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The last few days had been easy, apart from the gaping hole I felt in my chest every time I thought of Shaun. He’d left on the Sunday and I hadn’t heard a thing from him since. Neither had Sophie. My dad had assured me everything was okay, nothing had changed, and Shaun was just fine for the time being. It had to be enough, so I tried to relax. Jake and I did a lot of weight training in my dad’s gym and Sophie was often tucked up under Laura’s wing and dragged off here, there and who knew where. I didn’t see any signs of reluctance and she never voiced any, so I let her be.

Jake was mooching in his room for whatever reason and Sophie was hogging more than half my bed whilst we watched a stupid chick flick. I had half an eye on it, and half an eye on a sports article I’d been trying to focus on for too many minutes to count. The television wasn’t the distraction, more the fact that it was Sophie lying on my bed and not someone else. I loved the woman, but she was not the bed partner I craved.

I was missing Shaun.

“You want some juice or something?” I asked, giving up on reading the same sentence for a fourth time. Swinging my body from the bed, I made my way to the door, my phone buzzing on my nightstand calling me back to retrieve it. Sophie’s was chiming from somewhere too.

My hand was almost to the bedroom door when I opened the message app, curious as to what an unknown number had sent, giddy at the thought it might be Shaun from a different phone. The smile I’d had vanished, and my hand stilled when I observed the first picture, bile crawling up my throat as I studied the image.

Huffing out loud, I threw my phone against the wall. It didn’t break which was a fucking miracle considering how hard I threw the bloody thing. I’d never met Shaun’s ‘Boss’ person before and I wasn’t entirely sure what game he was playing, but the fucker played it well. There was no mistaking who the pictures were from, his name was in bold along the top of each and every picture he’d sent.

Stalking over to my phone I picked it up, not sparing Sophie even a glance. I scrolled through the other pictures ignoring the ache in my gut that made me want to throw up. My blood boiled hotter with each picture I scrolled past. There was one in particular that just stung so much more than the rest I could barely see it through blurred eyes.

I sank down to the floor, my back sliding the length of the wall as I went. Fuck – it was there in technicolour and as much as I knew the reason behind the pictures were malicious, I couldn’t deny they had the desired effect. Couldn’t ignore what I was looking at. Dropping my phone between my bent knees, I scrubbed my hands down my face, breathing in deep and trying to stave off the tears. I didn’t even notice Sophie’s presence until she moved my arms out of the way and climbed into my lap.

Holding on to her, probably squeezing too tight, she felt like my solid anchor when my entire world was drifting away.

It was over. There was no coming back from this one. There were no excuses for what I was seeing. No pretending this didn’t hurt more than the knife being plunged into my back days ago when I found out about my mother. No – this hurt so much more.

Shouting was coming from somewhere in the house, my dad bellowing so loud I could hear him with the door closed. He was furious, sounding like I felt. I didn’t hear anyone else arguing with him, and when his shouts settled down, I realised he must have been on the phone. As far as I knew only the five of us were in the house and he wouldn’t be yelling at Laura that way for any reason. Nor Jake for that matter.

Sophie wrapped her slender arms as far around my waist as she could get them, her forehead resting against mine. Worry marred her tired face as she bit her bottom lip.

“I’m okay,” I said softly, while she hung on a little tighter. She always seemed to know when I needed her touch.

“I’m sorry.”

“You saw?” I asked in disbelief. She nodded in confirmation and I thudded my head back against the wall groaning.

“I got a text the same time you did.” If she got them too, then most likely others would have, they didn’t just come to me. “This is how they play, Ayden. Dirty and vile. I know what’s going on, I’m not stupid. Shaun is making a break for it. If I’ve figured it out, then you can bet your arse Charlie will have too. This is meant to put him in his place. Keep him tethered.”

I could see what it was simply by who sent the foul images, still - they were nothing I could scrub from my head any time soon. Yes, you could forgive almost anything, but at what cost? My door barged open and my dad filled the space, his scowl telling me everything. Yip, it wasn’t just me then. He shook his head then stepped over to where I was slouched on the floor with Sophie, getting down on his haunches, he reached out to place a hand on my knee. His face softened as he took in my anguish.

“They’re messing with your head, Ayden.” It didn’t make the pictures any less true nor any easier to see past. “They want Shaun to stay with them.” I didn’t say anything because I didn’t have a clue what was going on. Both Sophie and I had been kept relatively in the dark, kept out of everything for our own good. “They want him,” he continued, “and if you aren’t a factor in his decisions, they think he will stay willingly.”

“Okay, well....” I managed. I was no longer a factor, not after this, that was for sure. “Does he know?” I didn’t need the answer; my dad’s bowed head telling enough. I picked up my phone and checked I had no missed calls or texts, surely if he knew then he’d be trying to call and explain or apologise or something. There was nothing there except the barrage of picture messages that made me feel like puking all over again.

“He’s on his way.”

“No!” I shouted. I didn’t need Shaun. I didn’t need to see the face of betrayal staring back at me while I ripped my own heart from my chest. It would hurt too much, while I laid myself bare in front of him, while he tried to assuage me with excuses that would never be justifiable. “How could he?” I choked out.

“We don’t know what’s going on here.” My dad tried to reason, his words useless because the pictures told the story loud and goddamned fucking clear. Sophie said nothing, I wasn’t sure if she was as dumbfounded as I was, but she never loosened her arms from around me, just kept on hugging.

“This is done.” I cleared my throat, steeled my voice. “I should have known better. Of course, his life would touch mine. I was naïve to think otherwise.” It was a shallow hit but a truth. I knew with certainty if it wasn’t this then it would have been something else further down the road. You don’t get to live Shaun’s life and be happy. Especially with another man.

“He’ll be here soon. Go clean up and we’ll deal with it. Whatever you want son, I have your back.” He leaned over and kissed both our heads then moved away. I knew he had me but for the first time in my life, it didn’t make me feel any better. I nudged Sophie away from me and climbed to my feet.

Confrontation was a thing becoming synonymous with Shaun and his lifestyle. I was walking away this time, before I didn’t have the legs to do so.