Page 118 of Please Open Me
“Hekilledsomeone,” she snapped. “Murder. Dead. Someone with a life and a family. Maybe they had kids, maybe–”
“Maybe they were a bad person whohurttheir kids.”
Mason sucked in a breath, and I thought she’dconsider it.
“My dad was a bad person. He hurt me. He didn’t deserve to die–”
“Sebastian didn’t kill your dad,” I blurted.
Silence fell between the two of us as Mason wiped her eyes once more. Then, the slightest shade of skepticism colored her expression.
“I didn’t say he did… my dad died drunk driving, I think.” Doubt infected her words like gangrene in an open wound.
My throat went dry, and I could see the gears turning in her mind. Unfortunately, they were turning in the wrong direction.
Her mismatched eyes flicked to mine, slicing clear through my core, as if she was trying to peel back every single layer in search of the truth.
“Sebastian has a history of beingweirdwith me,” she stated calmly.
I nodded, remembering her story about the first no-contact order she’d placed on Sebastian. He’d been sending her weird letters, and she didn’t feel safe. I’d also heard Sebastian’s side of the story.
He knew it was wrong, but he was at his lowest point. In his fucked-up traumatized mind, he believed nothing could fix him like she could. That didn’t make it right, but I understoodwhyhe did what he did.
I swallowed hard, guilt burning through my throat like acid. “He ain’t that guy anymore.”
“How do you know? How do you know he’s not one bad day away from snapping? What if he doesn’t like how close the kids get to me and–”
“Sebastian. Ain’t. Like. That,” I snapped at her.
Mason flinched, but didn’t back down. Under any other circumstance, I’d be proud of her. Right now, I just wanted her to bow her head and listen to me.
“You can’t promise what another human being will or won’t do,” her whispered words wobbled as she tried to keep a brave face. “If that’s how it worked, I’d have promised you Lucian was sober, but look.”
She slowly shook her head, like she couldn’t believe this was what we’d become, and honestly, I couldn’t blame her.
“Over the last twenty-four hours, our lives have been irreparably damaged. You don’t get to look at me and say what someone will and won’t do because we don’t know!” She lifted her shoulders before smacking her hands against herlap. “And today I learned I can’t dothisalone–” She gestured to her stomach and then wildly at somewhere in the house. “I am admitting I am not superwoman. I need help. I need–”
“To get over yourself!” I shot up off the bed and shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans, trying to ignore how violently they shook. Mason wasn’t wrong. She rarely ever was. But if she could forgive me for the cult, this should benothing.
She gasped and pressed a hand to her chest.
“I am sorry for being rough with you, but Mason, this is ridiculous!” Not just her, all of it was.
And, unfortunately, all of that dawned on me right now. Lucian. Sebastian. Sophia. The baby. All of it. All of it was bullshit. All of it was justtoomuch for one family at one time.
My chest heaved as I turned away, pacing the room like a caged animal. I couldn’t control the past, but I could control whether she came home. And that bit of normalcy was what I needed.
“I saw the paperwork. Restraining orders, emergency custody. Mason, doyouwant to be the one destroying our family?” I wasn’t sure if I meant it or not, but all my anger was a hurricane, battering an ocean-side house.
“I’mdestroying our family?” Mason finally stood up, coming toe to toe with me despite being told to rest.
Our height difference didn’t matter. She barely reached my heart, but that didn’t stop her from squaring her shoulders and looking tougher than someone not even five feet tall could.
“I don’t give afuckabout our family!” She poked me in the chest. “I care about our kids. They didn’t do anything wrong, they deserve love and–”
“You think ripping them out of their home is good for their development? Mason, your family pushed you around from place to place, nanny to nanny, foster family to foster family. You willingly told me all of that, and look how you turned out.”
She was beautiful, smart, and kind. But Mason was damaged. I was damaged. The lot of us were damaged. And I didn’t want that for the kids.
