“Hi,” Tess waves from the other side of the door.

She stands right in front of me, and she’s now a couple of inches taller than me. Her auburn, straight hair is pulled into a ponytail. Her brown eyes find mine, holding my gaze for a long time. The silence is deafening. I’m not sure what to say, but I’m not afraid of her. A part of me still wants to hug her, but I’m not sure how to behave around her.

“Do you want to talk to your dad?”

“No, I’m here to see you.” She looks around, hugging herself.

“I don’t want to sound harsh, but you can’t be here.”

“Dad told me.” She lifts a shoulder and drops it slightly.

“He did?” I arch an eyebrow.

“Yes, we try not to keep secrets between us,” Tess says, looking around. “Is there someplace we can talk without him?”

I can’t help but release a laugh. “So much for not keeping secrets.”

“Later I’ll tell him about it, but I don’t want him here now.”

“Follow me,” I say, closing the door behind me.

We walk toward the pool house, while I text Kaden to let him know that I have to check on something at my father’s home. Dad’s out of town which means we have the place to ourselves.

“He might come to look for me soon,” I warn her.

“Did Dad tell you what happened?”

“Yes, everything. How do you feel about it?” I punch the code on the electronic lock.

“You sound like my therapist.” She rolls her eyes.

“I’m here for another reason, but Dad and I have been talking, you know. I’m trying to change because he said that I should stop trying to please Mom. That what I did hurt him. Not only because of you but because it reminded him of his sister.”

Tess looks around my father’s house when I swing the door open. She doesn’t say anything more until I close the door behind us.

“He said that either I mature and become my own person, or I’d lose him.”

“A little harsh. He knows better than to threaten you like that.”

“Well those weren’t his exact words,” she clarifies. “He said it fancier. The point is that he was hurt by what I did and there are consequences. He doesn’t blame me, but I know that it’s my fault that you two aren’t together. That he lost everything because of what we did.”

Tess walks around the living room stopping in front of me after several passes.

“He said he was done with my behavior. That he loves me, but he doesn’t like me when I act like my mother.”

“He’s right in a way. At some point, you have to become your own person.”

“Well, yeah I’m working on that. Dad and Hannah also made me think about what’s happened since you came into our lives. He’s different with us. He listens to us more and you …” she shrugs. “You cared for us. And when we were sick, you never sent us somewhere else, like Mom usually does.”

“I was happy to take care of you guys.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t see that because my mother tortured me every time I came back from Dad’s.”

“Everything is so clear,” I say, shocked by my stupidity. Why didn’t I see this when it began? “You hate me not because of me, but because of the emotional torture you had to endure.”

“Something like that.” She presses her lips together.

“I don’t hate you though, more like I was working hard at trying to, but it’s kind of hard. You’re too nice.”

My heart feels sad for her. I can’t imagine what she’s been going through. She’s a victim of her mother’s insanity.

“Also, you should know, that no matter what, I would never hurt my brother.”

I remain still, silent, observing her and waiting for more.

“Mom called earlier today, and it was kind of disturbing you know. She insisted that the baby is taking Dad away from us and that we have to do something. That scared me and also made me realize that the only person who keeps me away from Dad is Mom.”

“No matter what, your dad will always put his children first. He’s an amazing father and what your mother did to him is unforgivable,” I reassure her. “Not because it broke us apart, but because of how she exploited your father’s trauma. It hurt to know that you hurt yourself. I care about you.”

“I just wanted Mom to be happy,” she says without acknowledging that I care for her.

“It’s hard to please your parents. I tried with mine for a long time. It took me awhile to understand that I’m only responsible for my own happiness. I hope that one day you can see that too.”

“I’m sorry for the way I behaved.” She shuts her mouth closed.

“Okay.”

“And I wanted to ask you for a favor.”

“What is it?”

Leave my dad alone!

“I’ll be going to college next year, and I’m hoping that soon you and Dad can work things out. He loves you, like a lot. He says that one day I’ll understand what it means to have a soulmate.”

“That man is a hopeless romantic.”

“You make him happy. And I want him to be happy.”

“Things are complicated between us.”

“I know, but when two people love each other so much, they have to find some way back to each other,” she pauses for a second, swallowing hard.

“But I’m not here to fix things for him. I’m here because I know you two will work things out. And when you do, I’m begging you to let Hannah stay with you. I don’t want to leave her with Mom when I can’t be there to protect her. She loves you, and she’s always saying that she wishes Mom were more like you or that you were her mom.”

She flinches. “Mom knows that, and she’s been making her life difficult. Mom treats her worse than trash. I don’t know what to do.”

My chest burns, and I’m about to go and drag Alicia all the way back from Europe by her hair. How dare she treats my Hannah like that. But I remember that this isn’t my family to meddle into and that I can only give a little advice.

“You tell your father, so he can take care of it. I thought you were practicing honesty with him.”

“Yes, but we’re not allowed around the baby.”

The guilt hits me right in the gut. They feel unsafe because of me.

“Again, not something you two should be worrying about. We, as adults, have to look after you two.”

“You make it sound easy.”

“Honestly, Tess, it has to be easy for you and Hannah. You’re not responsible for your sister’s safety. You should feel and be safe.”

“We are,” she insists but her voice wavers.

“Not emotionally. The things your mother has done have scarred you, psychologically. I know for a fact that your dad will do everything in his power to make sure you two don’t have to deal with it.”

Because one way or another, I’ll help him. I’m strong enough to be in this house by myself. They need him.

Her phone rings, she pulls it out, and sighs.

“It’s time for me to go.”

“You want to come back with Hannah and have dinner with us?”

“Thanks, but Mom arrives soon from her vacation. Maybe another day.”

I don’t enter the main house until I watch Tess’s car drive away. My breath caught up several times as I listened to her worried voice. Her stories remind me of my own mother and my own little hell.

We have to do something, yet I feel as if my brain is firing a million thoughts at once, and I can’t understand any of them. What do we do to keep everyone safe?

“Where are you?” Kaden’s voice drags me back to reality.

“What?”

I stare at the hot, sexy, freshly bathed Kaden who is right beside me.

“You were lost inside your head,” he explains, his hungry eyes holding me prisoner. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Probably not, Hades. Most of the time you only think about sex.”

“At least you know what I’m thinking about. In exchange, you should tell me what’s going on in there.” He touches my head briefly.

“Alicia is coming back.”

“I got her message. She’s pissed. I’m on my way to pick up the girls. Raven said that she can keep them with her while I figure something out.”

“Why there?”

“Because that’s my only option,” he responds. Though guarded, there’s no resentment or anger in his voice. “You don’t want them close to Kieran.”

“You need to understand that I was scared, hormonal, and I hadn’t yet talked to the girls when I said that. However, I need to know your plan, too.”

He narrows his gaze and exhales harshly.

“I plan to keep them away from Alicia. As you know, I already filed for full custody. The hearing is set for next week. The judge already granted me temporary custody since Alicia went out of town and left the girls with her parents—without my knowledge. Also, we have the other infractions like the fact that she’s neglected them and abandoned them alone for weekends when I’m not in town.”

“She did?” I tremble with anger.

“Tess and Hannah have plenty of stories that they’re willing to share with the judge.”

“Hmm.” I chew my lip thinking about what he’s done so far.

He can place them with Raven, have as many documents as he wants, but that doesn’t keep Alicia away from them.

“Is there a way you can get a restraining order?”

“On what grounds?” He narrows his gaze.

“Emotional abuse,” I explain. “You don’t need proof for that, only your word against Alicia’s since they are minors.”

I walk toward the home library where we keep the computer on all day long.

“We’d need it by tonight.”

“It shouldn’t be hard. You have people for everything,” I remind him. “Get a therapist to testify that the girls are in fact being emotionally abused for the custody case. Any judge would sign that, but I know one who might help us expedite this.”

“In the meantime, they can come here. You can take them to Raven’s afterward.”

I fire off an email to Judge Summers. She always expedited my cases if I explained everything clearly and felt like the children were in danger. I do exactly that in my email, describing everything from the ‘suicide’ to what’s been happening over the past three years as described by Kaden and Tess. I read it out loud to Kaden who adds the accounts of when the girls were sick and when she dropped them at her parents without Kade’s consent.

“What’s your lawyer’s email address?” I ask, copying Kaden on the email.

As soon as he gives it to me, I copy him and send the email. I place a call to her secretary too, leaving a brief message that I sent an email, and it’s urgent.

“Just in case, I recommend that you hire security. A bodyguard or two to be close to them around the clock.”

He stops in the middle of the library watching me.

“That’s a good idea,” he says before leaving the house.

For a few minutes, I remain in my seat, thinking about Tess and Hannah. Raven is a wonderful mother, but those girls belong with their dad. They have been through a lot and jumping through houses isn’t the best for them.

I dig into my feelings, and for the first time, I recognize that it isn’t only Kaden that I’m afraid of, but them—his daughters. Loving them unconditionally just brought me pain. I was cut out of a family that I believed was mine, and the mere thought of going through that again makes my pulse accelerate with anxiety.

But someone must think about those girls, and maybe this time around things will be different.