“There’s nothing to tell. She’s part of the past, Nadia. Let it go.”
“I want to know everything about her.”
“What’s the point? She’s gone.”
“I want to know everything about her! Don’t make me say that again.”
“What the fuck for? I didn’t ask you about your past. Or anyone in your life. So can we just move on...”
“Because I have nothing to tell you! I never had a man in my life! Oh, I have! I forgot! Let me tell you about him! This man saw me when I was seventeen, and he was forty-five years old! And he decided he wanted me as his mate! That evil man would visit me every time he could, and he would look at me like he was undressing me every single time!”
“Stop, Nadia...” My voice came out desperate.
This was exactly the reason why I didn’t want her to find out who Andrea was. The evil man in her story was me, in Andrea’s. And telling her what I did to Andrea would only remind her of her own life. I didn’t want her to end up loathing me. And I never wanted to be accepted by anyone as much as I wanted Nadia to accept me.
“My uncle would force me to hug him, and I would do my best every timenot to vomit or pass out whenever I had to because I hated him. I despised the way he smelled and how his skin felt on my skin... “
“Stop!” My grip on the steering wheel tightened. It was getting harder to control the car. I just wanted to grab her and hug her to make her stop talking.
She was making me feel so fucking small and dirty right now. Everything she was saying about this man mirrored what Andrea must have felt about me.
So tell me, how could I tell her about Andrea without her hating me or, worse, calling me evil?
“I couldn’t do anything until I was 19. It was only then that I was able to sneak away whenever I knew he was coming to visit me. And every time I came home after that, I would receive a slap or a beating from my uncle. But I was okay with that. The pain and the bruises were better than being wrapped up in his arms and being abused by his eyes!”
“Nadia, please... Enough. You don’t need to remember those things.”
“No, Riley, I want you to know everything about me the same way I want to know everything about you. If you want to make this Alpha and Luna thing look real, I have to know what I am going against with this. “
“Just trust me, Nadia. I will fix everything. No one will call you by another name except your name.”
“And how about the picture in your room? Will it stay there?”
“Picture?” My forehead creased in confusion until it dawned on me the one I had on my bookshelves. It has been there for years, and I never thought about it after the full moon because I was too busy looking for her or moping about her.
“Was it Andrea in the picture with you?”
“I will throw it away once we’re home. I didn’t know it was still there.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Is it Andrea in the picture?”
“Yes.”
“Who is she to you?”
“Nothing. She’s nothing to me now.”
“Why do I feel you are hiding something from me? Tell me why you looked like you’d seen a ghost when Stella mentioned her? Why? Because it still hurts? Just fucking tell me, and this conversation is over. I just want to know if I’m already crossing boundaries or not.”
“Can we fucking stop this conversation? It’s pissing me off already!” I slammed my palm on the steering wheel, and her body jolted in response.
“Stop the car!” She yelled almost immediately after.
“No!”
“Stop the car!”
“I said no. We’re going home.”
