CHAPTER16
Time is ticking away. I have a decision to make.
The idea of being in this house alone with my stepbrothers while Mom and James are on their honeymoon is unthinkable. One of the only things that kept me going last night was knowing that, eventually, James would come home. Mom? I doubt she would care either way. But he at least gives me hope. He’s the only one around here who’s kind to me. I need to believe that kindness will make a difference. I need him to believe me and stick up for me. Somebody has to because I’m not getting anywhere by myself.
This isn’t like me. I’m not the kind of person who runs around squealing on people. I doubt either of my stepbrothers would believe this, but I would rather mind my own business.
That’s what I’m fighting with as I wander my room, my conscience and my sense of self-preservation fighting it out as one crucial minute after another ticks by. They’re leaving soon. I don’t have much more time to make up my mind.
I can either spend the honeymoon locked in this room, afraid to step foot outside even to get something to eat, or I can tell James what’s happening. At least he might warn them to stay away from me. He’ll be on my side. He has to be, especially when I tell him there’s proof on the laptop. It’s the only chance I have left.
That’s that. When I look at it that way. When I consider how many awful things they could do to me while it’s just the three of us, it’s obvious I have no other option. I open my bedroom door, take a deep breath, and prepare to track him down before he leaves.
As it turns out, I don’t have far to go. He’s carrying a bag over his shoulder, fiddling with his sunglasses on his way down the hall. A smile lights up his face when he sees me approaching. “There she is. I haven’t seen you all day. You made a quick escape last night. Were you feeling all right?”
“Yeah, I had an accident with some wine, so I figured it would be better to come home and get changed than walk around in a stained dress all night.”
“That’s a shame. I’m sorry you missed so much of the party.”
I can’t say the same. “Anyway, it seemed like you two were having a good time, and that’s what matters.”
“What a sweet thing to say. If I’ve told your mother once, I’ve told her a hundred times: you are a wonderful kid, and she did a fantastic job of raising you.”
I have to say it. I have to say it before I lose my nerve. “Can I have a minute? I know you’re probably on your way out, but I need to tell you about this before you leave. And believe me, I don’t want to do this. I’ve been trying all day to come up with a way not to tell you about this.”
“Not to tell me about what?” He reaches out and touches my arm, frowning. “What’s happened? What can I help with?”
“I know this isn’t going to be easy for you to hear, but Colt and Nix…” Oh god, I didn’t think about how humiliating it would be to repeat all of this. But I have to get through it.
“What about them?”
“I’m sorry, but they hate me.”
“Remember what I told you last night about the awkwardness—”
“It isn’t awkwardness. It’s so much worse than that. I wouldn’t say anything like this if it wasn’t true and if I wasn’t afraid. But they do hate me. And…” I rub a hand up and down my arm, looking at the floor. “They force me to do things. They have forced me to do things recently. I didn’t want to do them, but they made me.”
“What kinds of things?” He hasn’t blown up yet, so that has to be a good sign. I knew this was the right thing to do. He’s the only sensible person in this house.
“One night, they forced me into… performing oral sex on Nix.” I glance up at him, wishing I could crawl into a hole, wishing he would stop looking at me the way he is because I feel so sick and dirty.
“They forced you into that?”
“Yes. I’m so sorry to have to tell you about this. I know they’re your sons, and I’m sure you don’t want to believe anything like this about them. That’s not all of it, either. It gets worse than that.”
His head snaps back a little, eyes narrowing as he scans my face. “Are you sure this isn’t some sort of misunderstanding?”
My heart sinks, but I can’t give up. Of course, that’s the first thing a parent would think. They wouldn’t want to believe the worst about their child—well, unless they were my mother. “Believe me. I’m sure. There was no room for misunderstanding.”
“You didn’t all have too much to drink, lose track of yourselves?”
“No. No, not at all. And like I told you, that’s only one example of many. But it’s constant, and I don’t know what to do about it. That’s why I had to come to you. I’m so scared of being alone in the house with them while you’re gone. Please, can you help me? I don’t know what else to do.”
He sighs, his shoulders slumping a little. “Leni, it isn’t that I don’t believe something happened to you, but I know my sons. I know they aren’t perfect, but what you’re describing… it’s all too much to believe.”
“I know it is.” This is the hardest part of all. This is the part that’s really going to kill him. “But there’s a video.”
His eyebrows lift. “Excuse me?”