GRACIE
"Mommy! " she cried as her arms tightened around me.
I embrace her tightly, I closed my eyes inhaling her sweet scent of baby powder. I had been so scared for her.
For us.
"Papa " she called again as he straightened down to her level, his face worked tight with emotions.
"Are you alright princess? " his gaze scanned over her gentle features as he spoke.
She nodded repeatedly but her grip on me didn't lessen a bit.
I blinked back to push back the tears, I felt Hayden's gaze on me, he was concerned about me as well, but I think he has more to do with the way I reacted after I had pulled the knife on Robert.
"That bad guy hurt you, mommy ?" Her crying had subsided and became quiet hiccups.
"Nothing happened to me sweetie, the bad men didn't hurt me "
She didn't look in any way convinced, I guess the bruises on my face weren't enough for her to believe my words.
"She told me you and Papa will come to get me, but I thought they did something bad to you, I wanted to save you, but the bad man... " her lips trembled as she spoke, her eyes becoming glassy once again.
Was she talking about Melissa? my gaze searched around the room instinctively for her.
I noticed the way Hayden's expression hardened for a moment, his gaze returned to Hazel, guilt, and anguish were written all over him.
I hoped he doesn't blame himself, none of these was his fault.
My mind slowly drifted back to all the hurtful things I had said to him, I had even blamed Shawn's death on him.
"You were so brave princess, your mom and I are so proud of you" he spoke gently kissing the sides of her head. He straightened up and scoop her into his arms.
"Then we can go home now? "
My gaze took a quick survey around the place then back towards her.
She didn't appear to be physically hurt, she was still a kid but the bad memories would have scarred her, it would be difficult for her to forget everything.
Same with me.
I just wished I could erase the memory of Robert's blood on my hands. I did what I had to do to save myself and Melissa's but still......
Melissa.
My gaze found hers at the far end of the room, I guess she was giving us some space.
I needed to get answers to all the confusing questions growing inside of me.
"Hayden, can you take Hazel to the car? I'll be there shortly ?"
Everything in his expression and the way he suddenly became tense made me think he was going to refuse.
"Gracie... "
"Only about a minute, it won't take long " I added quickly before he could say no.
I knew he didn't like the idea, all through our drive here, he'd indicated openly that he didn't trust Melissa. I guess he still bore a grudge even though she had helped saved us.
A sigh of relief escaped my mouth when he finally gave me a slight nod.
"Only a minute and I'll come to get you. And I'm waiting right outside " he spoke loud enough. His gaze is clear and meaningful as he looked towards her direction conveying a hard message.
I wanted to tell him that he was being rude towards the person who did her all to help us, I decided against it, judging by his hard expression, he might just change his mind and insist I come along with him.
Immediately he left I turned around to face her, we stood silently for a moment, there were so many questions running through my mind, I didn't know from where to begin.
I should at least start from why he hated Hayden's father so much, the loathing in his gaze had been raw and intense, it couldn't have been there without a deep reason which only she could tell me.
"Thank you "
If she accepted my words of gratitude, her gaze didn't give any indication, she merely gave me a light shrug.
"What do you want to ask? Go ahead " she spoke rather bluntly.
I ignored the uppermost questions that gnawed at the back of my mind, I decided to start with the reason why I had been kidnapped in the first place.
"Why does he hate them so much, I thought they were friends? "
One of her brows arched perfectly as she had least expected me to ask her this out of everything.
"They were merely business partners. Never friends " she paused, I didn't say anything, then she continued.
"Robert hated him for as long as I could remember, I think it has to do with the fact that one day both his parents were found dead, the next day all their shipments had been stolen and months later McAndrew became the richest and most powerful in the organization, it isn't hard to connect the dots right? "
The reasons she stated were simply enough reasons to hate anyone, it made me wonder if Hayden's father had done something so......evil.
"Was it related to him? "
She shrugged lightly
"Perhaps... Perhaps not, no one knows, there was no evidence to prove if he had done it or not. Roberts was furious and filled with hate and jealousy, but he hid it very well under the guise of friendship. He waited for years to have revenge on the family, then he had sent Matteo, But things didn't go as they planned. "
I tensed slightly at the mention of Matteo, the rest of it I knew very well.
My gaze held hers, we were both silent for a moment, I couldn't hold it inside anymore as all the questions poured out straight from my mouth.
"What did he want with me and why did you help me? who exactly are you? , back then your father had said... " Her eyes flashed briefly at my use of the word "Father ".
I couldn't read all the emotions that passed through her dark gaze, but it made me realized that she wasn't as indifferent to everything as I had thought. The whole thing still affected her deeply even if she kept on a hard neural expression.
"That first day, you approached me intentionally. Was it because you knew me?" I asked again.
"It wasn't hard to recognize you, you look every bit like her "
I tensed a little, Roberts had also spoken the same, even though a part of me was beginning to guess who the SHE was, I still needed to hear it from her.
"what do you mean? "
"I'm talking about OUR mother " she replied holding my gaze, was there a trace of bitterness lacing her tone?
I had been somewhat expecting her to say exactly that, but it didn't hit me any less when the words left her mouth.
I could only stare at her speechlessly.
Our mother?
A sister?
I stared at her, my gaze unconsciously searching for any similarities between us.
Then does this mean that Roberts was my.....and was she still alive? Matteo had told me then that he had killed her.
"No. He isn't your father, and she's no more" she spoke aloud as if she could read my thoughts.
I waited for her to continue.
"She was Robert's mistress then, I remember they always had fights, every night I would close my ears to her screams, then one morning I woke up and she wasn't there anymore." she took a brief pause, her gaze distant as if lost in those memories.
Had Roberts killed her?
No, I answered my question, if he had, obviously she wouldn't have given birth to me.
"For some time, I had thought he had killed her that night, then I found out that she had run away " she spoke quietly.
I could sense the bitterness and the slight trace of sadness in her tone.
How could she leave her young daughter with an abusive father and run away? I didn't know anything else about her, but knowing she had abandoned her daughter to a beast made me felt dislike and a twinge of anger.
"She had run away with Matteo, Robert had thought he was dead, that McAndrew had killed him, he'd somehow survived. He wasn't any better towards, much worse even. "
Then Matteo had killed her as he had told me?
"I only knew she'd given birth to another baby, that was all. Then I saw you the other day ..... I knew Robert recognized you too and perhaps that made him. suddenly missed his former mistress. "
The meaning behind her words made my skin crawl.
"At first I had only wanted to speak to you, I liked your little girl, she was like a reminder to all the things I could have been if....... when I found out of Roberts plan, I knew I had to save you, but I hadn't counted on him setting his plan much earlier than I anticipated"
My brain did its best to absorb all this information, it was difficult to swallow this new revelation.
"Why did you never leave him, just like your mom did? " I asked quietly after a while.
"I didn't have anyone else, he was still my father "
My mind drifted to what she had told me earlier before she had given me the phone.
"What made you change your mind?"
"I hate him...I so much hate him, but mentally I knew he was still my father, I guess your words earlier gave me the push I needed, I wanted to survive. Sooner or later he would have likely killed me "
My throat felt tight, this was my sister, I didn't know how to react.
I couldn't exactly embrace her like a lost family member, even she was gonna freak out. We were both victims of circumstances but somehow we still managed to survive.
Since Roberts and Matteo had fallen apart, especially since "My mother " had run away with him. It felt weird to refer to a stranger like that.
Then six years ago when he had abducted me, I guess it hadn't been on Roberts's command.
His trail had been discovered by Sebastian and Hayden, he'd merely been looking for a way out and decided to use me.
I snapped out of my thoughts when I realized she has been speaking to me.
"You don't have to feel obligated or burdened to anything, we should go back to our lives," She said.
The obligation was the last thing I felt, I wanted to know her..... as a friend, or maybe a family.
"I don't feel obligated, I want to know you,why don't we take everything gradually, we'll make it, I'm sure "
The tiniest bit of a smile formed on her lips and I found myself doing the same.
A sound at the door drew my attention, I guess Hayden's patience has finally run out.
*
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Thoughts?