She hesitated and spoke slowly. “Well, technically, in his eyes he is. But my aunt, who claimed to be my mother, seduced a man to get him to marry her. She made promises to him.” A tear rolled down her cheek.
“What kind of promises?” Carl asked as he continued to rub her back.
“That he could have me when I turned nineteen.”
She heard the gasps and the curses that whisked through the room. Carl’s hand paused for a moment, and then he scooted closer to her.
“Look at me,” he whispered. She hesitated, and then slowly turned her head even though she feared to see his reaction, his hatred for her, and his disgust.
She was shocked when she saw compassion.
“This is not your fault. You deserve better, Juliet. Your aunt had no right to make that promise. Do you understand me?” he asked, and she stared at him and felt his sincerity. She knew that what he said was true. He gently caressed his knuckles over her cheek and smiled.
“I know,” she whispered, and he smiled at her.
“Tell me everything so that we can help you through this.”
“He wanted me. He always wanted me. My
aunt married him when I was fifteen. He paid special attention to me. More than a father would, and I knew it was wrong. It felt wrong, and as I got older, I asked him to give me space. He used to touch me,” she stated then felt the tear roll down her cheek. She could tell that Carl clenched his teeth, but he gave her the support she needed to talk about this.
“One night, he complimented my hair and asked me to come closer to him. I was seventeen. He played with my hair, and as he caressed it down my shoulders, I felt his hands move over my breasts. I remember gasping. I knew it was wrong and that he shouldn’t touch me like that. I left the room immediately, and I told my aunt what had been going on.”
She swallowed hard. Her belly ached.
“What did she say? Did she yell at him?”
Juliet shook her head. She leaned her head back down on the top of the couch and stared out the window.
“She told me I belonged to him. That when I turned nineteen I would be his woman.”
“What the fuck?” she heard someone state behind them.
“What did you do?”
“Robert followed me everywhere. Even when I thought he wasn’t around, he showed up. Then he got busy with some work that my stepfather was involved in. Stuff that was illegal. He was blackmailing CEOs of big companies. Robert made sure that they paid up, or he took care of them.”
“You mean killed them?” Carl asked, and she nodded her head. “You’re certain of this?” She nodded again. He looked at the others then back at her.
“What did you do during that time?”
“I went to school and saved money so that I could leave. I had it all planned, and then I met Danny.”
“Danny? Who is that?”
“Danny Corrano. He was my first love. We dated secretly for months. I tried to hide his existence, but then I was so afraid after the things I heard at night. The sounds coming from my stepfather’s bedroom.”
“What things, Juliet?” Carl asked her.
“Him having sex with women. He was beating them, making them do what he wanted them to do as he held them by their hair. What frightened me the most was that they were all redheads. They were young like me. No more than my eighteen years. I freaked out, and I told Danny. I started to confide in him, and then I noticed that Robert was snooping around again. He caught Danny and me kissing or holding hands. I loved Danny, and I thought that just maybe I would be safe and get to go away to college and have a normal life. My stepfather started getting more physical with me. He started hinting about my body and staying pure. The sick bastard wanted to take my virginity, and being eighteen and feeling like I was completely alone and my own aunt didn’t even really care for me, I slept with Danny. I lost my virginity to a young man I loved and who showed me that he loved me, too. But it was also to spite my stepfather. I knew he wanted me in his bed. He beat those women. They disappeared, one after the next. Robert took care of them. Then Robert found out about Danny and me, and Robert told my stepfather.”
“What happened?”
She couldn’t tell them that she witnessed Danny’s murder. That she was forced to watch as Robert tortured him and Pierce smiled in cold amusement. She couldn’t make them understand how scared they made her, or how thoroughly Pierce had beat her until she was unconscious. She had to live with the fact that she had done nothing to help stop them except cry and plead for mercy on Danny. She should have fought with her hands, her fists. She should have given her life for him. She didn’t know whom she was more terrified of, Robert or Pierce.
“What happened?” Richie repeated Carl’s question.
“He freaked out. Not on me but on Robert and the fact that he was supposed to be protecting me. My stepfather yelled at the top of his lungs that I was his. I was part of the deal in marrying my aunt for financial support and to ensure that my aunt lived a good life and he could have a beautiful, young virgin.”