God of Pain (Legacy of Gods #2)(88)

“I will talk to her. She’ll understand.”

“No.” I pull away from him. “You’ll just tell her that if she doesn’t stay away from him, you’ll hurt him.”

“Which is the right thing to do.”

“No, Adrian. She’ll just fall in love with him more. At this point, any coercion from our side will only push her in his arms and muddy our relationship with her.” I sigh. “I don’t know when she grew up enough to even know the meaning of love.”

“Let me have a talk with the bastard who dared to touch my baby daughter and we’ll find out.”

“You mean, let your fists talk to his face?”

“The only appropriate language under the circumstances.”

“Adrian, no. I’ll speak with her. We’ll have the talk we should’ve had last night when I saw that picture. She deserves the truth.”

His dark eyes watch me with so much care that I drown in it. “Will you be okay?”

“No, but I’ll do this for Anni.”

“Don’t have any misconceptions about the results. She won’t be happy.”

“But she’ll understand. Our daughter has grown up so much. She’s no longer that sheltered child who followed your and Jeremy’s orders like they were the holy scripts. She’s matured and become a little spitfire.”

“I don’t like that,” my husband grumbles.

Of course he doesn’t. Adrian has always been overprotective, so he doesn’t like knowing that his baby girl is growing wings that she’ll use to leave him.

But I’m proud of how far she’s come, and how she’s turned into her own person. Something tells me the change in her personality happened because of this Creighton.

Annika always wanted to spread her wings, but something held her back; whether it was apprehension or fear, I’m not sure. What I am certain about, however, is that she’s finally managed to live as her own person instead of what her last name suggests.

Adrian interlinks my fingers with his. “I’ll be right here.”

My heartbeat slows to a peaceful rhythm as I pull out my phone and FaceTime my daughter.

She picks up after a few beats, snuggling into what appears to be the plane’s seat with the face mask pushed up on her hair.

Annika has always been the life of the house. The sunshine, the joker, the bright light all of us looked forward to.

She’s Adrian’s little girl, which is why he vehemently refuses to admit she’s all grown up, the light to Jeremy’s shadows, and the girl after Ogla’s carefully-hidden heart.

This baby, who’s not a baby anymore, has had us all in a chokehold since the moment she was born.

So to see her downward expression and worn-out face squeezes my heart. She’s not even wearing one of her pretty purple dresses and has settled for an oversized hoodie and jeans instead.

“We still didn’t arrive yet, Mom. I’ll text when we do.”

“Anni, wait.” I swallow. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“If it’s about staying away from Creigh, then you can just forget about it. I already turned eighteen and I don’t need anyone’s approval to date whoever I like. I love you and Papa, but I won’t let you take the one thing I have of my own.”

Adrian tries to take the phone, but I keep it out of reach so that I’m the only one in the frame, then smooth my voice. “Can I tell you a story?”

She shrugs her shoulder. “If you want.”

“Remember when I used to tell you that a long time ago, I suffered mentally?” My voice chokes and Adrian squeezes my fingers.

The knowledge that he’s here gives me the courage to poke the demons from my past.

At Anni’s careful nod, I continue, “It was a lot worse than you could imagine. I was aimless, created a rift between me, your father, and your brother, and had the most hellish time in my life. Everyone has moments where they hit rock bottom, and that time was mine. As if that wasn’t enough, one of the power figures who was supposed to protect me—and people like me—used my circumstances to…try to sexually assault me as he’d done to several others before me.”

Annika gasps, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

“It didn’t happen,” I blurt. “I didn’t let him.”

“Oh. Thank God.” She releases a breath. “Where was Papa at the time?”

“He…killed him.”

“Phew. Good riddance.”

“You’re okay with that? I thought you didn’t like it when your papa hurt people.”

“It’s okay if he’s cleaning the world of scum like the one who tried to assault you and others.”

Adrian smirks, looking so proud of himself.

“That man was a mayoral candidate, Anni.”

“So what? That doesn’t give him the right to go assaulting people. In fact, he should be held more accountable.”

“True. But he had a family. A wife and a son.”

“Oh.” She purses her lips. “I feel sorry for them, but they’re probably better off without a bastard like that in their lives.”

“The wife attempted double suicide soon after the police started investigating her for abetting her husband's serial rape crimes. She was found hanging from the ceiling in their home, but her boy barely escaped being asphyxiated to death by gas.”