wish I would have found you sooner. I wish I would have known you were James’s sister. I would have found a way to bring you home to us.”
“You stopped them from hurting me worse than they already did, and I don’t blame you, any of you, for what happened. It wasn’t your fault then, or now, and I won’t let you take the blame for someone else’s sickness.”
“How can you not hate us for what happened?” James asked, his head tilted to the side and his green eyes shining brightly at me.
“This was all fate’s way of bringing us together. If you hadn’t saved Elise, and been so over the top obsessed with her, I would have continued to suffer alone. No offense.”
Devlin shrugged as he replied, “None taken.”
“I don’t know if obsession is a strong enough word, but whatever,” James chuckled and Elise blushed.
