I shut my eyes, shaking my head. Was this true? How could it be true? The man who’d I’d always called Daddy wasn’t my father at all?
But from the depths surfaced a distant memory of my parents fighting tooth and nail, and it was ugly. I had chosen to forget it but slowly, the scene took shape in the forefront of my mind.
“How long were you planning to hide it?” Dad asked Mom, his tone serious and deadly. “How long were you planning on foisting her off on me?”
Elaine cringed, as if Pat had physically hit her.
“Ho-how did you know?” she stammered, cowering behind a chair.
Pat glared fiercely.
“I saw you meeting up with a man at a café near the salon. I hired an investigator to see if you were cheating on me. But you were getting money out of him. So I had him checked out. Funny thing is, he looks eerily like our daughter. I thought he might be your brother or something because you two looked alike too.” Dad spat and he was trembling with rage. “But the investigator said otherwise. He ain’t your brother. He’s your daughter’s FATHER!” Pat finished on a roar. “So I ask again. HOW LONG? HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO CARE FOR A FUCKING SLUT’S CHILD WHO’S NOT MINE?”
My eyes closed in the darkness of the hallway, not fully understanding what was happening. Meanwhile, Elaine clutched her hands together.
“Please let me explain, Pat. There’s an explanation for everything.”
My father smiled contemptuously, an evil glare in his eyes.
“Then enlighten me,” he spat.
“I wasn’t pregnant when I met you, I swear. A month before our wedding, my ex asked if we could meet again. Adam begged me for another chance and I said no. But we drank too much that night, one thing led to another and then I found I was pregnant. It was a week before our wedding,” she cried. “I wanted her to be yours so badly, I really did. And I didn’t know, not for a long time.”
“How did you find out?” Pat rasped.
Tears ran down her cheeks.
“The guilt overtook me. And the suspicion. So I had a paternity test done, and I knew she wasn’t yours.”
Pat stared at her.
“So Minnie’s your ex’s then?”
She nodded, sniffling again.
“Think so. Has to be. I think.”
Pat stared at her dumbfounded.
“Has to be? I think? What the fuck?”
But I couldn’t hear the rest, the blood pounding in my ears. Elaine was crying really hard now and my father looked like he was about to explode. So many emotions raging, and all of it awful.
Suddenly, a few sentences caught me ear.
“So you decided it would be best that you hide that fact from me and let me raise your daughter?”
“You wanted a family. Minnie’s arrival was perfect!” Elaine cried. “You love her, Pat.”
But Dad shook his head. “I loved her because I thought she was mine.”
“Pat, please, I beg of you. Don’t ruin Minnie’s life.”
And the sad part was that while they were having that argument, neither of them knew I was sitting on the stairs, listening quietly and crying. I couldn’t remember when I ran to my room and sobbed myself to sleep but when I woke up, there was nothing there. The human brain is a marvelous thing, and my youth and self-defense mechanisms sprang into play.
I blocked the memory.
It’d just been a bad dream, a hazy screaming match that all parents engage in.
And with the years, the incident grew fainter in my mind, wrapped away and stashed in the back of my brain.
But here it was now, staring me in the face.
Pat’s enraged eyes seared my frame, burning like coals on the opposite side of the car.
“Get out,” he spat. “Get out you fucking ho.”
I shook my head, pressing myself into the far corner of the car.
“But you took care of me when she left,” was my feeble plea. I was trying to reach a part of him that was buried. The part that hadn’t turned into a monster yet.
“Because I was just waiting for this day, Minnie.”
He snarled, slowly reaching into the car.
“I’ll be honest though. At first I didn’t have the heart to kick you out of the house when your mother left.” Pat fixed his eyes on me with a hard look on his face. “But then you kept doing that stupid makeup thing like your whore of a mother. You grew up and became a constant reminder of that bitch. There wasn’t a day that I didn’t think about throwing your fat ass onto the street. But I was under obligation. You were my responsibility because the law thinks you’re my daughter. My name on your birth certificate. I didn’t have a choice,” he spat bitterly.
But the man wasn’t done yet.
“Your mother ruined my life by leaving you,” he growled, glaring as I cowered in fear. “I spent so much money on you, Minnie. And now I’m here to get what I paid for.”
He reached out and I fumbled frantically at the jammed door again. By some kind of miracle, it opened and I bolted into the forest, nude and creamy, still wearing those stupid black stilettos.
Faster, faster, the voice in my brain sang. Hurry, hurry, hurry.
I dashed into the woods, uncaring of which direction. Because what waited for me at the clearing was a thousand times worse.
My father had tried to touch me.
Intimately.
This was so wrong.
My stomach churned, heaving heavily as I ran.
But then there was the root.
And with a scream, I tumbled down, smashing my face into the dirt, limbs sprawled everywhere.
Stupid heels!
Thundering footsteps sounded behind me. Oh god. Pat was here, looming over my sprawled frame.
“You’re not running away from Daddy, princess,” he cooed, that unnerving smile on his face again. Was he rabid? It crossed my mind, his face was so inhuman.
Because this man had raised me. Even if I wasn’t his biological child, still. How could he do this? Despite all his shortcomings, I never would have imagined this. Yes, my dad has his flaws, like anyone else. But not this.
But he was too far gone.
A maniacal light shone from his eyes.
I was on the hard forest floor, exposed and naked for him to take. Throwing that spindly frame down, Pat pinned my hands with his and forced my legs apart. Oh god, oh god. But it got even worse. His mouth swerved towards my nipples, lips open and ready to suck.
“Dad, no! Please, no! Daddy! No, no, no!”
The hysterical screams rang out in the forest, but there was no one. Only silence surrounded us, ominous and gloomy.
My mind clouded, ready to transport me from this place as a form of self-protection. Just like when I was a child, my inner sense of self-preservation took over to spare me this horrific scene. It would be like teleportation or astral projection. I’d be here, but not really here. Instead, I’d be floating over my own body, watching with disinterest as some other girl was raped by her own father.
But then a flash of light made me squint blearily. And with a mighty roar, someone yanked Pat off my curvy form.
Through tear filled eyes, a dark form surged forwards, beating the crap out of the man I thought was my father. It took me another moment to register what was happening.
It was Thorn.
He was punching and kicking Pat viciously, thud after heavy thud emphasizing his grunts.
“You’re a fucking asshole, Patrick! You fucking dick! You deserve to go to hell you bastard!”
And Thorn was relentless. It didn’t matter that he was twice Pat’s size. It didn’t matter that he was twenty years younger, athletic and fit whereas Pat resembled a limp noodle. He just kept on punching and kicking, my dad’s face a bloody mess, his head knocked back with each blow.
“You. Fucker!” Thorn exploded again, delivering a crashing backhand.
This time, there was no sound from Pat, not even a burbly breath. He was absolutely limp and still on the forest floor
.
But Thorn didn’t care.
Heaving with exertion, he grabbed me by the shoulders, lifting me up from the leaves.
“Let’s get out of here.”
And in one fell swoop, I was in those muscular arms, pressed against a hard male chest. He strode to his car, fumbling in back before thrusting a gray jumpsuit my way.
I’ve hated those things for months now. Yet now, the drab canvas was a lifesaver. Hands trembling, I struggled into the clothing before getting into the passenger’s side.
And with that, we were off. The wooded glen grew small in the mirror, like a nightmare slowly fading in the light of day.
Yes, we’d left Pat lying motionless on the side of the road.
But it didn’t matter.
What had happened was a crime against nature, and slowly, the tears began to pour down my cheeks as I stared straight ahead, trying to comprehend.
“Minnie,” rasped Thorn, glancing at me as he drove. Suddenly, I burst into hysterical sobs, unable to contain the horror anymore. The Master reached out and grabbed my hand but I shoved him away.
“Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!”
The expression on his face was pained.
“Minnie, please, it’s me.”
I could hear the agony in his voice,
But his words wouldn’t register. The phrase ‘you are not my daughter’ repeated in my head like a broken record. My life was a lie. None of it was true.
The car came to a stop.
Thorn looked at me and tried to reach for me again, but I jumped back like a frightened rabbit.
“Don’t touch me!” was my vehement response.
“Minnie, it’s me. It’s Thorn. Please, sweetheart. You’re in good hands now, please.”
But I wasn’t having any of it.
“No! My life is a fucking lie, Thorn!” The tears came like a flood now, and I didn’t care how I looked. I never thought my heart could be broken like this, but it was.
“Minnie, what did he say to you?”
“Pat’s not my Dad,” I cried. “My mom lied to him about my paternity, and he found out. My life is worthless, Thorn. Absolutely worthless. I really am the slut that he described, just like my mom. What were we doing Thorn? What were we thinking?”
The alpha’s expression was fierce.
“Minnie, we are not a mistake. Don’t say that.”
But my thoughts were jumbled, the pain in my heart relentless. I turned away from him and tried to get out of the car but he saw what I was doing and put pedal to the metal, the Mercedes surging forwards.
“Stop the car, Thorn!” I screamed, but the alpha ignored me.
“Minnie, you’re disoriented. You’re in shock. You need rest, please, sweetheart, please.”
“No!” I screamed once more. “Stop the car or I’ll throw myself out, Grayson. I’m not kidding.”
“Minnie, you have nowhere to go,” Thorn argued, trying to talk some sense into me. “You’re safe with me.”
“No, I’m not,” I said, my voice calmer and less hysterical. I looked at this man who meant so much to me. Yet my vision blurred, going hazy.
“My heart isn’t safe with you, Thorn. I have to guard whatever’s left of it.”
He gazed my way and slowed the car.
“Minnie, I won’t hurt you. I promise you on my mother’s grave, I would never hurt you.”
But tearfully, I shook my head.
“Everybody says that until they do the exact opposite. You can’t promise me that, Thorn. My own parents hurt me in ways that I don’t know how to fix.”
“But I’m not like them,” he protested, eyes fierce.
“You’re worse,” was my flat reply
There was a silence.
“I care about you,” he said it quietly. “I know with everything that’s happened, it’s hard to see straight. But we have something real, baby girl. Something that’s hard to find.”
I could see how the alpha was baring his soul in front of me, letting his guard down and revealing his innermost soul.
But I didn’t want to set myself up for another ruin. I couldn’t take another disappointment. First, finding out that my mom had kept my paternity a secret, and then Pat’s devastating assault. Risking things with Thorn was too much for me at the moment. Like a snail, I hunched into my shell, refusing to consider any possibilities.
“You don’t care about me,” was my desperate whisper. “No one does.”
But the big man wouldn’t give up.
“Minnie, please,” Thorn rasped, blue eyes gleaming. “I won’t hurt you. I’ll take care of you. You’ll get through this. We’ll get through this together, I promise. Just don’t leave, sweetheart, don’t leave.”
Tears fell down my cheeks again, hot and streaming.
“I can’t do this anymore, Thorn,” was my broken cry. “Everything Pat said was true. I’ve been fucking my teacher. My headmaster. My counselor! I was supposed to confide my secrets to you. You were supposed to make me into a woman, and instead …”
The sentence was never finished,
“Minnie…”
“Stop the car.”
“I’m not going to,” he said firmly but I could see that my words had hurt him. “You need someone right now and damnit, even if you don’t want it to be me you have no choice.”
“Stop the car, Thorn,” I repeated woodenly.
“No!”
“Stop or I’ll throw myself out,” I said again, voice eerily calm, my hand already on the handle.
Something must have penetrated his rage because the car came to a screeching halt.
And in a flash, I was out. We’d left the forest. I could see lights a few blocks away. Help was near.
But Thorn loomed, massive form blocking my way. He reached for my hands once more, but I wouldn’t let him touch me.
“Minnie, please. Just let me help you,” that deep voice sounded. “Please.”
I didn’t want to look into those blue eyes because my resolve would crumble like flour. So my chin turned away resolutely.
“Your judgment is clouded by the sexual feelings that you have for me, Thorn. That’s all it was. Help me now and you’ll be ruined, don’t you see? I’ll be ruined as well. I can’t afford that. My heart can’t take it.”
“Minnie.” His voice held a warning note.
“Leave me alone, Grayson,” I whispered, turning away, refusing to make eye contact. “It’s what I want.”
The big man rumbled.
“What will you do then? Where will you go? You have no one sweetheart. Let me help.”
But still, I wouldn’t meet his eyes. Shrugging, my curvy form turned away, shoulders squaring resolutely.
“I’ll think of something. Go now. Please.”
And there was a sense of finality in my voice. We’d reached the end, and even as my heart beat hard, I refused to meet his gaze.
To my relief, the alpha got back into his Mercedes and drove away, red taillights disappearing in the distance. It was only then that I crumpled onto the ground, heaving with pain and barely able to breathe. I was suffocating, overwhelmed by recent events.
Pat wasn’t my real father.
My mother left me with a monster, knowing how much he heated me.
The man who raised me tried to rape me.
And to make it worse, all of Pat’s accusations were true.
I was a whore like my mother.
I’d had a relationship with a man who was both my headmaster and therapist. I’d let this father figure touch me and kiss me, doing anything he asked.
Letting him use the whip.
Tie me up with chains.
Cuff me to the bed.
It was wrong in the beginning and it was wrong now.
But I didn’t realize that it would break my heart too.
Agonizingly, I pulled myself up from the road and forced myself to walk toward the lights. There must be a town. They had to have a payphone. Maybe I could call Dina or N
icole because the two girls were the only people I knew well enough. Maybe they could help, even though it was the dead of the night.
My heart sagged as I limped, mindlessly following the white line on the road. Why had I gotten out? But the answer was clear. One more second with my lover in that car and I would fall apart.
I couldn’t risk it.
My heart was broken.
And it would never be the same again.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Minnie
Two years later …
It’s been two years since my life did a complete one-eighty. Two years since I graduated from Forest Hills, found out my Dad wasn’t my biological father and was almost raped by the man who raised me.
Two years since I made the biggest mistake of my life.
Letting Thorn go.
There were more than a few times when I cried myself to sleep. It became so hard to wake up some mornings and face reality. But baby steps worked, and I moved on. Make-up has always been my salvation, and now I had my own empire.
Because my hands were empty when Thorn left me on that road. I didn’t have so much as a cent upon stumbling into the convenience store. The clerk took pity and actually let me borrow his cell to make a call.
Fortunately, Dina picked up immediately, and after explaining the situation, she rushed down with her father. Her folks are real nice, and they let me move in with them temporarily.
But it wasn’t a forever place. I’m not that lucky. So when Dina went to college, I went with her. Not as a student, oh no. There was no tuition money for that. Instead, I worked two jobs to afford the rent and bills, and started doing Youtube make-up tutorials again.
It’s amazing what strong will and determination can do.
It’s amazing how you can smile for the camera, even if your heart’s not in it.
But smile I did, and the results were out of this world. At first, it was just a few people watching. But as the days progressed, people began to follow me. One here, one there. But soon the drip became a stream, and then a flood. I had a million followers. Then two million. Advertisers approached me, begging me to hawk their products. Giant cosmetics companies put me on contract.
Taken by the Dom Page 18