Page 52 of Hateful Union

Losing Mayer has affected me deeply, he’s always on my mind, always there in my memories. He’s a part of me and that’s never going to change. I’m going to finish what he started and bring down the arseholes that are responsible for his death, and my father. Maybe even Ashton. Then, I hope that Mayer can rest in peace.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” he asks, cutting into my thoughts. “You’re worrying your lip with your teeth. What’s stressing you?”

I sigh as I pet his chest, running my hands over it. “Just dinner with the family. It’s going to be annoying as hell. They’re going to lose their freaking minds when I tell them that we’re dating.”

He shakes his head. “This is a fuck of a lot more than dating.”

I roll my eyes, such a caveman. I take a deep breath and decide that now is the right time to talk about what’s been playing on his mind. “I’ve given you time to brood…”

“I don’t brood,” he grumbles. “And baby, what I’ve got to say, there’s no way to lessen the blow, it’s going to shock you and probably hurt you and that’s the main reason I’ve not said anything.”

I tense at his words, what could be that bad that he doesn’t want to tell me? “What have you done?”

He chuckles, “Trust you to think I did something. Swear to you,mo stór, it’s not me.”

Relief washes through me, okay, whatever it is, I can deal. I hope. “Tell me,” I say, my hands pressed tightly against his chest.

He sits up, holding me close, my legs wrap around his waist as I sit on his lap. “Okay, my golden girl, I’m going to say this quickly and then I’ll try to answer any questions that you have. Any that I don’t know the answer to, we’ll find them, yeah?”

The tightness in his voice has me once again on edge. “Okay,” I whisper, unsure as to what the hell it could be that he has to say.

“I got a phone call from Gabby’s da, he told me a few things. Including how Mayer knew where to find you when you were kidnapped, and baby, it was because of Joe. As soon as Joe had your whereabouts, he told Mayer, who from everything I’ve found out since that phone call, dropped everything to find you.”

I suck in a sharp breath, God, Mayer. I’m not surprised that he dropped everything for me. I’d have done the same for him.

“Right,” he says obviously noting that I’m struggling to keep it together already. Although that happens more often than not whenever Mayer’s mentioned. “Now, baby, this is where it gets shit, your ma was taken in the same way as you when she was also fourteen.”

My gaze collides with his and my fingers spasm around his neck. “What?” I breathe, my heart beating a mile a minute.

“Yeah, your ma lived in Gran Canaria until she was fourteen when she was kidnapped. She was missing for three years before she resurfaced and was dating your da.”

Pain slices through me. Oh my God.

“What happened to her?”

He shakes his head, “That, we don’t know. No one but your ma does.”

I swallow back my tears, my heart hurting for my mum. I know what happened to me and that scarred me deeply.

“But you have an idea?” I push, needing to know what he’s thinking.

“I have a theory.” I raise a brow, my fingers tightening around his neck and my legs squeezing his waist. I need to know. “Baby, I believe that your da started his business early and your ma caught his eyes.”

My body bucks as my tears start to fall. “He’s such a monster,” I hiss, and his arms tighten around me. “Such a monster.”

“Baby, we don’t know that for sure,” he tries to reassure me.

“But, I know so much about him, Mal, so much. God, he’s done some of the worst things. Things that make my stomach turn. I have the evidence that’s going to send him down for years.”

His body locks beneath me. “What did you find out, when did you find this?”

I lift my head, my eyes filled with tears making it hard to see him clearly. “It wasn’t me that found it. It was Mayer.”

He frowns, “When did you get it?”

“I’ve had it since he died, there was a safe hidden in his house, both Gabby and I knew where it was and how to access it.” I swallow at the memory of being in his house. As soon as I walked in I lost it. Broke down and sobbed for hours. I was so caught up in my grief that I lost twelve hours. “I emptied his safe and brought it here. While you were on the phone yesterday doing business, I watched some of the videos he had.”

I shake my head, unable to get the images out of my mind. “You can watch them if you want? I can’t describe it, it’s too much.”

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