“Nine.”
“Shit, that’s a lot for a nine-year-old to process,” Theo said.
I shrugged. It wasn’t the worst I had experienced growing up.
“When she finally got up to leave, she stopped in the doorway and said, ‘I wish you and I had died alongside him so we wouldn’t have to live this misery.’ I think it’s the only honest thing she’s ever said. She said she hates looking at me because I look like him. He had green eyes.”
“Fuck,” Cam said, his jaw clenched. He tugged me into his lap, his strong arms wrapping around me and his face pressed to the top of my head.
“It’s my fault that things got bad between them,” I said, tears streaming down my face.
“How can you possibly figure that?” Theo asked.
“He started working more to make money for me. If he hadn’t been so stressed, maybe he wouldn’t have started drinking. And then maybe he wouldn’t have died.”
“No, love, it wasn’t your fault,” Theo said, his expression devastatingly sad.
“Not at all,” Ben said, scooting closer to me so he could hold my hand.
I took a shuddering breath. I’d never told anyone this before except for Sam. It hurt to talk about, but something in me wanted to keep going. I didn’t want to be crushed beneath the secrets anymore.
“My mother didn’t have anywhere to go. She had a two-year-old and was an omega alone. So she returned to her parents’ house. I think they’re the ones who set up the match between her and Jericho and Richard. I don’t know if they ever loved each other, but they certainly don’t now. I knew I wasn’t biologically theirs because they told me all the time. My grandparents did, too. They made sure I knew, even as a child, that I didn’t really belong with them.”
“Fucking bastards,” Cam growled, the vibrations in his chest running through my body.
“Yeah, the whole family is horrible. And I…” I wasn’t sure if I should share this next part.
“What, sweetheart?” Cam asked, cradling me closer to his body.
“I don’t know. It’s probably stupid. But one time, my grandmother was talking on the phone when I was at their house. They had locked me in a closet. I think she forgot I was there, so she was standing nearby and said, ‘It was good we got rid of him.’ I don’t know if she was talking about my dad, but what if she was? What if they did something to him?”
“They locked you in a closet?” Cam growled, outraged.
I scrunched my nose. “I feel like the possibility of them murdering my dad deserves more of a reaction than them locking me in the closet.”
“Fucking does not,” Cam bit out. I looked at Ben and Theo for support, but their faces were both hard with anger.
“Did they do that often?” Theo asked, his voice low and cold.
I squirmed. “Umm, no.”
“Josie,” Cam said. “Don’t lie to us.”
“I mean, sometimes they would. But it’s actually a good thing because it forced me to learn how to pick locks. Which, you know, is a handy skill,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. It didn’t work. A heavy blanket of silence fell.
“Don’t be mad,” I whispered, looking up at Cam.
He took a deep breath and met my gaze. “I’m not mad at you, baby girl.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, squeezing tightly.
“Why would your grandparents treat you like that?” Ben asked.
“They didn’t approve of my dad,” I said with a shrug. “I think they also blamed me because my mom couldn’t have any more kids. She was in and out of doctor’s offices most of my childhood, but I don’t know if they ever figured out what was wrong. It gave my mom some status when I revealed as an omega. Everyone had been convinced I would be a beta, so it was a relief for her. But I’d always been fat, even as a kid, and that didn’t change once I revealed. They took me for testing multiple times to ensure I was an omega and to figure out what was wrong with me. But the doctors could never figure anything out. Everyone just decided that I was the problem.”
My alphas protested at once, so fierce in their disagreement that I let out a startled laugh.
“Love hearing you laugh,” Cam murmured, his lips brushing my ear.
