Julien
Present
I watch as Marina's knees buckle and she falls to her knees, holding her face in her hands. Her body is wracked with deep sobs that shake her shoulders. She's mumbling incoherently. I want to comfort her but I just stand there like an idiot.
Lost.
I'm completely lost to the words that came out of her mouth. My mother. I haven't seen my mother in years, not since I set her up in a nice beach house on the coast of Florida. She lives there in peace with the guard dog I bought her. She's the only one who has my real phone number and I've got guys watching her every move to ensure her safety. Amelia Reid lives a good life.
"What?"
"I'm sorry, Julien... I'm so sorry..." She mumbles over and over as she rocks back and fourth.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
She lifts her tear-streaked face and I vow right there to do all I can to make sure I never see her like this again. Marina's so broken, so battered. It seems like all I've seen her do is sob. I don't like it. It hurts to see her this way.
"I'm sorry... I... I just blurted it out. You were never meant to know."
I kneel down beside her and pull her into my lap, mindful of her back. "I was never meant to know what? You can tell me anything."
She looks up at me and for a moment I catch a glimpse of the light in her eyes before a dark memory clouds it. Her eyes darken before she closes them, depriving my of their ocean hues.
Then she speaks.
...
Marina
Age 17
I left the cabin feeling like I was on cloud nine with lips bruised from his kisses and a heart full of love.
He loved me! Julien said he loved me!
I practically skipped all the way home. After telling me that story, I had no doubt that Julien felt the same. Not only that, but he said that tonight we were going to escape. I had complete faith in Julien and I knew that when he said he had it all figured out that he was telling the truth. I also knew that he had been saving up for a while and that his mother pitched in some finances. All three of us were going to disappear together.
I should've known it was a pipe dream.
I was late at night. My mother always complained about getting her beauty rest so I knew she was already asleep. Daddy was another story. I crept silently through the back door entrance that the servants used. I remembered when Julien taught me how to use it fondly with a smile. I entered the main foyer and cringed at the sound my shoes made on the marble floor. I practically tiptoed up the stairs, careful to distribute my weight in the right way to avoid the creaking of the banister, and made it to the top floor where my bedroom was located. I was going to pack a small bag and then sneak back outside.
I should've known it would never work.
Before I even made it to my room, the door to Daddy's office opened. "Marina. Come in here for a moment, would you?"
I flinched at the sound of his voice and tried my hardest to make it seem like I wasn't just creeping around suspiciously and entered his office.
I knew immediately that he knew.
Somehow, my father knew.
And I think I knew how considering Giovanni was sitting right beside him.
"Sit down, Marina." He gestured from behind his desk to the chair directly across from it. I swallowed audibly and did as he asked. "Let's have a little chat, shall we?"
I felt the blood in my veins turn to ice. I numbly nodded my head. Daddy smiled.
"I'm worried, Marina. Do you know why I'm worried?"
I shook my head slowly.
Anger flashed in his eyes. "Well, I'm worried because I've been hearing some pretty shocking things from Giovanni here."
My mouth was suddenly dry and my tongue felt too big. I couldn't speak.
This only amused my father. "According to him, you two have grown quite.... close." He scowled and his face looked like he just ate something rotten. "I'm sure you can understand why this is a problem."
Giovanni snickered. I still couldn't say a word.
"I'm feeling quite generous this evening," he said, much to the dismay of Giovanni who frowned. "So, I'm going to give you a choice." He picked up his phone off his desk and dialed a number. He held it up to his ear. "Bring her in."
I watched in horror as two of Daddy's men manhandled an unconscious Amelia into the room. She was still in her maid's uniform and her dark hair was pulled out of her face in a messy bun. I remembered earlier that night Julien got a phone call from her saying they needed Amelia to work a little later to ready the house for a special guest. Now, I knew why. The two men, who I identified as Michael and Rico held her by her arms and stood right beside Daddy on the opposite side of Giovanni, who had moved around to get a better view.
I couldn't look away, but I heard Daddy open his desk drawer and then he began to speak. "You see, Marina, I think this will be an easy choice, much like it was so easy to slip a little something into Amelia's tea. She passed out none the wiser, and if you make the right decision tonight, she'll have no recollection of this at all."
I heard the unmistakable sound of a bullet being loaded into the chamber and then the clock of Daddy's revolver. My head snapped his way to see him holding the loaded weapon in his hands. Daddy grinned. "I see I've finally got your attention, Marina."
His blue eyes shifted to Giovanni and he nodded. Giovanni grinned. "I know you have plans to run away with that rat. Can you believe it? My future wife? Running off with the help? Ha!" He scoffed and turned his nose upward as if the very notion was beneath him.
"No, I--"
Daddy slammed his fists against the desk. "Don't lie you conniving bitch! Sneaking around is one thing, but don't mistake me to be a fool to my face!" He roared and I shrunk back in my seat. I felt tears well up in my eyes.
"Daddy, you don't understand--"
"I understand perfectly well, Marina. You've always been a rebel and I have no one but that miscreant to blame." He was no longer yelling, but his tone had a certain finality to it. "I see now that I should've disposed of him years ago."
"No!" I couldn't help it, I had to cry out. I would never let him kill Julien. "No! Please! Don't hurt him!"
It was a mistake. I knew it immediately. Daddy's face twisted into a dark smile. He lifted his gun and shoved the cold metal against Amelia's temple. "I see you care for that boy. How would he react to the death of his mother?"
I buried my face in my hands. Tears were streaming down my face and I was powerless to stop them. I knew I had lost. My father had every much the upper hand as he ever had. I didn't know why I was so stupid to believe he wouldn't figure out our plans. "Please, p-please don't hurt them. I-I'll do whatever you want just... just spare them, please." I whispered.
Giovanni's dark laugh echoed in the small office. "Now we're getting somewhere."
"This brings us to your choice. As I said, I'm feeling quite generous for whatever reason." He waved his hands dismissively and scowled. "You can leave with that lowlife boy you're so infatuated with. I won't stop you. I won't come after you. I will leave you alone, but I'll also pull this trigger right now. I'll make a nice pretty hole in the side of her head and blow her brains all over the wall. Although," he frowned, "It will be a damn shame to spill her blood on my walls."
I lifted my head from my hands in utter horror. "No! Please!"
"Or," He grinned. "You will meet Julien Reid. You will make him believe you are in love with Giovanni. And you will make it convincing or I will shoot him." He rested his hands on his desk and leaned forward. "You won't even have a place to morn that vermin. I will scatter his remains all over the eastern seaboard. I will cut him up into tiny little pieces while he still draws breath and you will never find his body. That is my vow to you."
I looked down at my hands and saw that they were shaking violently. My face was soaked with my tears and I was openly sobbing. I pictured it. I saw Amelia fall to the floor, a whole in her skull, her dark hair painted red and her mouth open in horror. I saw Julien's body in pieces. I heard him scream in agony as the blade sliced through his flesh. I could see the blood. So much blood.
I saw my father laughing as he killed the only people in this world that I loved and I knew that he wasn't bluffing. My father would do it. To him, it would be so easy.
I looked to Giovanni. In that moment, I knew that he was the same type of man as my father.
I also knew that there was only one thing for me to do.
I turned back to my father. "Please, don't kill them." I cried. "I-I will do as you say."
Daddy smiled and lowered his arm. "I'm glad you've seen reason." He turned to the two goons holding Amelia and nodded once. "Take her away."
I could do nothing but sit in that chair and sob as the men dragged the unconscious Amelia out the door. I listened to the sounds of their footsteps as they exited the house. I clutched my necklace around my neck and shook with the violent nature of my wails. They offered no comfort. I could hear them laughing and toasting to my pain. Finally, Daddy spoke again.
"Get rid of him, Marina, or I will."
I had dried my tears and washed my face before I left that evening to meet Julien. He was there at the cabin. His smile was wide and his eyes were bright. With every word I said, every fabricated lie I spun, I saw that light dim. His smile faded. I did what I was supposed to do. I told Julien that I never wanted to see him again. I explained that he was getting in the way of me showering all my attention on Giovanni who I loved with my entire heart. I told him I was going to marry Giovanni. I told him that I enjoyed playing with his emotions. I told him that Giovanni and I would laugh every time he thought he had a chance with me. I told him that someone like me could never love a rat like him.
It worked.
With a growl, he reached around my neck and ripped the necklace from my throat. He held it in his clenched fist and asked if it meant anything to me at all. He pointed to the beloved constellations above his head and pleaded with me, still refusing to believe it was all a lie. I told him the necklace was just another piece of trash to me and that I only wore it to mock him. He screamed and threw in the woods before turning to me and telling me that I'll pay for everything. That one day, he'd come back and teach me a lesson about manipulation.
I hoped he would.
He stormed off and I spent hours searching in the dark for that necklace. I spent hours with a pair of pliers that I borrowed from Rodrigo trying to repair the broken clasp. I spent hours shining it to perfection with a toothbrush.
The next day he was gone. The cabin was cleaned out.
I would visit every day and sit on Julien's old bedroom floor. I would weep and hold the necklace close to my body and mourn the loss I felt so deeply in my soul. It was like a part of me left when Julien and I parted ways. I missed the stories. I had Rodrigo buy me a book about them. I would sit on that hardwood floor and read aloud the tales of the stars as if he was really there. When I finished the book, I would start all over gain. The page that held the story of Perseus and Andromeda eventually became blurry due to my tears but it didn't matter because I could recite it from memory.
I had no idea what he did, but my father one day could no longer find Julien or his mother. That day was the first time in years that I had genuinely smiled. Daddy told me that he had died, but I knew better. I knew Julien changed his identity to protect himself.
No longer having that to hold over me, Daddy would resort to physical and random violence against me and others. If he wanted me to cooperate, he would threaten the lives of the innocent maids that worked at the estate. He would call me into his office and show me their personal files. He would tell me who had children and who had families and then he would tell me who's life was on the line that week if I didn't behave.
Of course, he never stopped beating me.
I eventually became numb to everything. The one thing keeping me going was that somewhere out there, Julien and his mother were living happy lives, and to me, that was more than enough.
...
Marina
Present
I'm not sure how long I cried or how long Julien held me as I laid in a heap on the bathroom floor, half naked and wailing like a child. I think at some point Blade came into the bathroom and I vaguely recall Julien snapping and growling at him to leave us alone as he held me. I remember the way his arms felt around me and the feel of his hands on my head as he stroked my hair.
Eventually, I came down. I feel my face flush and try to pull away but Julien's arms tighten. "Please, let me hold you." His voice is flayed, wounded, and it breaks my heart so I simply nod and rest my head in the crook of his neck. His presence is comforting and I find myself leaning closer into his warmth.
Julien sighs but doesn't say another word as we lay there, making up for lost time. I feel complete, like a part of myself has been recovered. I never want to leave this moment. I can feel the steady beat of his heart in his chest, it's a reassuring sound that I revel in. It's proof that after all we've been through, Julien's alive.
He strokes and kisses my hair like he used to do when we were kids and I find myself crying again for an entirely different reason. These are not loud tears of affliction and suffering, but tears of happiness and hope.
For the first time in too long, I'm jovial just sitting in Julien's embrace.
Julien tilts my head towards him and frowns. "Why are you crying?" He asks quietly.
I give him a watery smile. "I'm... happy."
He smiles and gives me a soft kiss on the bridge of my nose. "Marina... I am sorry for all you have been through."
I reach up and grab his face in my hand. "I am sorry for all you have been through, Perseus."
He smiles widely and some of the light returns to his dark eyes. "I love you, Marina, my Andromeda."
I pull him down so our lips just barely touch. "I love you, Julien. I always have and I always will."
I kiss him. I kiss him like at any moment he could disappear. He lifts me in his arms and walks me out of the bathroom, our lips still locked in a tight embrace. Julien's careful as he sits me down on the bed. He pulls away and sits down beside me, taking my hand in his. Julien pulls me to sit on his lap so my legs hang over one side. I once again lean my head against his chest and cling to him.
"I hope you know, I'm never letting you go, Marina." He breathes into my hair.
My heart swells and I softly nod.
It's a moment that I've only been able to escape to in my dreams. Julien holds me and I sigh in content.
Then, he ruins it.
Julien's muscular body goes rigid and he grips me tightly. His voice is full of so much pain, so much suppressed anger that it shocks me. "He won't get away with this. I'm going to kill Giovanni. Mark my words, I will tear him limb from limb and only when he is begging for death, will I stab my knife through his skull."