I let go of Aria’s hand and briskly stormed down the hall toward them. Jensen must have thought I was coming for him because he turned to face me. With a scowl on his face he declared, “I’m not going! She wants me to lie for Papa! I want Sawyer!”
I stood between them and faced Anna. It took an awful lot of self-control for me to not reach up and give her a taste of her own medicine. Anna seemed shocked that I was standing between her and her son, but she wasn’t going to hit him again.
“Jensen—”
“No! I’m not going!”
“Jensen, don’t interrupt me. Let me finish. There is a bench in the entryway by the front door. I want you to go sit on it and wait for me.”
“I want Sawyer!”
“I want you to go sit on that bench,” I repeated.
Anna shook her head at me and then had the audacity to laugh.
“He is trouble. You put him near a door, and he will run. Silly man. It is a reason why my husband had to keep him in chains in the house.”
They chained the kid up?I had to put my hands in my pockets to keep from strangling the woman.
“Jensen. There is a bench in the entryway. I want you to go sit on it and wait for me. I’m trusting you to be on that bench when I get over there.”
I didn’t turn to look, but I heard him walk down the hallway. In my peripheral vision I saw Aria had walked away too. Once I knew it was just Anna and me, I spoke freely.
“I find it a bit ungrateful and rude for you to call me a name in my own home. I find your behavior toward your children, especially Jensen, to be downright alarming. You will not strike any of those kids again. Period. Aria wanted to help you. She wants you to be here and to be part of our wedding. But I will not stand by and allow you to hit your kids—”
“It is just Jensen,” she interrupted me.
“I don’t care who it is. You will not hit any of them. Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly.” There was a hint of arrogance in her tone, and I didn’t care for it.
“I’m going to take Jensen to the doctor for medical care and I expect you to remain quiet while we’re there. Don’t instigate problems.”
Anna’s smug demeanor changed, and panic flashed across her face.
“Jensen is a liar. He constantly runs away. Fought with other kids. Got into physical fights with Alek. He is a good liar. He will lie right to your face.”
I walked away from Anna and didn’t bother turning around when I heard the door to her room slam shut. I walked to the entryway, hoping to see Jensen. I turned the corner and saw him sitting on the bench where I’d asked him to wait. He was slumped over with his elbows resting on his knees and his head down. I considered it a win for me because I didn’t have to go chasing him around the mountains of Vail. As I approached him, he turned his head to look at me through his bangs that dangled over his eyes. He sat upright as I sat beside him.
“Thank you for waiting for me,” I told him.
“I don’t want to go to the doctor, Mr. Alatorre.”
I had to try to meet him in the middle; otherwise, everything was going to be a battle with him. At first, I figured he was scared and afraid to go to the doctor. When I was young, I avoided doctors too. I even gave up playing school sports because they required a physical. But the more I talked to and listened to him, I didn’t think he was scared.
“It’s my personal doctor. He won’t hurt you, Jensen. He checked over your brothers and sister, and they were all safe. You don’t need to be afraid of him.”
“I’m not. Mama told me to say my brother and other kids gave me the marks and stuff.”
“And that’s not the truth, is it?”
“No, sir. And I don’t want to go where I have to lie.”
“You don’t have to lie to him.”
“I don’t want to say anything either. Can Mr. Sawyer go so he can talk for me?”
Obviously, this kid trusted Sawyer. And why wouldn’t he? Sawyer saw the horrific things being done to him and carried him out of there.Meet him in the middle. I pulled out my cell and held it in front of me where he could see it. I pulled up Sawyer’s name in the contacts and pressed the call button. I looked at Jensen and smiled while the ringing tone came through the phone. Jensen’s eyebrows were raised as if in shock I agreed to call Sawyer for him.
