11. Explanation
2200 Words
Wendy POV
I understand if you are perplexed, after all, I have omitted some information from you as well; in that year that has passed since I found out that Damien is my children's father, my "gang" and I have been exposed to threats. The sender is from Damien's internal organization, that's the only information I've got.
Why didn't I tell him or anyone else? It is not for selfish reasons that you might think, but for survival. I was threatened that if I told him something, they would kill him. Although we have an uncertain basis in our "relationship," I still want him to be alive.
During that time, it was more important to keep him alive and my children beyond the battlefield. The pressure I had to suffer made me the firm but also the cold person I am today; it changes a person when you frequently have to worry about your loved one's lives.
Someone in his inner circle does not like me and wants to keep me far away from their business; it is clear that they are ready to do anything to keep Damien focused. What they don't realize is how unstable our relationship is; I'm no threat.
I've successfully kept the truth away from Damien and the others, but it's pretty apparent that I can't do that any further. They will demand answers, and it's time for them to find out what it looks like. I have prepared for this situation and have a plan for everything, including the children.
The kids are put in lockdown with my dad while I take care of the problems that arise. Their lives are worth more than mine are, and I am happy to die if it means they survive in return. I know Damien and the other three will be mad, but they have nothing to say.
"When will you give us the answers we seek?!" Damien exclaims frustrated while I continue to pace back and forth. "We need to know what kind of s**t you put yourself in, Wendy! I can't help you if I don't know what's at stake!"
What kind of s**t I got myself into? Excuse me for a goddamn moment, but I'm not the one who's not watching my minions here! I inhale a couple of times to calm down my rising anger, otherwise I will slap to him in the face. If only I succeed -.
"For real, Wendy! How the hell can you not think about the kids? What if-"
I was almost calm, but his words make me explode, so I jump at him, and my fist comes into contact with his nose. It crashes, and I'm happy when I realize it's broken, right for you, asshole. I climb off him, and Brody helps him up off the floor.
"Don't you dare say I'm the one who doesn't think about the safety of our children here, you son of a b***h!"I roar at him. "It is you who are not in control of your helpers and allow them to behave the way they want. You have no f*****g idea about all the stress I've been carrying around on all these months!"
"Months?" he asks in a whisper and looks at me with a sad face. "Why didn't you come to me? I would have taken care of it!"
"Yes, months! I can take care of myself just fine, I thought you all noticed that at the restaurant. Besides, I couldn't tell either one of you," I answer deflated and groan from my hurt shoulder. "By the way, when the f**k are you going to take out this goddamn bullet? It hurts like a motherfucker!"
"Right!" Adrien says and hastily walks out into the kitchen to get the supplies.
Adrien is the only one of us that has medical education. While I wait for Adrien, the brothers look at me anxiously and try to digest the information I fed them with. Damien looks tormented, probably because he failed in his role as mob boss if he can't even control his own.
"You should take care of pretty boy over there first," I say and nod at Damien. "I couldn't tell either one of you, even though I wanted to at least a million times."
"Why couldn't you?" Damien asks and wince when Adrien cleans his wound.
"I had a choice to make, and I chose the best."
"And what was that?"
"If I told any of you, you were all going to die," I answer in a whisper and look at my hands that are folded in my lap.
Adrien gasps and I feel the tears threaten to fall. I don't think they realize what sacrifice I've made to keep them all alive, and I did it alone. Not once have I asked the Winston's for help even though, as I said, I wanted to. The fear that they would die was more significant than my pride, so I didn't say anything.
"Wendy, look at me," he says in a broken voice and I look at his sad face. "Please, tell me... What did they do?"
The panic and fear come back to me like a flash. This time I can't keep the tears away without them flowing freely. I have no power to hold back my sobs spreading in the room. Involuntarily I put my hands over my stomach and cry over the choice I made. The others look at me with big eyes when they realize.
*FLASHBACK*
"Do what we tell you to do, and your beloved Damien does not get hurt," a mocking man's voice says while I cry.
"He must pay over the choices he made! We've lost millions just because he decided to focus on f*****g a disgusting w***e who gets pregnant!" Roar another man's voice.
"You must have heaven between your thighs for him to give up millions to be with you. Should we feel for ourselves, boys?" asks man number one while the other four laugh.
"No, please don't do this! I have a family," I cry in vain.
"Well, what do you know? The ice queen talks. Don't worry doll, we won't be careful, you're going to feel like the w***e you are soon enough," he laughs and I continue to cry.
They pushed themselves into me one by one for several hours, and I couldn't do anything about it in my drugged state. When I woke up the next morning, I found myself in a forest not far from my home, and I have never talked about the incident.
*END OF FLASHBACK*
"I found out a few months later that I was pregnant, and did an abortion. It was a little girl," I cry, and Damien takes me in her arms.
"Baby, I'm so sorry I made you feel like it was your responsibility to keep us safe when it's supposed to be the other way around. We are the ones to protect you and the children, forgive me," he says in a sad voice, and I crawl together even more in his arms.
All frustration, anxiety, sadness, and loneliness disappear as tears leave my body. My hands never leave my stomach, and I cry for my child that I killed. I regret the decision partly because it was my child, but on the other hand, it would not have been right to tell the child that it came into being during a rape, it is evil.
"You made the right choice, baby. No child deserves to have to live with the knowledge that the father is a rapist; I'm sorry you had to go through it alone. Is this why you avoided us?" he asks gently, and I nod. "Why?"
"I was ashamed... I felt weak, and at that moment I couldn't defend myself at all, that's why I'm armed nowadays," I answer honestly.
"You're not a weak person, honey. There is no one else I know who possesses the same strength that you have within you. You have given birth and raised four children on your own; you own one of the largest companies in New York... But above all, you're strong because you haven't changed during all this. Inside your cold outside is still the soft and wonderful woman I fell in love with; that woman I created three children with without knowing about it in a cleaning scrub," he says, and I can feel how he smiles at my forehead.
I giggle at his words and feel him chuckle. The brothers and Adrien look at us in awe with huge smiles adorned on their faces. It has been a long time since I felt as at home as I do now, in the chest of Damien where nothing terrible happens; because he will always protect me.
Damien POV
I don't want to believe it's true; several of my men have raped and hurt my woman. How can anyone want to hurt Wendy at all? I have never come across a soul as kind and beautiful as her. Even my brothers like her, believe me, they do not like anyone.
Not a single one of my girlfriends or dates I introduced them to over the years they have liked. Jaxon encountered her by chance from the start, and he approved of her even then, what he didn't know then was that she was the woman in my life that I would do anything for. The woman I never forgot despite the time we were apart.
My love for Wendy can't be described in words, because you wouldn't believe me if I even tried to explain it. She is my zest for life, my breath, my reason for living. My life has changed a lot, I have my own family now, something I always dreamed of having.
Before I met her, I was lost and broken, like she said on our first date "We are just two broken souls, trying to move on. It's like a blind leading a blind, but hey, atleast we're drifting in the darkness together". I think back to it sometimes and still do not understand what I've done to deserve her.
And now, now she is hurt, broken down, crushed, sad. How am I supposed to help her? Of course, I have to find out who it was, but not right now. She has just been patched and fallen asleep in my bed with me close to her; no way I'm going to wake her up and start asking such questions now.
Gently I move from her side and sneak out of the room noiselessly. I close the door as quietly as I can and go out into the living room. My brothers and Adrien are still sitting where we left them with grief written over their faces. Adrien leans his head against Jaxon's shoulder, and Jaxon caresses his hair.
"How is she?" Jaxon asks.
"Broken, but asleep," I answer with a sigh and sit down to rub my face.
"We have to do something, this can't go unnoticed," Brody continues.
"No, it can't. Whoever did this never thought she would trust us enough to tell us the truth. She told me that this person thought she lived with me, that we were closer than we actually are, and that's a plus."
"And how are you?" Adrien asks without opening his eyes.
"Pissed off. Someone dared to hurt my woman, she's f*****g mine to touch, not some other asshole!" I roar.
"Hey! Shut it, she's sleeping, remember?" Jaxon scolds me and I relax again.
"Sorry, I just... I don't know what to do anymore! My love is hurting, and I'm the reason."
"So, what do we do?" Adrien asks.
"We find, and kill those motherfuckers," Brody says casually and loads his gun.
Yes, we're going to fix this. I don't know the 'when' or the 'how,' but we owe her this. This is the second time she's been hurt during our watch, and I'm sick of it! That's my f*****g future wife in there; somehow, I'll get out of this arranged marriage and marry my life's love instead. And I know that my brothers have my back through everything.
A/N:
Hello everyone!
The truth about what happened is out, and it seems like Wendy really needed to get it out into the open. She's lucky to have the Winston brothers and her best friend by her side no matter what.
* How did you feel during this chapter?
* Was Wendy's reaction suitable?
* What did you think?
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