Aaron shook his head. “I don’t care about the other kids,” he said firmly, a hardness in his voice.
Deborah looked back at me. I knew what she was thinking. He might not have said it before, but Aaron had indeed cared about what the other kids in his class thought of his reading skills. He’d gotten into more than one fight since we’d transferred him to Excelor Academy, and though he wouldn’t say, we both suspected the bullying from the other children was the main reason behind those fights. We’d even gone so far as to consider having him transferred to the same classroom as Carter, where we hoped he wouldn’t feel as alone. But Aaron had flat out shot that idea down.
“Those tutors can help me learn to read?” he asked, his voice filled with uncertainty. “I might be too stupid to learn.”
Deborah gasped at the same time my heart tightened so much in my chest it heart to take my next breath. I’d heard those words too many fucking times to not know where he’d gotten them from. Rising, I rounded the other side of my desk, also coming to crouch down in front of Aaron.
“Aaron, don’t ever say that again.”
“But it’s tr—”
“Don’t,” I said sharply.
His mouth clamped shut as he flinched.
Fuck!
I wanted my boys to respect me but never fear me. I didn’t need to rule my family with an iron fist of fear, humiliation, and abuse, the way I’d grown up. Unfortunately, Aaron had spent the first eight years of his life with a father who hadn’t known any different.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Present
Aaron
“You know that was me, right?”
I inhaled deeply, turning my head to glare outside the window, and ignoring the offending noise to my right.
Emma sighed just as heavily. “We’re still doing this, Aaron? Ignoring me when youknowI’m right.”
I heaved another breath, this time grunting.
“That’s okay. Want me to tell you how I intervened, the first time you and Patience met? Therealfirst time?”
Reluctantly, my head pivoted, pulling my gaze in her direction. A satisfied smile crested on her pink lips, as if knowing simply the mention of my wife’s name would get my attention.
“Talk,” I demanded.
Emma rolled those brown irises of hers that reminded me of my birth mother.
“That first time, you were so young. It was months after the accident, but you were so forlorn, so angry, and in so much pain. Not physically, you’d healed for the most part, but …” She trailed off. “You know the pain you were in. Getting into fights at school, not speaking to any of your brothers, especially Carter. I hated to see you like that. Your parents hated seeing you like that. So when Thiers made plans to have lunch with Robert that day, I helped you out by making sure he’d bring three-year-old Patience along. She was so cute,” Emma gushed, a satisfied expression crossing her face.
“Deb was almost terrified for the little munchkin that walked up to you and practically pushed a book in your face. But I knew better. From the very beginning your little heart couldn’t say no to her.”
I turned from Emma, watching the lights along the street come on as the night sky descended.
“You’re headed to the manor.”
I glanced at Emma, lifting a smug eyebrow. “You’re surprised? I thought you knew everything.”
An even more pompous smile crossed her face. “Of course I knew. Just making conversation. I’ll see you after you speak with your father.”
And with that said, she was gone a second later. I rubbed my forehead with the tips of my fingers, tension filling my entire body. My wife had barely spoken to me in three weeks. Clearly, she was still pissed, and I was starting to feel like maybe, just fucking maybe I’d made a mistake.
“No one ever said you learned quickly,” my father stated as soon as he opened the front door of Townsend Manor. Although I still had the key and code to enter my childhood home, I offered my parents their privacy by ringing the bell. I’d also called him before leaving the office to let him know I’d be over to talk with him.
“You actually have said I learn quickly. On numerous occasions,” I reminded him.
