Page 7 of Vicious Kitten

“Stop talking like that. No matter what you do, I will never think that about you. I love you, Rhys. You’re my daughter,” She gestures to Will standing behind her, “You’reourdaughter. We love you unconditionally.”

I have no response to that, and tears blur my eyes as my emotions take over.

“Can we just talk about things, please?” Cynthia asks, and I shrug.

“I’m not leaving, so if you want to talk, you’ll have to do it here.”

Cynthia sighs and starts pacing, her heels clicking on the timber floors again, so I turn back to Ty to see Shaun helping him clean up the blood on his face. I sink to my knees, taking the washer from Shaun and help.

“Tyler, is this why you resigned on Thursday afternoon? Why you said you couldn’t teach anymore? Did you think if the video came out that the law wouldn’t apply if you were no longer a teacher? She’s a minor!”

I roll my eyes at Cynthia’s questions, even though she can’t see me, and I flick my gaze to Ty as he watches me.

“How often do you lure her here?” My dad hisses then, ignoring his wife’s questions, asking his own.

“She hasn’t been here before.” Tyler rasps, his voice scratchy, probably from the beating he took. I hate that he didn’t fight back, but I understand why. He’s not going to fight my dad. Not unless my dad hurts me.

“Is that so? She just happens to be here now, though?” My dad’s voice has an arseholey tone to it, and I hate hearing it. It doesn’t sound like him at all.

“I asked her here tonight to tell her that I resigned,” Tyler admits, and my dad laughs sarcastically.

“Like that makes a fucking difference. You’re still an adult, and she’s still a child!”

“Stop, Will!” I hiss, turning a death glare his way.

“Kitten, maybe you should go home,” Tyler says once again, and I frown at him before Cynthia jumps in.

“Why do you keep calling her Kitten? You need to stop!”

“You stop, Cynthia!” I snap, and she glares at me.

“We are going. Get in the car now, Rhys.”

“No!” I hiss and she hisses back.

“I wasn’t asking!”

My dad moves toward me then, leaning down to grab my arm, but I swing it back out of reach before Shaun steps in between us.

“Move out of the way, boy.” My dad growls, and Shaun shakes his head.

“I’m sorry I can’t. She’s already told you both that she’s not leaving with you, and I won’t let another person lay their hands on her if she doesn’t want it. It’s happened since she was a little girl, and it’s not happening anymore.”

Cynthia and Will fall silent, and I watch as their shoulders slump in defeat.

“Look, everyone is angry.” Shaun tries to smooth things over. “Perhaps you should hear more from Kitten… I mean Rhys, before things get even more out of hand.”

I’m too busy focusing on Ty again to pay my parents the attention they want from me. Ty’s brow won’t stop bleeding. He probably needs stitches or something.

“It’s ok, Rhys. I can clean myself up.” Ty whispers, and I roll my eyes before standing and pointing to my parents.

“I’m going in search of a first aid kit. You both stay right there. Do not make a move near Ty, or I swear I will never speak to you again.”

They both frown at me but give me a nod as I leave the room to search this unfamiliar house.

“In the bathroom!” Shaun yells out, obviously getting the location of the medical kit from Tyler.

I rush down the passage that connects to the living area and see that there is a bedroom up each end, with a bathroom and laundry in the middle. I wish I had more time to explore Tyler’s domain, but it will have to wait because right now, I need to stop the bleeding. In the bathroom, I find the first aid kit under the sink, and I quickly return to the living room to find Shaun kneeling by Ty’s side, holding a glass of water to his lips. It’s caring the way Shaun does it. I imagine he’d do the same for his brother. I’d love it if my guys could look at each other like brothers or family one day. The six of us could be happy. I just know it.

---