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T H E B I T T E R
T R U T H
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Dark clouds had descended and burst like balloons. Explosions of icy water drowned Harley in a biting numbness she couldn't escape.
It was happening again.
Another person she cherished had died and there was nothing she could do but sit there and take the unrelenting punches life kept hurling her way.
It felt like Harley hadn't taken a breath since Frankie led her to his car. The entire drive had been a blur of colours and deafening silence. Her stomach had churned as she drew parallels to the way both Big John and John B had died - at sea. Bad things kept happening in the deep blue, ominous expanse and it unnerved Harley, because the island was surrounded by the stuff. Maybe living on an island wasn't so fun after all.
Bad things keep happening to good people. All John B ever wanted was to find the Royal Merchant gold, so that when he found his father he could proudly look him in the eye and tell him what they'd achieved. All he truly wanted was his dad.
It only took a glance of her surroundings for Harley to realise they were in Figure Eight. Kook territory. Home of the Cameron's. Harley's being stuttered with fear as her mind immediately tried to calculate the proximity to the home of the snakes. She had escaped just to be brought back so close.
The fear Harley felt consumed her so much, she didn't pay the grandiose beauty of the house in front of her any mind. Instead, she rushed to trail her brother, and hide within the empty home. She didn't want anyone to see her.
Frankie led her through the bare halls and into a large kitchen. He ushered Harley onto a seat and began speaking though his words fell on deaf ears. Her ears were fixed on the haunting voice of John B spewing rich venom and poisoning words at her. He had died hating her. She never got the chance to try and fix things or get him to see that she never meant to be a nuisance. She just wanted a family. A family that liked her and wanted to be around her.
"I'm sorry, Charlie. I thought you knew."
Charlie.
That was Harley's real name. Charlie Isabella Rain Rochester. Youngest child and only daughter of Mia and Frank Rochester - also known as Mia and Frank Wayne.
Harley was a nickname given by her father, who had wanted to call her Isabella, when he realised how much she liked the motorcycles. Mia wanted to give her children gender neutral names. Happy wife, happy life.
"Hey."
Harley took a heavy breath. "Why did Billie come here and not you?"
Her gloomy eyes found Frankie's holding him in a scrutinizing gaze. She didn't want to be lied to, in order to spare her feelings. She wanted the truth. It was bad enough her family had left her for a year.
"I should have come. I knew that then and I know it even more now. I never thought it'd hurt you this much."
"How could it not?" Harley bit out in bewilderment. "You're supposed to be my family, but you left me stranded on an island with amnesia."
Frankie bowed his head in shame. Good. Harley was glad he understood how severely messed up what her family did was.
"Fuck. I know. I know, I'm sorry. We didn't know where you were at first. No one knew where Renfield had taken you and he was missing for a bit. Mom got taken to hospital because of what he did and she wasn't in a good way. Dad sent people out to look for you and once he knew where you were he had people stay to watch over you."
"People?" Harley thought back over her year in the Outer Banks. She hadn't noticed anyone or anything weird other than Billie. Nobody came to mind as she skimmed through as many memories she could. "What people?"
"At first it was a few bodyguards." Frankie paused to gauge Harley's reaction. She was clueless. She hadn't seen any bodyguards around. So Frankie explained, "You shouldn't have noticed them, they weren't supposed to come into contact with you. You got a new nurse taking care of you alongside your doctor — that was Dad's doing. A new teacher joined your school not too long after you joined so that we'd have eyes on you there, too."
Harley hadn't really thought twice about having a new nurse, because she'd still had the same doctor. It also wasn't unusual for teachers to come and go in a school. Harley didn't know if she appreciated her dad finding ways to have people there to watch over her, or if it made her even more annoyed that he did everything but come and get her. In fact, they didn't even have to come and get her, she could have gone to them if they'd sent someone. How could it have possibly helped having her away from everyone?
"I wanted to come here and see you. Even stay here until things with your memory got sorted out, but dad said it would be best if I stayed. He said he had it under control. But, that doesn't matter. I should have pushed to see you. I let a year go by. My girlfriend was here and I wasn't. And, I'll always be regretful about that."
At first, Harley didn't say anything, not even when he asked her to. She was having a hard time looking at her brother. She understood that he had wanted to come her, and she knew it would have been difficult to leave their mother and put college on hold just to come to Kildare for her. However, she still felt some resentment. He could have pushed for their dad to get in contact with her or he could have sent a message through Billie. He could have done something... surely.
"I want to go home now."
Frankie sat up. "You are home." His eyes trailed over the clean counters and empty space. "Well, temporary home. Stay. Mom and dad will be back soon, and then we can head back to Manhattan in no time."
Manhattan. JJ was going to have a field day with that information, Harley thought.
"If you're not going to take me to my actual home, then I'll walk." Harley started to get up despite Frankie's desperate pleas for her to stay longer, when the sound of the front door hushed them.
Frankie looked at the door that led to the hallway then back down at his little sister. Harley's stomach did flips when she recognised the look in Frankie's eyes. Their parents were home. All Harley could do was steel herself, because there was no way out. She could hear footsteps drawing closer to the kitchen as she stood riddled with sudden, intense anxiety.
Harley didn't want to meet her parents today and now she had no choice. She'd rather go home to the Chateau and listen to JJ spout 'I told you so's' about her being from New York.
The kitchen door pushed open revealing the most sophisticated and terrifyingly intimidating couple Harley had seen. They oozed beauty, charm and money. It was like the air around them had been filtered through gold and purified with diamonds.
Mia Diana Rochester, Harley's mother, was stunning. In an instant, Harley was reminded of how much she looked up to her mother. She wanted to be like her. She wanted to be beautiful and tall like her mother, but most importantly she wanted to be kind and confident just like her. Harley was a spitting image of Mia, except her dark chocolate tresses which she had gotten from her father.
Mia's raven hair twisted up into a bun, allowing her big, sparkly eyes and high cheekbones to catch your attention. Mia appeared thinner than Harley remembered. She had always had a slim frame but there was a gauntness that wasn't there before, as if she'd been ill for a while. The email Harley had read on Ward's computer flashed up in her mind. It was signed off by Frank, her father, and the mention of someone sick in hospital had to have been her mother.
Frank looked like he had come back from a long day of business deals. His blazer folded over his arm, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the top few buttons undone. He was not dressed for the hot weather today, but it didn't seem to bother him. He had come into the room already greeting his son and talking about some uptight cop which Mia had to stop him from strangling over the reception desk.
"That asshole was no help. I knew I should have paid to—"
"Dad," Frankie cut the man off.
Mia noticed the other person in the room first and her lips parted in shock. Her eyes landed on Harley who stood there quietly studying the adults in the room. Mia's eyes became glossy as she took a small step forward with outstretched arms.
"Ch-Charlie. You're here." A wide, dazzling smile began to grow on Mia's face, whatever tension that had been holding her up melted away.
Frank's eyes honed in on his daughter as soon as he heard her name from his wife. "Harley."
She hadn't heard their voices in so long. It was like her ears were being caressed by a familiar symphony of comfort. She longed to jump into their arms, her body twitched with the immense urge, instead she backed up when they took another step closer.
Their smiles drooped a little and Harley had to fight herself to not let guilt claw it's way inside her chest. They were her parents... the parents that left her for a year. Big John hadn't done that to her.
"Harls." Her father tried again, but got the same treatment.
Harley didn't want to hear nicknames. She didn't want hugs. She didn't want to be coddled. She was angry with her parents, could they not see that? Harley sure felt it showing.
"Don't call me that." Harley looked over at her brother. She was giving him one chance to step up for her. "I want to leave now."
Frankie sat stuck for a minute. He looked between his little sister and his parents.
Whether it was with Frankie or not, Harley intended to leave. Too much had occurred in such a short amount of time and she didn't have it in her to stay any longer. She wanted to crash into JJ's arms and feel safe, that was all. She wanted to be away from Rafe and his crazy family. She wanted to be away from her blood family. She wanted to be as close to John B as she could be, and that was at the Chateau with JJ and the Pogues. She needed them.
Keys jingled and Frankie stood up. "I'll take you."
Their parents looked on confused.
"Go where?" Frank questioned. "We just got you back."
Harley responded in short. She didn't want this to be difficult, she didn't have the energy. "I want to go home."
"I know there isn't much here in way of a home," Mia began. "But, it's only temporary."
Harley couldn't stifle the guilt this time. Her mother's perfect posture started to sag as she spoke with so much softness and love in her voice. Harley couldn't deny that she had been a great mom, for reasons such as this.
"I want to go home... to my family," the words were tough to get out and the silence that followed made it worse. Heartbreak definitely had a sound like tearing strings and shattering glass and Harley had just heard it as she watched a tear trail down her mother's cheek.
Mia glanced over at Frank with a pained look in her eyes before she turned back to her daughter. "We are your family. Home is with us."
Harley shook her head, bitterness crept through her words, "You all left me. Uncle Renfield tried to kill me. I washed up on this island practically dead with no memories of anything. And instead of coming to get me once you knew where I was, you inserted strangers into my life to spy on me. You sent Frankie's girlfriend. For a year, a whole year you left me here thinking that whoever my family was hated me. You made me think I did something so awful or that I was such a bad person that my own family wouldn't bother searching for me. "
"We could never hate you. You're our little girl. Your mom wasn't in a good place We knew where you were and you were safe."
"Safe?" Harley gaped at them. "You have really shitty spies. I was almost kidnapped twice, I've had guns pulled on me. I was shot. All of that happened and yet still not one of you showed up. No bodyguards in sight. So, if you're only here for me, then it was a wasted trip."
Harley didn't want to hear anymore or say much more. They got the point.