28
I gritted my teeth as pain shot up my leg. At first, I’d welcomed the numb tingling, but the longer I was on the floor, the tingling had turned into stabbing, excruciating pain. So much so, I had to ask my woman’s mother to help her up because I couldn’t fucking do it.
“Let me help you, and before you act like a tough guy, save it,” Quinn said, and my molars ground down more.
“I got it.”
“I bet you do, but you’re not hiding that your leg’s giving you problems. So tell me what to do.”
My options were to fucking crawl to the counter like a pussy or let Quinn help me.
“Give me your hand.”
She walked closer, offered me her hand, and without delay, I hoisted myself up.
“Fuck,” I grunted and tried to get my balance. “Fucking hate this shit.”
“Sucks, doesn’t it.” I caught Quinn’s gaze and realized it wasn’t a question but a statement from someone who understood what it meant to need help.
“’Preciate your help. I’m gonna go downstairs and see to your dad.”
“Everyone’s down there.”
I figured that was the case but I appreciated the warning. And without another word, Quinn left the bathroom. I took a moment to get myself under control. It went against the grain to leave Addy’s side while she was in pain. But after all that had transpired, I knew straight to my soul she needed her mother. Emily Walker was a healer. Addy had told me herself that her mom could perform miracles. And right then, that was what Addy needed, and I needed to talk Jasper out of committing murder while at the same time trying to convince myself that killing Keith would only cause Addy more harm.
I didn’t spare a glance at the women piled on my bed. I knew if I caught sight of my Addy I wouldn’t be able to leave the room. And if someone was going to contain Jasper it had to be done immediately.
I hadn’t even hit the bottom step when Jasper filled my vision.
A vision of a father undone. Anguish and fury made for one hell of a look.
“Tell me.”
I’ll never tell you. I heard Addy’s terrified demonic voice in my head.
Jesus Christ, I’d sell my soul if I never had to hear her screech like that again.
“Need a minute.”
“I heard—”
“I bet you did. But for the last thirty minutes, I saw it. I saw it leak from her soul and when it did, I absorbed every scream, every word, and when she purged it—literally throwing up, getting it all out, I held her. So I need a goddamn minute.”
I knew my voice cracked and I didn’t give a fuck. I knew I limped to my back door and I didn’t give a fuck about that either. And lastly, I knew I should have handled Jasper with care, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
The cool night air did nothing to extinguish the burn that had built in my chest. I knew it was going to be bad, both what she had to say and the aftermath. But I hadn’t known how bad. I hadn’t fucking known that the worst was the goddamn worst.
She hadn’t said the word and I couldn’t bring myself to even think it, but I knew.
I knew what that motherfucker had done to her.
The worst.
Fucking shit, I couldn’t breathe.
Sweet, shy, beautiful Addy. So fucking strong thinking she was weak.
“Fuck!”
“Brother.”
Drake.
Of course it would be him. After Carter left our team, Drake had slid in to fill the role of the voice of reason. But the problem was, there was no reason that would quench my thirst for blood.
I turned to tell him I wasn’t ready but stopped when I saw it wasn’t only Drake. Logan, Matt, and Luke had joined him. My gaze went from my brothers to the window and I saw Carter and Brady blocking the stairs. Jasper was pacing, Levi and Clark standing close. I knew if Lenox was in town he’d be there, too.
Brothers.
Closing ranks.
I knew I had to give Jasper what he needed, but first I had to get control. Months ago, I’d forgotten something important. Or maybe I hadn’t forgotten, maybe I’d been too proud and stubborn. But now was not the time for pride. Addy needed me. Jasper had to be briefed and I absolutely had to be ready to take care of my woman when she was done speaking to her mom and sisters.
So I didn’t delay and I didn’t hold back. I told my brothers every last gut-wrenching detail. And when I was done, my heart was pounding in my chest. But I remembered something Addy had said, something important. Something that I couldn’t ignore as badly as I wanted to.
She unequivocally did not want her father to cause bodily harm to Keith. She was terrified of it. That was what had held her back talking about it. And I knew it was going to take an act of God to convince Jasper Walker, a man who took love and protection to such a degree it was unreal, not to hunt down Keith.
I caught sight of Jasper heading toward the back door, Levi and Clark following him. Carter and Brady still at the stairs.
My brothers shifted, making room for the newcomers. I noted Levi and Clark had positioned themselves so they could make a grab for Jasper if necessary and I thought that was smart. Depending on his reaction, they might have to lock him down.
Jasper’s gaze locked onto mine and I broke the silence.
“How straight do you want it?”
His jaw flexed at my question and he grunted his answer, “Straight.”
“No part of this is pretty and it fucks me to say, but there’s no way to cushion this for you.”
“Give it.” I hesitated and Jasper’s already taut body strung tighter and his head dropped forward. “So I know.”
Likely he did, but I still gave him the confirmation he’d requested.
“He physically, mentally, and sexually assaulted her.”
I heard Levi and Clark both growl a few expletives, but I didn’t take my eyes off Jasper so when his head snapped up and his eyes lit with fire, I didn’t miss it.
Shattered.
Then Jasper inhaled so deeply I watched his chest expand.
“Why?” he croaked.
“This is gonna be the harder part,” I told him.
“Harder than learning some fucker took his hands to my little girl and…”
Fucking hell. He couldn’t say it either.
“Yep. Because the why will burn you to ash. But being the father I know you to be, you’ll see your way past it and give Adalynn what she wants.”
Logan and Matt moved closer to me the same way Levi and Clark had crowded Jasper.
Any other time I would’ve let that settle over me—the bonds of brotherhood. But right then I didn’t feel anything other than Addy’s pain.
“She blames herself. And she’s terrified of you.”
“Me?”
Jasper’s torso jerked back and he looked like I’d struck him.
“You. Her fear is two-fold. She’s afraid that once you found out, that it would eat at you until you wouldn’t be able to look at her. But the real fear is that you’ll kill him and she’ll have to live with the guilt of you getting into trouble. She mentioned you going to prison. That’s her fear, losing you.”
“I am going to kill that son of bitch but I won’t be going to prison.”
“That’s not what Addy wants.”
“Addy doesn’t—”
“Adalynn gets it all. Anything and everything she wants. This is about her and only her.”
“I’m—”
“You don’t think I want to beat that motherfucker bloody the way he did my woman?” I cut Jasper off and took a step toward him. “She’s your daughter but she is mine and I just relived that shit with her. She wasn’t in that room with me when it came out. She was stuck in her head with that piece of shit. She begged me not to tell Emily. Then she told me she hated me for doing it. After that, she told me she’d never forgive me but I still did it because my woman needs help. She needs her mom, she needs her sisters, but most importantly, she needs her father. I
took it, Jasper, I took everything she had to say, every fucking detail she gave me burned into my soul in a way I know they will be there until the day I die. I watched her shake and sob. Me. I watched her zone out and sound like a zombie. I promised you I’d dig it out and I did. So now you’re gonna promise me the only thing you’re gonna do is reassure her you will not be seeking revenge.”
When I was done with my tirade, Jasper was silent and still.
“I’m fucking begging you. I cannot lose her, and if you don’t promise me and you do something, she will be gone. That, she will never forgive me for. And she just won’t be gone from me, she will be piled under so much guilt, she’ll be lost to everyone. It happened to her. Not you. Not me. I told her nothing would ever hurt her again. So I’m begging you not to make me a liar.”
Jasper jerked his chin in what I hoped was his promise before he stepped around Levi and made his way farther into my backyard. He stopped with his back to me and his head fell forward. Then I heard the most retched sound I’d ever heard.
Worse than Addy’s demonic wails.
The worst.
The sound of a father destroyed.
And when I saw Jasper’s body rock to accompany the sound, I had to turn away from his pain.
The worst.
Jasper Walker had known pain. He’d known beauty. He was a man who had everything and every day lived with the knowledge he had everything to lose.
He was also a man who had tried to protect his children from all the ways life could fuck with them. Yet, he’d failed at every turn. And each time one of his children stumbled, his Em reminded him he couldn’t shield them from everything.
But the truth was, Jasper couldn’t shield them from anything.
And now this.
His baby girl.
The knife twisted deeper and he started making plans. He’d wait a good long while, plan it just right. That fucker would get his and Addy would never know.
“Dad?” He felt Quinn’s hand slide into his and she squeezed. “Addy wants to talk to you.”
“Thanks, girl.”
He pulled his daughter closer, kissed her forehead, and let her go.
He scanned the room, looking for his two other daughters, and found them right where he knew they’d be. Carter had his arms around Delaney and Brady was holding a crying Hadley. Jasper made another pass and stopped on Trey.
Fuck. He’d been wrong.
So damn wrong, it wasn’t funny.
There was no better man for his daughter.
The man looked just as destroyed as Jasper felt. He’d take Addy’s pain. Trey would. And he’d let it eat at him—scar him inside—and he’d take that, too, so Addy could have easy.
It was on that thought, he walked to the man. But he did not want to delay getting to his daughter so he laid it out and did it quickly.
“A man’s any sort of man he admits when he’s wrong and makes amends. I was wrong. I was a dick. And I’m sorry. I know you didn’t ask and made it clear you didn’t need my blessing but you have it all the same.”
Eager to get to his daughter, Jasper moved to leave when Trey called his name.
“I did need it.” Trey cleared his throat then continued. “Thank you.”
Fuck, this kid was killing him.
“Then it’s good you got it. But just to say, it’s not me giving it as much as you proving you love my daughter more than you love yourself. You took a grave risk calling us in, knowing she needed help, knowing she didn’t want that, but then fighting for her to get everything she needs. You’re the type of man every father prays his daughter finds.”
With that, Jasper moved through the dining room, gigantic living room, and stopped at the base of the stairs thinking he paid his employees too damn much if they could afford this. Then he was glad he did, because he wanted Addy to have this. Not the big grand house, but the big home so she could fill it with his grandchildren.
Once he made it to the second floor, he followed the murmur of voices and paused in the doorway.
His wife sat in the middle of a huge bed with her girl next to her. Their backs to the headboard, Addy’s head resting on her mother’s shoulder, their hands clasped together.
A sight he’d seen hundreds of times. A sight that was no less beautiful than it was any of those times.
Emily Walker loved her children. A fierce lioness and a smart woman. She’d given their children the tools to overcome any obstacle.
This would be no different.
“Hey, Dad,” Addy sheepishly called, and the knife in Jasper’s gut twisted.
Hell no.
His girl was no sheep.
“I’m gonna go down and give you two a minute.” Emily patted Addy’s knee and slid off the bed. Addy followed, and that was when Jasper noticed she was in Durum’s tee.
He ground his teeth in an effort not to think about what that said.
Jasper was not dumb, his daughters were gorgeous, Delaney had a child and one on the way, Quinn lived with Brice, and Hadley lived with Brady. But that didn’t mean he wanted to admit to himself his daughters were anything but as pure as the white driven snow and his granddaughter wasn’t the consequence of immaculate conception.
“I’m sorry,” Addy blurted out and Jasper jerked back.
“Stop, Adalynn. You don’t have a damn thing to be sorry for. Please don’t ever apologize.”
“I was so scared. I know it was selfish not to ask for help. But I was scared.”
“I know you were and I understand why.”
“You do?”
Christ, Trey was right—his daughter was terrified of him, or more terrified for him. How had he allowed this to happen?
“I love you. I love your sisters and your brother. The five of you are my world. Add in your mother and my grandbabies and all of you are my everything. I cannot live without you all. I’m sorry you were scared to tell me because you were afraid of what I would do. That’s on me. But you need to know something—I’m so fucking proud of you I can’t express how much. You went through something that would rightfully cause a woman to crumble. Yet you stayed standing. You’re strong and resilient and you did it by yourself. I hope you know there’s nothing in this world that would make me think less of you. There’s nothing you can’t tell me.”
“That’s what Trey said.”
“Trey’s a smart man.”
Addy’s eyes narrowed, and gone was the timid woman his daughter had been when he entered the room. In her place was the fierce lioness her mother had taught her to be.
“Are you pulling my leg?”
“No.” Jasper chuckled.
“I think you are.”
“I’m not, swear.”
“Then why are you laughing?”
“Because you are so much like your mother it’s like looking back three decades and falling in love all over again. She gave you a great many things—her beauty, her kindness—but mostly she gave you her brand of loyalty and protection. And when it comes out, it is so beautiful it’s blinding.”
He’d barely gotten the last word out before his daughter was in his arms.
“I messed up,” she said, and wrapped her arms around her old man’s middle.
God, he missed that. Missed when his kids were little and used to hug him for no reason. So he took a moment to enjoy it before he asked, “What’d you mess up?”
“I said some really crappy things to Trey. I didn’t mean them but they were awful.”
“He understands.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Trust me. When I say he understands, I mean he understands.”
“They were bad.”
He thought about how much to tell his daughter, then he remembered how strong she was and didn’t hold back.
“I know why you didn’t want to tell. And I know what you said. Trey didn’t pull any punches when he laid it out, and part of that was he was willing to risk everything to get you help even after you told him you hated him an
d you’d never forgive him. What you need to take from that, Addy, is he loves you that much. God’s honest truth, you really could hate him for the rest of your life and he’d feel the loss of you and not recover from it, but he’d still do it if it meant you didn’t have all that ugly shit eating you up. You understand that? That’s love. That’s real, selfless, undying love. That’s what I want for you. So when I tell you he’s a smart man, what I mean to say is he’s a good man. And he deserves a woman by his side that is just as loyal. He’s not mad. But he is downstairs worried. Come down and put him out of his misery.”
“Everyone—”
“Loves you. Period. The end. They just love you. Go down and show them you’re okay and they’ll be good.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.” Jasper placed his lips on Addy’s head, then pulled back and grunted, “But put some damn clothes on, would ya?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Fuck.
Daddy.
That never got old. Not one second in the last thirtyish years had Jasper Walker taken that one word for granted.
29
I knew Trey was awake because he was gently removing his hand from my bottom.
Last night while my family wandered his house, giving themselves an unguided tour, I apologized for what I’d said, he’d forgiven me, and the rest of the night he kept me close. I knew the few times I’d left his side he’d watched me and I knew why. He straight out said I’d scared him. Being as the scene had been ugly and I’d zoned out for a lot of it, I understood.
After my family left, he’d led me to bed, where we’d laid and talked. Not long, and not in depth, but he’d again assured me he held no grudges and knew I was not myself. He also made sure I understood why he’d called my mom. In his mind, it was either her or he needed to call a doctor because I was so out of it, you guessed it, I’d scared him.
But he also thanked me for sharing. He’d held me tight while his hand coasted up and down my back as he listened to me tell him about my conversation with my mom. After that I was mentally drained, Trey probably was, too, so he suggested we go to sleep.
The last thing I remembered was his warm palm resting on my hip. Obviously at some point during the night his hand had dropped to my bottom. Not only that, but it had made its way under my panties, and now Trey was doing his best not to wake me while he pulled away.
Flawed (Triple Canopy Book 2) Page 24