He laughed and I had to bite into my lip to dampen the need to kill my own flesh and blood before he had a chance to tell me anything. Patience was never my strong point, and as if knowing that, Anderson slipped his hand into mine. He’d been sitting beside me, giving me all of his courage and devotion, but he’d remained quiet, allowing me and my father our last moments without interference.
“Nothing to tell, little one.” He shrugged. “Just how me and your mother were made I guess. You never did anything wrong, but then you never did anything right either. You might have guessed that you came as bit of a surprise. We never planned on having any kids. Our lifestyle was just…”
“Selfish?” I finished for him.
His lips grew into a grin and his eyes twinkled with amusement. “Yeah. That’s about it.”
I had to close my eyes to compose myself. Anderson squeezed my hand, encouraging me to calm down.
“I should have guessed that you’d find each other again,” Ivan mused as he gazed at our joined hands. “You were always close. When Judd went away you were never the same after. You became quiet, moody. An actual nightmare to be around.”
“Well, I’m so sorry I disappointed you.”
“Nah.” He shook his head with indifference. “You were never a disappointment, but you were never a delight either. You and Judd clung to each other because really all you ever had was each other. So when Terry and Janice sold you,” he said to Anderson before turning back to me, “we were left with you.”
“Why didn’t you just hand me over to social services?” I had been lucky to have such a lovely foster family after I’d managed to escape Terry’s attic, so social services didn’t scare me.
When Ivan just shrugged in reply to my query, Anderson asked, “What happened to my mother?” I knew it had been something he’d wanted answering for so long, and I held on to Ivan’s reply just as closely as Anderson did.
“She fell down the stairs and broke her neck, believe it or not.”
Both Anderson and I stared wide-eyed and Ivan held up his hands. “Yep. Seems a bit undramatic, but hey, it was just one of those things. She was as high as a rabid horse at the time.”
Anderson flinched beside me, my father’s cruel laugh and callous attitude hurting him. Ivan’s humour sickened me. He didn’t care about anything, his disregard making me grow angrier with him.
“So why come back?” I asked. “Why, after all these years, come back to haunt me and Anderson? We had our lives back. Anderson was finally free of those sick bastards. Why?”
For the first time, my father showed an actual reaction to one of my questions. He looked at me like I was crazy. “You were six when Judd was sold, Sammy. You didn’t remember a thing. I went to prison and when I came out I was quite content on getting on with things. Then Terry got in touch. Told me that fate had stepped in and brought you two together again. My newfound freedom was suddenly hanging on whether you two made the connection or not. And of course, then Judd had to delve. And he found it all.” He looked from Anderson to me and shook his head. “Have you any idea what prison is like?”
Before he could say another word, Anderson flew for him. Ivan’s chair fell backwards and the skin of his throat was clamped in Anderson’s fist. “You think prison was rough, you sick bastard? You have no fucking idea what being locked up even means! Twenty fucking years those cunts used and abused me, and for the rest of my life I will still be locked up inside their hatred. That’s imprisonment, Ivan! Not a few measly years behind bars with food in your gut, a bed to sleep on every night, and an hour’s fresh air in your lungs every day. I never even knew what the sun on my face felt like, or how sweet fresh air tasted. Your own daughter went hungry for so long that she will never again feel a full belly! Your sick fucking sidekick raped her at seven years old. You all ruined something so very precious. But I swear to you now, I will do everything in my damn power to erase you from her life. I will never take a full breath again until Kloe learns to love who she really is. She isn’t Samantha, and as much as I wanted her to accept her too, I have finally realised that Samantha died a long time ago. Kloe was born from your daughter’s pain and misery. Samantha gave her the strength of her soul. She gave her the courage in her spirit, and she gave her the love in her heart. She carries them, but by God, she will never again know the pain and destruction that you forced upon her!”
I swallowed and sat still as Anderson’s fists imploded my father’s face. His violent punches crushed my father’s breastbone, and his ruthless brutality took my father’s very last breath.
I watched. I sat in silence, forcing my eyes to see every single bit of Anderson’s rage. I witnessed the end with a full heart, Anderson’s declaration telling me what I had always suspected. That he loved me.
A smile rested on my lips as Samantha Rowan was finally laid to rest.
This time it was me who bathed and cared for the man who granted my soul peace. He was quiet and subdued, lost in his own thoughts as I was lost in mine.