Chapter 68
Chapter 68
IRIS
I know he thought I hid this information from him because I didn’t trust him. It wasn’t him. I trusted him. I loved him. My problem was not that I didn’t trust him. The problem was that I, myself, didn’t want to face the darkness in my past. The shadows of who I once was. The part of me that I let out back then, and the part of me that I thought I had chosen to leave behind. I sat across from him, the weight of his gaze pressing on me like the shadows of my past that I had long tried to escape. The silence between us was deafening, thick with unspoken truths I had buried in the darkest corners of my soul. My fingers trembled slightly as I clasped them together, drawing in a shaky breath before meeting his eyes. Ryker deserved to know. He needed to know. “The Flower,” I began, my voice a threadbare whisper that barely bridged the space between us. “It was a name I never wanted you to hear. A name I tried so hard to leave behind.”
His expression remained unreadable, his steady presence a beacon as I unraveled the truths, I had long kept hidden. “When I was younger, before I came here, I wasn’t just Albert Bendreo’s daughter. I was… something else.” My voice faltered, but Ryker didn’t move, his unwavering patience silently urging me to continue. “He didn’t just see me as his child. He saw me as a weapon, something he could mold, something he could use. And I let him. I thought it was the only way to survive, to prove to him that I wasn’t weak, that I wasn’t a liability. So, I became the Flower. His second-in-command. His confidante. Whatever he needed me to be. "I swallowed hard, the memories clawing at the edges of my composure. “The Flower wasn’t some delicate nickname. It was ironic. A façade. I was anything but delicate. I was ruthless, Ryker. Calculated. I did things—terrible things—that I can never undo. I was his shadow, his clean-up crew, his voice when he needed authority but didn’t want to get his hands dirty.” My hands tightened into fists as I spoke, the anger and shame bubbling to the surface despite my efforts to suppress it. “And then, one day, I had enough. I couldn’t keep being that person. I didn’t know who I was anymore. So, I left. I cut ties, changed my name, and came here. I thought I could escape it, leave it all behind.”
Ryker leaned forward, his hand reaching across the small space between us to cover mine. The warmth of his touch grounded me, pulling me back from the brink of losing control. “Iris,” he said, his voice low and steady, “whatever you were, whatever you did, that’s not who you are now. That doesn’t define you.” A bitter laugh escaped my lips as I shook my head. “It’s not that simple, Ryker. You don’t just walk away from someone like my father. You don’t just erase the things you’ve done. The Flower isn’t dead. She’s still a part of me, buried deep, waiting for a moment to resurface. And now, with everything happening, with him coming here, I’m terrified she’ll come back. That I’ll have to become her again.” Ryker’s grip on my hand tightened, his gaze locking onto mine with an intensity that made my chest ache. “You don’t have to face this alone,” he said firmly. “I don’t care who you were, Iris. I know who you are now. And I will stand by you, no matter what. If the Flower comes back, then we’ll face her together. But you are not your father’s weapon anymore. You are not the person he made you to be. You are stronger than that. You are stronger than him.”
The conviction in his voice pierced through my doubts, and for the first time in a long while, I felt the faintest spark of hope. Ryker wasn’t afraid of my past; of the darkness I carried. And maybe, just maybe, I didn’t have to be either. “Thank you,” I whispered, the words trembling on my lips but carrying the weight of my gratitude. “For not running. For staying.”
"Always,” Ryker said, his voice a quiet promise that wrapped around me like a shield. And in that moment, I knew that if he was by my side, I might just be able to face whatever storm was coming. “There is something else.” I said looking down at my hands in his. Ryker smiled at me and raised his hand to my cheek, again, making me feel secure. “Whatever you think is relevant to know.” I took a deep breath. “I went to my father to deal with my mother’s boyfriend. That was how the Flower started. He was a monster. He was always touching me. Trying to get in my pants. I was a teenager. I was an addict. I killed him. Before I left for Ohio, and my father knows that.”
Ryker looked straight into my eyes. “Babygirl, you were protecting yourself. If he were still alive, I would kill him.” He kissed me, hard, taking my breath away. I took a deep breath when he released, he lifted me from the chair and laid me back on the table. Without a word he pulled my pants and underwear off in one fell swoop. “Ryker I...” He shushed me, then growled out an order. “Daddy!” I nodded and repeated him. “Daddy, I don't deserve pleasure.” He pulled his pants down and smiled at me. “Oh Babygirl, you deserve all the pleasure.” He placed his thumb in my slit and rubbed my pleasure button. “You ready?” He asked giving me time to grip the table beneath me. I moaned loudly as he played with me, strumming my wetness like the guitar solo of complete passion, He slipped inside of me, hard, and fast. Taking me completely over in crashes of pleasure. “You are mine, Babygirl! Say it.” He growled as he took me over. “I am yours, Daddy.” When the words left my lips, he started pounding into me, like he was afraid he would never be inside of me again. So deep so that he could fill as much as possible for him to fill. “Let go, Babygirl, now” At the same time we collapsed in ecstasy and in that moment, nothing could take us apart.