Mikey takes a step towards me, "We're trying to keep you safe."
"And what happens when I realize you've been bleeding for me behind my back? And then you try to keep it from me, when I am right in front of you, seeing the damage?" I say as I run my eyes over every bruise he has on his body.
The silence stretches heavy in the air...
I wait, but they don't answer... And that's what breaks me.
"You don't get to do that!" I scream. Everything in me shatters. "You don't get to decide what I can handle and what I can't, especially when this is my father. My life and my mess!"
Mikey closes his eyes like my words are physically hurting him, and deep down, I hope they do. I am tired of this shit. They act like I am some fragile little girl.
When he opens them again, I can see all the guilt he is holding onto.
"Kai," he says quietly. "Give us a minute."
Kai hesitates, flicking his eyes to me, then back to Mikey. Whatever silent conversation they have, he finally nods once.
"I'll be on the balcony," He mutters, already moving towards the sliding door. "Yell if you need me."
The glass door shuts behind him, sealing us in the kitchen with all the things unsaid.
I wait there as the quiet presses in before I step closer to Mikey. I grab his face and lift my head, forcing him to meet my eyes.
"Tell me," I say. "Now."
He exhales slowly, "He didn't push... not the way I expected."
My stomach drops. "Push how?"
"He didn't demand that his men go search for you. He didn't threaten you outright." He drops his gaze. "He acted like you were already coming back."
Cold spreads through my chest, the way it always does, when my father is being a conniving cunt.
"Like I belong to him," I whisper.
Mikey's hands curl into fists at his side. "Exactly like that."
I swallow, forcing air that feels like fire into my lungs. "And you?"
He won't meet my gaze, and my temper spikes.
"And you," I repeat, sharper this time. "What the fuck did he do to you?"
"Julia—"
I turn his head to make him look at me again, "I saw the bruises. Don't fucking insult me by pretending that I didn't."
For a moment, he sat there and looked at me. Like, really looked at me. Like he's deciding whether telling me will hurt me more than not telling me.
"He wanted to remind me," Mikey finally says slowly. "That he still has a reach on me, and that I better not disappoint him again."
My chest aches. This man just took a beating because of my plan. "And you let him?"
"The goal was only to survive."
I shake my head, letting the anger, hurt, and fear tangle together until I can't even decipher which one is which. "You went alone."
"Yes."
