"Your mother and I made a deal." It's past time that she learns just who I am. Rene's natural curiosity keeps her in the room now. "I saw...you...one day in the back of her car when we were both at a gas station. I followed the two of you; saw how guys looked at you, how your mother didn't try to stop any of it."
Rene doesn't say anything so I keep going, "I started talking to her, got her name and number. Didn't take her long to realize I wasn't interested in her. I promised to pay her if she allowed me to keep you. I only wanted to protect you. You looked so sad and tired and I couldn't bear the way you would pull away from everyone who tried to talk to you. I knew I could keep you safe, give you the room you needed to grow.
"It was never about sex with your mother, I never touched the woman, but the only way I could keep you is if I was married to her and she abandoned you. She made up some story about running off with another man and I got to keep you. She was going to leave you behind anyway. She didn't want the 'competition' you gave her for her lovers' affections. She took the deal and left. I haven’t heard from her since."
When I look up Rene is sitting on the bed with a stunned look on her face. I wait for her to tell me what a sick fuck I am for essentially buying someone to keep them safe. How crazy I am for going to such extremes to be sure she was cared for. I deserve it all.
It started out as me just wanting to keep a young girl from getting hurt but over time I fell in love with the woman she was growing into. It wasn't what I wanted or what I even hoped would happen when I first meet Rene. I just knew I had to protect this girl from all the evil around her.
"Thank you." I look at her with my own shock now. That is not what I thought she was going to say. "For telling me about what happened. And for keeping me safe."
I go to her but she gets up and puts more space between us. "You were right. I need to leave. I...got confused about...everything. I mixed up the feeling of being safe with the feeling of being loved."
I try again to go to her but she puts her hands up to stop me. "I should apologize for making you...do something you didn't want to do. You're a good man. What I did was wrong. I see that now." A tear slips free but she quickly rubs it off her cheek.
"No! It wasn't...," I try but she stops me.
"Yes, it was very, very wrong of me and...I'm sorry."
"It wasn't something I didn't want to do." She shakes her head and starts backing towards the door. There is no way in hell I'm letting her out of that door.
"You just wanted to keep me safe. I...I took advantage of that and made you..."
Now it's my turn to interrupt her. "I stood over you so many nights watching you sleep telling myself how wrong this is...,"
"I don't want you to do something you think is wrong, Evan."
"Just...listen for a god damn minute." I put my hand up to stop her from protesting anymore. "It didn't keep me from doing it the next night and the next. You belong to me. I'm the man that keeps you safe and takes care of you. I make sure you have everything you need."
She shakes her head and backs up more. The look of sadness on her face is killing me. I can't stand it anymore. If I can't tell her how much she means to me I'll show her. I move closer to her and she takes another step back. She's not leaving this room until she admits that she's mine and she won't ever leave me.
"I'm the man who got between those thighs for the first and last time, Rene."