The doors open, and my brothers and Silas step out, their expressions grim. “Did you tell them?” I ask Xavier. He shakes his head, looking mildly impressed.
Zane pauses in front of me and crosses his arms, a chastising look in his eyes. “I’m offended you tried to hide this from us,” he tells me, his jaw locked.
Lexington nods and moves to stand next to Zane. “Offended isn’t the word I’d choose. More like fucking pissed off. Did you really think none of us realized what you’ve been up to on our behalf? The only reason we left you be was because we thought you needed it. We all felt that taking matters into your own hands the way you do would help you heal old wounds, but this? What the fuck is this? You need to learn to ask for help when you need it, Dion. We’re your family.”
Ares sighs and places his hand on my shoulder. “Did you truly believe I wouldn’t realize that Hannah popped up in the Kingston mansion as a maid, or that you were behind her finally losing all her financial backing?”
Luca throws me a knowing look. “And did you think I wouldn’t figure out who was behind Val’s father’s robbery? You beat him to near-death and threw his wallet in the garbage bin closest to him. It was obvious it wasn’t a robbery at all. It was revenge, and I’m grateful for it, because despite my wishes, I couldn’t have been the one to do it. I couldn’t have faced my wife if I had.”
Silas nods at my brothers before looking at me. “Which is why you’re going to stay out here while we handle Faye’s father. I’m well aware you were behind Mona’s sudden death. She died the same way my father did, albeit behind bars, and I know I owe you for it.”
Ares squeezes my shoulder and smiles. “Do you know why we allowed you to step in? Why we kept quiet? It’s because you did what none of us could. Now that you’re standing in our shoes, you finally get it, don’t you? If you go in there, you’ll never be able to look your wife in the eye without feeling immense guilt. You won’t be able to keep this from her, and that secret will fester. It’ll destroy your conscience. You can’t do something that might make Faye fear you, but we can.”
“You knew,” I murmur, shocked.
They glance at each other and chuckle. “Of course we knew. You did your best to keep your secrets, Dion, but come on. We’re Windsors, and we’ve been worried about you.”
I stare at them speechlessly, a knot unraveling in my chest. I can’t quite define the feeling, but it’s one I haven’t felt in years. Reassurance. Loyalty. Gratitude.
Zane hands me a remote while Lex hands me an earpiece. “I placed bombs in all of Jimmy’s mines. Silas ensured they’re empty. We might not have the full story, but we protect our own, Dion. We’ll make it so he’ll never recover.”
“Any special requests?” Luca asks as he picks up a crowbar from Xavier’s chest of tools.
I straighten my back and nod. “Beat him harshly,” I say through gritted teeth. “Break as many bones in his body as you can, and when he’s at his lowest, tell him about the bombs. I want him destroyed, both physically and financially.”
Zane’s expression flashes with comprehension, and one by one, my brothers follow. “That piece of shit,” Ares mutters, reaching for a set of brass knuckles.
“How fucking dare he touch one of our own,” Lex says, his body shaking with anger.
Xavier wraps an arm around my shoulder and nods reassuringly. “Stay here,” he says. “We’ve got this.”
I force a shaky smile onto my face. “I owe you.”
Xave shakes his head. “No. Not for this one.”
I lean back against my car as they all walk into one of Xavier’s half-finished apartment blocks, disappearing from sight. I’ve been so desperate to make Faye rely on me, but all the while, I refused to acknowledge that I’ve been the same. I need to learn how to rely on others too. At the very least, I have to try. I can’t ask something of her that I’m not willing to do myself.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Faye
Dion hasn’t looked me in the eye all week, and I suspect I know why. One day after I admit to my father’s years long abuse, he goes missing, only to re-emerge three days later in a hospital, fighting for his life? It wasn’t hard to connect the dots.
He’s quiet as he helps me into the car, and I try to think back to the last real conversation we had, but I come up empty.
“Dion,” I murmur as he reaches over me to grab my seatbelt. “Was it you? There’s no point in avoiding this conversation indefinitely, and I did ask for your help. I need to know if… is this my fault?”
He finally looks at me then, his expression disarmed. “No,” he instantly denies. “It’s not your fault. Not at all.” His eyes meet mine, and all of a sudden, it feels like I can breathe again. I’ve missed this — seeing myself reflected in his deep green eyes.
Dion pulls a hand through his hair and sighs. “I didn’t lay a hand on your father, Faye, but I can’t deny that my family was involved. My brothers… you should understand that marrying me didn’t just result in you having a husband. You also gained four big brothers and three relatively insane sisters. I… I was going to hurt him, but they found out and took over. You should know that if they hadn’t, the outcome would’ve been the same — I don’t want you to think I’m somehow less of a monster simply because I didn’t bloody my hands this time. I won’t deceive you like that. There simply is no world in which I’d have let him get away with what he did to you unharmed.”
I stare at him, taking in the conflict in his gaze, his tense posture. “Do you remember when I told you that I wanted all of you?”
He nods then.
“I meant it, Dion. If it had been you, I would’ve… I would have accepted that. When you told me that everything you do is to protect me, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to listen, but I hear you now. I might not be happy with the way you take matters into your own hands, but I trust you enough to believe you won’t hurt or control me the way he did.”
He stares at me with such deep need that I’m tempted to climb into his lap and reassure him. I recognize that look in his eyes, because I’ve seen it reflected back at me in the mirror for years. “Do you still want that, Faye?” he asks, his voice soft. “Now that I’ve fully removed your father’s hold on you, do you still want me? Us?”
I nod and begin to answer, but he shakes his head and grabs my hand. “You’ve never had a choice when it came to me,” he says. “You told me you have no idea who you would’ve become if not for me, and no matter how I think about it, you’re right. You deserve to have a choice. You should think about what you’d do if you had one. In a world where you and I weren’t engaged since we were kids, would you have chosen me?”
I tear my gaze away and shake my head. “It doesn’t matter, Dion. Why ponder rhetorical questions?”
He lifts my hand to his lips and presses a soft kiss to my knuckles. It’s the closest he’s gotten to me all week, and it’s ridiculous how it makes my heart race. “It does,” he whispers. “It matters.”
I watch him carefully as he drives me to my father’s house, unable to read his mood. He’s been different, cagey. The way he’ll barely look at me reminds me of what he was like before we got married, back when I thought he saw me as an inconvenience. I realize now that it isn’t reluctance. It’s blatant guilt that he tries to hide behind a polite smile.
He doesn’t say a word as we walk into the house, but when he notices the accusations in my stepmother’s eyes, his hand securely wraps around my shoulder, silently telling me I’m not alone. She called me and asked me to come over, and I’d assumed it’s because she’d wanted to tell me what happened to Father in person, but it looks like I was wrong.
“Faye,” Abigail says, leaning back on the sofa, her arms wrapped around the girls. They stare at me with red eyes filled with heartache, and for a moment, I waver. “How could you do this to your own father?”
I tense but force an innocent smile onto my lips. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” I lie. “I’m as shocked as you are. I suppose some of Father’s debts were due?”
Abigail’s eyes flash. “And whose fault is that? If you hadn’t taken away money that you don’t even need, he wouldn’t be in this situation.” Her gaze flickers to Dion, clearly uncertain how much more she can say in his presence.
I stare at her, wondering how I missed it for so long. She’s the only mother figure I’ve ever really known, and I was so desperate to belong that I turned a blind eye to her flaws. I’m as much a tool to her as I was to my father.
“I should’ve known when you refused to run with the girls and me instead of forcing me into marriage. Why would you? Until recently, he left your daughters unharmed. You must’ve genuinely believed that his anger would’ve tempered once I was married and out of his sight.”