I OPENED THE FRONT DOOR APPREHENSIVELY, greeting my parents in the same manner. My fears were unfounded as my mother lunged, flinging her arms around me in a tearful embrace.
"Oh, my beautiful son, I have missed you so."
Tears welled as my arms slid tightly around her narrow waist. "I've missed you too, Mum, just as much. I regret our fight like you wouldn't believe. It was pointless and nearly cost me one of the most important people in my life."
Mother's soft hand caressed my cheek. My eyes slid closed, embracing the poignant moment between us. "Oh, Ari, you could never lose me; I'm your mother, so you're stuck with me. Until I die anyway." Well, almost poignant.
I chuckled heartily. "Even then, you'd haunt me."
"Relentlessly."
My brows shot up. "Without a doubt, Mother, but I wouldn't want it any other way." I lovingly squeezed her hand. "Now, let me introduce you to Lexie's family. You'll absolutely love them."
"Lead the way then."
Once all the necessary introductions were made in the relaxed environment of my downstairs family room, we each ambled through the house, making our way outside to the deck by the pool. The extra wait staff I'd hired continually walked around, keeping us refreshed with drinks and appetisers.
Upon taking a Pinot Noir and a king crab pastry from the passing waiter, an affectionate smile formed watching my mother, the natural-born schmoozer, as Lexie had stated, interact freely and openly once again, lifting my spirits immensely. My smile broadened at the reason striding sensuously towards me. My appreciative gaze raked over her attire and somehow paused at the plunging neckline of her white embroidered floral maxi dress. So perfect.
"Was I right, or was I right?" she murmured, gliding bare arms around my neck.
"You were most definitely right on the mark, my love. Good call." I tilted my head and planted a soft, lingering kiss on Lexie's delicious mouth. Her tongue swept across my bottom lip.
"Mmm, I think you've got crabs."
"Quite possibly, you can give me a closer inspection later." Amusement danced over my face. "Just to be on the safe side."
Her shapely brow lifted over glinting dark eyes. "Oh, I'll be extremely thorough."
"I'm counting on it."
Our briefly intimate moment was suddenly interrupted by one of the staff informing us that our dinner was ready.
"Shall we?" I murmured, placing a hand on the small of Lexie's back, with the two of us slowly trailing behind everyone else as they preceded us towards the alfresco patio beside the pool.
The light breeze blew, catching the blended scents of the vanilla candles burning in candelabras and the gardenia and rose centrepieces on the table. One of my favourite blues singers played quietly in the background, completing what had so far transpired into a successful evening.
I pulled out the chair beside mine at the head of the table for Lexie, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of her smoothed hair as I pushed it in.
"Always the gentleman still I see, son," my father light-heartedly noted upon taking his seat on the opposite side of Lexie.
"Mother would kick my arse if I was anything less." I chuckled, setting my glass in front of me.
He acknowledged with a surreptitious nod of the head. "And mine for failing to teach you."
"If your mother doesn't, I'd quite happily kick your arse for her," Lexie cheekily added, winking at me as she took a small sip of her water.
"Do you practice Martial Arts too, Lexie?" my father enquired, the worry on his face outweighing the interest.
I chuckled as the corners of her mouth curled into a cheeky smile.
"Ari's been teaching me, actually. But kickboxing is more my passion. It's amazing cardio when you're after an intense workout."
I listened with avid interest as the easy discussion between Lexie and my father sustained, and later moved on to the law, an area that fascinated her, pleasing him greatly. Likewise, the conversation around the table was just as relaxed. Everyone seemed to be getting along famously, which was incredibly important to Lexie and me. More so due to my fears thanks to my parents' rocky relationship with Teddy's family.
We had discussed what the future possibly held for us, but due to my ever-present worries, I had openly expressed that we took things extremely slow. Lexie agreed wholeheartedly; building the foundations was just as important to her as they were to me. Along with honesty, communication was at the top of our list; sex was not. That stipulation was a no-brainer after Teddy. Look where that got us. After failing to lay down the basics for a good foundation, it subsequently weakened due to the constant underlying pressures, causing our relationship to fall around us like a poorly built house of cards as a consequence.
I felt Lexie's hand slide over my forearm.
"Hey, where'd you go?" she quietly asked, concern etching her beautiful face.
"Nowhere. I was just being a quiet observer, enjoying the pleasant chat around me, that's all," I assured her.
"Are you happy?"
Gazing at her, our faces barely millimetres apart, I reassured her, "Blissfully so." My fingertip trailed down one soft cheek as I brushed her lips with mine. "And it's all thanks to you."
The break was over all too quickly, but it was undoubtedly one of the best summers I'd ever experienced. I exalted that fact as I entered the building, smiling widely, greeting everyone with a cheery hello as I made my way towards the lifts. Having dropped me off at the front of the building, Logan had ensured I'd safely walked through the revolving doors before taking off from the kerb to park the car in the subterranean garage below. With his alert gaze darting around the foyer, Tyler strolled not too far behind me.
Whistling, I pressed the inset button and marched directly into an elevator car. My buoyant mood flowed as I stepped into the foyer on my floor. "Morning, Thomas!" As I skirted around his desk, grabbing my usual messages on the way past, he tentatively hailed me down.
"Sir, you have an unscheduled visitor...." His revelation stopped me and my whistling in my tracks, placing Tyler on high alert.
"Who?" he rapidly quizzed, rushing around me and bursting through the door. "Mr Jaeger, sir, your visitor appears non-threatening."
"Well, I should hope not," Therese greeted pleasantly for the first time - well, ever.
My spine stiffened and my smile swiftly faded. "Well, never mind then," I uttered, glowering darkly from the doorway before marching to my desk, throwing my briefcase down in anger. I nodded towards Tyler, who cautiously stood down, positioning himself outside my office after closing the door behind him. "Skip the pleasantries, Therese, and just answer me this; why are you here?"
Breathless, she hobbled towards me using a walking stick and stiffly lowered into one of the chairs adjacent to my desk. "I...I..." Her eyes darted, compelling me to frown at the rare sight of an ill-at-ease Therese. "I came to apologise."
"An apology that's well past due don't you think?" I obliquely scolded.
Therese huffed. "Yes, I'm aware, but I didn't come here of my own volition for you to attack me."
I ignored the glare and dispassionately wound my hand. "Well, apologise away."
"As I originally stated, I came to apologise for my conduct over the years regarding my children, mostly my daughters. My transgressions haven't exactly been stellar, which I blame on Emmett's manipulations."
"That's nothing new!" I snorted aggressively. "And if dearly departed Emmett did indeed install himself as your puppet master from the get-go, well, how about you enlighten me as to how he pulled your strings."
Therese winced as she shifted in the chair, a difficult task due to her weakened state. "From the onset, Emmett wielded a frightening power over me. You see, Teddy wasn't the first person he'd raped."
"Straight for the punchline, I see." I glowered, but curious, I had to know more to help me understand Teddy's enigmatic mother. I grabbed a clearly exhausted Therese a crystal tumbler filled with icy cold water, handing it to her. "Are you sure you want to take this trip down memory lane, Therese? You look exhausted from all that dangling."
"Yes, I do," she responded curtly before taking a welcomed sip of her water. "Whether you believe me or not, I have to make amends by absolving myself of past sins."
"On this road to finding absolution," I lowered into the chair beside her. "Your candour must be nothing but the truth and no lies, or we're done. Are we clear?" I sternly established, and as she nodded in agreeance, I asked the question gnawing away at my insides. "So, how'd you meet my psychotic uncle?"
"I was staying at The Ritz in London with a few girlfriends," she began, adjusting her position once more, "Unbeknownst to any of us, he'd followed me to the bar. Believe it or not, I was much more approachable back then. But on the basis I was married to Evan, I refused his advances - politely at first. But as he was so self-assured and arrogant, he refused to take no for an answer. He kept badgering me until I told him in an unladylike fashion to fuck off. He appeared to back off, thus leaving my girlfriends and me in peace. The night progressed smoothly from thereon in until I called it a night, much earlier than my girlfriends." She gulped before shakily continuing, "As I was still terribly jetlagged, I crashed, only to get disturbed by a persistent knocking at the door."
"You thought it was one of the girls?"
She scoffed. "I did. I thought Cecily had forgotten her key as she was renowned for it. But upon opening the door, Emmett barged his way in - I tried fighting him off, but he was incredibly strong and consequently dragged me towards the bedroom, where, well, you know - he raped me. Twice - in two different places," she painfully confessed. "I'm assuming my unladylike dismissal of him, along with my continual rejection, triggered his mood."
I stared incredulously. Clearly, I understood precisely what she meant. "Did you make anyone aware afterwards, like your friends or the police?"
Therese's head shook vehemently. "No, I was too ashamed, and due to Emmett's brutality, the shock prevented me from uttering a single word to anyone - as had his threats." She smiled weakly. "I immediately showered, washing away any evidence the best I could."
"Your rape never resulted in an unwanted pregnancy like Teddy's, I take it?"
"By the grace of God, thankfully, no. But to ensure he hadn't succeeded in doing so or infected me with an STI, I immediately got tested anyway." She sniffled. "Never in a million years did I expect him to show up with my sister on my doorstep. The audacity of that man, and believe you me, it took every ounce of my being not to kill him then and there."
I shrugged apathetically, as presently, tabling my feelings wasn't my main concern. "You might've saved us a lot of grief if you had."
"I know, but not wanting to entangle my family or make them accessories prevented me from going through with it. He was so damned smug, and flexing his control was a part of his game - which initially began through my sister. I tried desperately to sway her from marrying him, but she refused to listen... But by then, it was too late, and the day she disappeared, I knew he'd done away with her purely to validate his original point."
"Punishing people for failing to toe the line was a discovery I made only recently," an admittance piquing her interest as her tired gaze snapped up. "Emmett certainly proved his point, albeit horrifically."
"Yes, indeed. My parents informed me during my convalescence about Liana, but due to the horrendous nature of her death, they refused to share any details for fear of upsetting me." Therese scoffed at my surprised expression. "Emmett's beating nearly took my life, but if anything, it's at least forced me to re-evaluate my misdeeds, which included mending many a fence."
I grimaced. "Be that as it may, it doesn't explain why you hid Teddy from the world during her pregnancy or lied to her about her baby's survival. Care to explain that little oddity to me."
She tiredly nodded, her eagle eye watching me closely as I rose and wandered over to my coffee machine. "If Emmett even had an inkling he'd impregnated Teddy, he would've used the baby to keep a stronghold on my family. I'll have you know, the actions I took to protect my granddaughter, I don't regret."
"For once, I agree with you."
Therese canted her head as red-stained lips curled into a tight smile. "I'm aware you're Tia's godfather - and I know this only because I've kept track for obvious reasons."
As I gaped at her, and although her conduct was illegal, I again found myself in agreeance, thanking her for her diligence. "Regardless of your efforts, that stronghold remained, didn't it?" I refuted, offering her a cup of tea in the process. "Expressly by caving to his demands, the constant interference with mine and Teddy's relationship for one. But was all this bowing to his needs worth the cost of your marriage? The fracture in your relationship with your surviving daughter or the loss of another?" Therese silently wept and wiped her tears away with the handkerchief offered to her as I slid the cup I carried onto my desktop. "His obsession undoubtedly started with you, so what do you believe was his endgame?"
"His narcissism controlled every action, and evidently, my refusal was the catalyst for what followed, which is why I stated I only wanted more sons. That's what I let my husband, and you believe anyway." As my brows furrowed, she explained, "After he'd done raping me, Emmett gave me a chilling warning that no daughter of mine would ever be safe from his clutches, but I stupidly told him his veiled threats didn't frighten me. I mean," she voiced in disbelief, "how could he follow through when he resided in England?"
I scoffed. "Arguably, one might say by brushing him off; you damaged his ego."
"Yes, I suppose it did. And as hard as I tried to avoid him, he weaselled his way into our lives, always under false pretences. Who do you think introduced your family to us?"
I stared unabashedly whilst digesting the fact we'd all been played like pawns in Emmett's sick game. "You clearly underestimated him and the lengths he'd go to just to achieve his goals. In this case, he took astonishing steps to right the wrongs he believed you dished up, embarrassing him."
"I thought by disconnecting myself emotionally from Teddy and Scarlett, he couldn't hurt me, which I admit was wrong of me."
My anger unabating, I ambled towards the floor-to-ceiling windows with my coffee, throwing the knives down between sips. "By raping Teddy right under your nose and killing Scarlett in cold blood before kidnapping Teddy, raping her repeatedly, he proved you wrong on that score, didn't he?"
"Regrettably, he did. But his obsession with Teddy was something else... I can't find the words to describe it. I was genuinely thrilled when she mentioned that you two were dating, as I know you to be an honourable man and would go above and beyond to protect her."
"A fat lot of good that did in the end."
"But you tried, Ari, and for that, I can't thank you enough! But Emmett always threatened members of my family if I didn't try my darndest to break you apart. So, the entire time, I was running scared...."
I shook my head irrefutably. "He always won no matter what." Talking about Teddy only reopened old wounds, some slightly rawer than others. "What about our baby, however? My child, Therese!" My throat tightened, fighting the sob within. "Teddy aborted our child because of the lies fed by you!"
An ashamed Therese's tears flowed. "Emmett knew Teddy was pregnant with your child, and it angered him. He demanded that I force her hand to have an abortion by any means possible. He'd warned if Teddy were to have any man's child, it would be his! She would always be his no matter what, and nobody wielded enough power to stop him!"
"Well, thankfully, he's dead, even if it means I no longer hold the privilege of killing him myself for the hell he's put us through!"
"Be that as it may, there's someone just as deranged and just as obsessed with my daughter...."
My penetrative gaze stared darkly. "There's only one person I know who's the pea to Emmett's pod, and that's his spawn, Aayden."