The Unmaking (The Rayne Whitmore Series Book 1) (4 page)

            “Ok. I won’t argue with
you, but there is more that you need to know sooner than later now.”

            Those are the last words
spoken between us as he drops me off at Selene’s. I am deflated. I had told her
that I was coming and that I was staying the night about twenty minutes before
I arrived, then I had texted mom to let her know where I was too. I figure by
this time, she’d start to worry a bit.

            When we pull up at her house,
my body is numb and my thoughts are a tangled mess. I had always prided myself
on doing the right thing and maybe I had only seen the world the way I wanted
to see it up until now. Maybe my dad is doing the right thing, even if it
seemed wrong to me. My dad is not an evil man and clearly, he has an empire to
protect. How else are you supposed to protect an empire? Damn. What wouldn’t my
dad do if pushed?

            Right when the car stops,
I hop out before Damien can say anything and Selene flicks on the porch light.
She had been waiting for me. I have to practically fight with my legs to not
run the rest of the distance to the door. She opens it as soon as I hit the
first of four steps; and once I see her face, a wave of relief floods me.

           
I’m safe now,
I
tell myself. We stand in the doorway and hug as I listen for the sound of
Damien’s car driving off. Then, after a soft, much needed kiss, Selene pulls me
inside.

Chapter Four

           
S
elene’s home is tastefully modern with creams and dark
accents as well as wonderful artwork throughout. She loves mirrors, pictures of
foreign landscapes as well as beautifully painted naked bodies of men and women
alike in various poses and positions. It makes for an interesting blend
throughout the entire house. Even the furniture is shaped with curious angles
that look uncomfortable until you actually have a seat. Add in throw pillows
and rugs and you have awesome splashes of color. Her entire house is like this,
even the bedroom furniture is like being transported to a different place. She
has throw blankets and pillows on the bed coordinated to match the walls, a
nightstand design that is connected to the bed frame and a comfortable chaise
lounge on the other side of the room.

            The thing that really
melts my heart is the picture Jasmine painted for her a month ago of two women,
backs turned, holding hands, and facing a body of water. For her to have placed
it in her bedroom where she’d see it every day makes me happy. Jasmine has
talent and I know Selene really loves it.

            The one place that is not
filled with the bold splashes of color and décor is her kitchen. That place is
Selene’s sanctuary and it seems as if she wants to keep that area as untainted
as possible. It always remains pristine with the stainless steel appliances
sparkling, her spices and herbs are always neatly labeled and organized, and
her dishes are always immediately washed, dried, and put away. She has a
dishwasher, but I’ve never seen her use it once. I also know that even though
Selene may not be as rich as I am, she has to have some type of trust fund or
something because none of the things in her house come cheap, I would know. 
Even this quiet suburban area is fairly pricey. Her home always smells warm and
inviting too. Earthy scents usually fill the air and today, I smell patchouli. 

            Selene is dressed in a
Brazilian track jacket in support of her home country and some loose fitting
jeans. She still makes nice and casual look model-like. Her long silky black
and blonde ombre hair is braided all the way back into a ponytail, and she has
a flower in her hair that matches the jacket. From the looks of it, it seems
like she just came home from a walk rather than the shower that she teased me
about earlier.

            In the back of Selene’s
home is a small wooded area and she says that she loves to walk around and
enjoy the nature. That’s why she chose this area to live in. She once said to
me me that the land around here is respected, whatever that meant. Selene’s
different in that way, kept plants, whispered to animals as if they were human,
and only used as many organic items as possible. She’d said that there was a
price for defiling nature and that if we listened close enough, we could hear
the plants weep at how we treat the earth. That’s my Selene.

            As I plop on the couch and
take off my shoes, Selene goes into the kitchen and brings me back some herbal
tea and a sandwich. She had told me once before that the tea would help calm my
energy and restore my muscles. I don’t argue with her because I enjoy the taste
of vanilla and honey. I thank her and once she’s satisfied, she sits down next
to me and runs her fingers through my hair. It’s probably still slightly wet
from my shower earlier. It feels good to have her touch me and I relax even
more as she whispers something inaudible.

            “Better now, beautiful?”
she asks in her sweet song of a voice.

            “Better,” I say, meaning
it completely. I am so much better that I don’t even want to talk about what I
had seen and risk the chance that I would not feel how I’m feeling at this moment
again.

            “So,” she begins, still
playing in my hair. She loved to do that. “Do you want to tell me what’s wrong
or are we going to pretend that nothing has happened and watch a movie or
something?”

            Geeze, when she put it
like that, it seemed as if I was a coward running away from my problems. Ok,
maybe I could be a coward for a few more minutes. No, I know she’s right to
word it how she did. The sooner I got it out in the open and worked out in my
head, the better off I’d be. She already knows me too well, it’s kind of
creepy. “We can talk about it, but you have to promise not to say anything
until I finish the entire story. No interrupting with gasps and frowned up
faces either.”

            “You’ve never heard me
gasp,” she defends, and then laughs realizing full well that that wasn’t true.
There were many times I had touched her in just the right spot and…

            I roll my eyes. “Stop
making me think of those things when I’m trying to be serious,” I warn and lean
away from her and her now wandering hands.

            She laughs seductively,
scoots away from me and pretends to zip her lips.

            Two deep breaths later, I
tell her about my entire night, from the time I meet Damien in the hallway
until he drops me off. We sit with the distance between us and the silence
after I finish speaking makes it seem even further. Selene is clearly searching
for words to make me feel better about the burden that has just been revealed
to me, but she’s having some trouble. It almost makes me feel even worse as if
she is doing her best not to judge. But I still wait, needing to hear what her
next words will be.

            Finally, she scoots back
close to me and rests my head on her chest. Together we sigh, and then, she
whispers, “Power has a price. That will never change.”

            “But what if that price is
just too damn high?” I ask quietly, fighting tears.

            “Then, there will always
be someone else willing to pay that cost love.” Selene then gets up and starts
pacing. I watch as she bites her lip, carefully choosing her next words. I sit
up straighter, trying to remain patient, but I’m afraid that she will tell me
to call the police or something on my dad.

            “Baby,” I finally say,
breaking Selene from her daze.

            She turns towards me and
gives me a sad smile. I almost get up to hug her, but she waves me off. “I’m
fine. I just was thinking of home.”

            “Does home have anything
to do with my situation?” I ask, sounding much more asshole-ish than I
intended. I cringe.

            Selene pretends not to notice
and responds, “Actually love, it does.” Her accent rolls sweetly off of her tongue
as she says, “I have never told you about my family and how they tried to force
me to be with a man who not only I had no attraction to, but I did not even
know.” I flinch reflexively at her words, both stunned and confused as to why
she never told me this.

            Through my silence, she
continues, speaking as if she’s telling another’s story and not her own. “His
name was Sergio Cardoso and he was deeply connected to my family. I disliked
him from the second I met him. The arrogance he possessed flowed off of him in
waves…” Selene’s face turns up into a scowl, and I swear I feel her anger hit
me too. I begin to frown as I try to ignore the feeling.

            “He was a bastard. The son
of a bitch told my father that if I married him, not only would he “cure” my
dyke-ish ways, but our children would be born into power and honor, and of
course money.” Finally, she sits back down, but on the other cream couch. “My
father craved power and every time he obtained more of it, it was never
enough.”

            “How?” I beg. “How did things
end? And why…”

            “No, Rayne. I care about
you, but don’t you dare start to accuse me of not telling you sooner. This is
my life and I am entitled to keep certain secrets until I am comfortable with
confiding in you. This is not harm to our relationship and if you treat it like
it is and start making things all about you, I won’t tell you shit else,” she
says as stingingly as a slap to the face.

            All I can do is nod as I
stare at this woman, the woman who right now, in my eyes, actually looks the
years older than me that she is. I feel like a jealous brat and mentally kick
myself. When I see tears forming in her deep, green eyes, I automatically start
to stand up, but she beats me to it and begins to pace again. There’s something
eating her up inside and all I can do is sit patiently and wait. I think about
how Selene has always told me that her trust is not a gift that is easily given
and I know that whatever is going on inside her mind is part of the reason why.

            “Rayne, in my culture, you
honor your parents and their wishes above your own. My father wanted our
bloodline to be assured; there was no other alternative for him. Sergio
kidnapped me as I was walking home from the market one night. He tied me up,
drugged me, screamed in my face, spat on me and called me a whore. Then, then
he raped me. For three days he raped me.” By this time, Selene’s words have
become sobs and I am so stunned that it seems that my body has been paralyzed.

            Sickness was on the verge
of taking over after what I had witnessed with my father, but this, this is
just too much. Breaking out of my stupor, I sprint for the restroom and barely
lift the toilet seat up in time to empty all my stomach’s contents as well as
dry heave for minutes still. When I finally finish, the anger comes as well as
sadness that I never was there when that man hurt and defiled the woman that I
am falling hopelessly in love with more every day.

            As I study myself in the
mirror and reach in the drawer to find my extra toothbrush to scrub away the
taste of bile, I see a reflection looking back at me that I hardly recognize.
There is borderline hatred in my eyes and I’m so horrified of what I see that I
quickly rinse my face, and then leave the mirror behind. I feel as though that
reflection is still standing there, staring me down as I walk away.

            I now understand what my
dad has done tonight, even if I don’t yet condone it. His business, his
possessions, his family is everything to him, and to protect that, he will do
the unthinkable. A few seconds ago, I had become my daddy, obsessed with
revenge on a man I had never met over something that he had done years ago
before I met Selene. I can’t fathom what I would attempt to do if this had been
something that had happened to her when I’d been a part of her life. Fuck! I
want to call in a few favors right now and have Sergio dealt with.

            I walk back in the living
room where Selene is still standing, but no longer pacing. Her eyes are red and
puffy yearning for comfort, and yet, I still can’t bring myself to touch her.
Not from disgust, but right now, she just seems so fragile as if she would
break from the slightest touch. I want to apologize for Sergio’s actions, to
tell her that I will never allow anyone to break her down again, but before I
say another word, she begins again.

            “And you know what the
most fucked up thing about the whole situation was? Not that I had to save
myself, or that I had to have major surgery because of the damage he did inside
of me. That I almost lost my chance to ever have kids. The most fucked up part
of the whole thing is that my father
told
him to do it.”

            I nearly fall to the floor
this time, but somehow, I manage to make it to Selene’s side, pull her down to
the floor with me and cry with her for what seems like eternity. My soul is
reeling and both of our shirts are covered in tears and snot. I don’t care, all
I want to do is make all of her pain go away, erase her past and free her of
the prison of lies and distrust.

            I make a vow to myself
silently that I will protect Selene, my Selene and get her any help that she
could ever need. “Is that why you left?” I whisper.

            “Among other things, yes.
But right now, that is all you need to know.” Selene’s voice is nearly back to
normal and I wonder how she can separate herself from what went on. I want to
ask her how many years ago had this happened, what happened with Sergio, how
did she find out about her father’s role in it. There are so many questions
that her revelation had created, but now I know the true extent of the trust
issue and that I will have to work to prove to Selene that I can be her safety
net, and the woman she could trust.