"Nova, your uncle, he held a press conference this morning—"
"Oh god." I cut Nitro off, pushing to my feet and walking a few feet away. Shit, I knew this was coming. My mouth feels dry and my head begins to pound. I can feel my heart start to race, and I think I’m about to have a panic attack.
"Dragonfly. Breathe." Ice is in front of me in seconds, his hands gripping both sides of my face, forcing me to look at him. "Focus on me and just breathe. Remember you're safe."
I nod and take a few deep breaths; he pulls me to his chest and places a kiss on the top of my head. "You're gonna be okay, just breathe. Let’s sit you down, okay?" he says, leading me back to the bench.
"I'm sorry," I say to them all. "I hate that I keep freaking out, but—"
"Hey." Nitro cuts me off. "Don't apologise, you've been through a lot, you're allowed to freak out, okay?"
I nod and drop my head. Partly because I'm embarrassed, and partly because I need a few seconds to breathe. Ice has one hand on my leg, the other he rubs up and down my back, trying to keep me calm.
"Dragonfly, your uncle held a press conference saying that you and Mason had been kidnapped and that they just wanted you guys to be found." I stare at Ice, trying to process what he just said.
"Wait. Hold on. What?" I ask, confused. "He said that we had both been kidnapped or that I kidnapped Mason?"
"That you had both been kidnapped," Nitro states. "They are claiming that they think it's something to do with one of the many arrests your uncle has made over the years. We should probably tell you that we've had Data monitoring your aunt and uncle's texts and emails since you got here. Your uncle has been messaging someone from work, and they believed that it was best for them to claim you had both been kidnapped, they think it raises less questions than saying you ran off with Mason." Nitro looks over my head to Ice behind me and then over to Wrath.
"Nova, you remember Andrea Bennett. Your mums friend?" Nitro asks.
"Yeah. We stayed with her for a little while after our parents…" I swallow the lump forming in my throat. "Anyway, we ended up at my uncle’s within three weeks," I tell them.
"Baby.” Ice turns my face toward him. "Be honest, please."
"Nova," Nitro calls me. "We know bits of information, but we'd appreciate if you were honest with us and told us what really happened."
Chapter Thirty-Four
I see her pale. She doesn’t want to tell us, and I get why she wouldn't. And the truth is we don't really need to know all of the details, but we would like to understand things from her point of view.
"Dragonfly." I gently grip her chin and turn her face up to mine. "I understand that you might not want to tell us anything, but we’re asking you to open up to us. We're asking for you to be honest with us."
"What exactly do you want to know?" she asks, turning from me and looking over to Nitro who’s still sat next to her. I glare at him as he places his hand over hers. It fucking pisses me off how close he gets to her. He sees the look on my face and raises an eyebrow at me and then smirks. Fucking arsehole.
"Sweetheart, have you ever told anyone what you’ve been through?" he asks her.
She sucks in a breath and then shakes her head. "No," she whispers. "I mean, Riley at work knows, but she guessed most of it and I don't really tell her details."
He squeezes her hand a little and I feel my fucking blood begin to boil. I hate that he's touching her, but I don't want to be a total dick and say anything, so I bite my tongue. "You know that you have nothing to be ashamed of, don't you? That this isn't on you?" he says to her.
She looks at him like she's confused. "But..."
"No, sweetheart. The only people that should be ashamed are your aunt and uncle. Not you, and not Mason," he reassures her. "We'd like you to tell us what happened with Andrea. How come you left hers?"
She nods at him and then turns to look at me and bites the inside of her cheek. I cup her face then pull her toward me and place a peck on her forehead, before whispering into her ear, "You're safe here. You've got this. Just be honest."
She takes a deep breath and moves away from me. "We were with Andrea for about three weeks or so. She was great. I always thought that Mum and Dad wanted her to look after us if anything ever happened to them, which is why she took us in and then took us to Scotland. But when they died, the lawyer brought the will out that said Roger and June were our guardians."
She swallows before continuing. "We were in Scotland for only a couple of days when the cottage was broken into and two men in balaclavas trashed the place and beat Andera so badly, I thought they had killed her. I tried to stop them, but they turned on me, beating me and breaking a few bones, and then Mason tried to protect me, and he got hurt. They pushed him and he banged his head, knocking him out."
She stands and walks away toward the climbing frame, leaning her head on the side of the ladders before turning back to face us. "When she woke up, my aunt and uncle had come to thehospital, and when we were allowed in her room, she told us that we had to go live with them. That our parents had stipulated they were to take care of us."
She watches the three of us, her eyes flicking back and forth, waiting for us to say something. Nitro stands and walks toward her and then gently places his hands on her arms. I tip my head back, taking a deep breath, trying to calm my rage. I think I’m going to fucking kill my own damn President.
"Nova, Andrea is on her way here now. She'll be here in two days." He dips his head to look into her eyes, and I'm done. Getting up and moving toward them, I'm by her side in a second. She glances at me and smiles then turns back to Nitro.
"We also have proof that the will stating your aunt and uncle were to be your guardians was superseded by a new will that they had suppressed. You were never meant to be with them; you were always meant to be with her. Now, we don't really know everything, we're hoping between you and Andrea, you can fill in the blanks."
