No Deal Breakers (27 page)

"Breath, honey, just breath. I'm here, and
I've got you. I'd never let anything happen to you, okay? You're
safe, he can't hurt you ever again." Brian murmured reassurances as
he gently rubbed her back. She tried to focus on what he was saying
and not on the man that was now coming to a stop in front of them,
but she couldn't. Every slap, every curse, every time he raped her
came rushing back, stronger than ever before, they were playing on
surround sound in her mind.

"Arianna, my love," she cringed, she wasn't
Arianna any longer, hadn't been since the day she'd met Brian, and
she certainly wasn't King's love or anything else.

"I have missed you on my visits. Your poor
uncle has been beside himself with worry about you, he's been
looking for you for months," she stiffened, how dare he act so
casually as if they were old friends and he was really concerned
about where she'd been. Jack had deep pockets, she'd hoped that she
just wasn't worth expending the resources on, but now she was
worried he may actually find her, especially now that King knew
that she was with Brian.

Everything she'd worked so hard to build with
Brian over the last several months had come crashing down in the
matter of a few moments. What would happen when Jack found her?
Could Brian protect her from Jack's minions when they came?

"Brian, good to see you again, but I never
imagined I'd see you, of all people, with a prostitute, and at my
son's wedding no less." King looked at Brian in disgust, as if he
himself didn't spend thousands of dollars a month on
prostitutes.

They were off to the side and his voice was
low enough that no one would be able to tell what they were
discussing, Brian's hands were fisted at his sides and she could
feel the anger radiating off him. "Don't talk about my wife that
way, she is not, and has never been a prostitute." King's eyes met
hers, and he ran an assessing gaze up and down her body, she could
almost feel his hands on her, it caused her to shiver and shift
more behind Brian.

"Wife, huh? Well, Arianna, it looks like you
haven't been completely honest with your new husband, shall I
enlighten him as to your previous occupation? I'm sure a good,
honest, Christian boy like Brian here wouldn't have given you a
second glance if he knew who you really were." Brian shifted so a
little more of her body was shielded.

"Oh no,
King
, she's been completely
honest," hearing Brian call him King caused him to flinch. "That's
right, I know all about how you repeatedly raped a twelve year old
girl, and continued to for twelve years every chance you got. I
know all about how she fought you off, and that excited you more. I
know that you paid to have your own child ripped from her womb when
she was only fifteen. I know that she was a child forced to give up
her innocence at the hands of you and men like you, she was never a
prostitute, she was a victim and she escaped, she's a survivor."
Hearing Brian defend her like that, and watching King, the man she
had feared for half of her life blanch and look around nervously,
making sure no one was close enough to hear gave her an unexpected
surge of confidence.

For the first time she realized that she had
the power here, she had control over him, not the other way around.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, no longer using Brian as
a human shield and faced her nightmares head on.

He was done ruling her life, from this moment
on, he didn't hold any power over her. She was done being afraid,
done living in the past, and done being ashamed of what happened to
her. Brian was right, she was a victim and she got out, she
escaped, she was a survivor. She found a better life and a real man
who loved her regardless of what was done to her.

"You can't prove anything," King—Warren,
growled before she could confront him as she was preparing to
do.

"No, you're right, it's your word against
mine. But I know, I know who you are behind closed doors. I know
why you paid to steal my virginity, I know about the thoughts you
harbor for your own daughter." At that, Brian drew in a sharp
breath and Warren looked as if he was going to explode at any
moment, he'd gone from bright red to pallid in a matter of
seconds.

She turned to Brian, "There are some things I
just wanted to keep out of your head. But, that's how I knew all of
that about Jenny." Brian looked like he might be sick; she turned
back to Warren to finish showing him the ugly truth of who he
was.

"I was a substitute for her; you couldn't
steal your own daughter's virginity, so you found a doppelganger.
Because raping your own daughter, that would be wrong, but raping
someone else's, that's okay. You did everything to me you wished
you could do to her. Do you know you used to call me Jenny
sometimes? I'm not even sure if you were aware of it. But, it
didn't take me long to figure out what you were doing, as soon as
you showed me her picture and told me about her, I knew. I knew
just how sick and twisted you are." He took a step toward them, he
was visibly shaking, he looked caught between wanting to run away
and wanting to charge her. Aria was terrified he'd choose the
latter, but she stood her ground regardless, she finally had the
chance to face him and let him know by her words and her actions
that he no longer owned her, she wasn't backing down now.

"I have never touched either of my daughters
inappropriately, ever. Thoughts are one thing, but I have never
acted on them. You may think you're all high and mighty now that
you've had your Pretty Woman moment, but none of this will ever
stand up in a courtroom, you can't prove a thing." He stammered, it
seemed to be the only leg he had to stand on, assuring her she
could never see justice done in a courtroom, and she knew he was
right, but that wasn't what she needed, she needed this. She needed
him to see that he hadn't broken her beyond repair and that she was
done letting him control so much of her.

She stepped forward to tell him just that
when another voice cut through the night, "Maybe not, Dad, but this
video will sure make an interesting piece of evidence," Paul
Kingston had stepped out of the shadows and was holding up his cell
phone for his father to see. "If nothing else it will be complete
and total social suicide, which, let's face it, Dad, would be much
more of a punishment to you."

"Give that to me," Warren made a move toward
his son, but Paul gracefully avoided his father's hand, causing
Warren to stumble into her.

She stiffened at the contact, but it didn't
last long, as quickly as he'd stumbled into her he was pulled away
from her. Looking up she saw Brian's hands on Warren's shoulders,
pushing him back from her. He was shaking with obvious and barely
contained fury, "I don't ever want to see your hands on her again.
If you ever come within ten feet of her again, so help me—"

"Bri, think about what you're about to do.
This isn't you." Paul's calming tone and hand on Brian's shoulder
broke off his threat.

Brian kept his hands on Warren's shoulders a
moment longer, his eyes conveying the silent threat to the older
man, before finally breaking contacting and stepping back to wrap
his arms around Aria again.

She looked around, expecting to see a crowd
gathering or people gawking at them, but to her surprise and
relief, no one seemed to have noticed the brief confrontation.

With Brian several paces away from him Warren
made another grab at the phone, again Paul avoided his hand, though
this time Warren was able to keep his footing.

"Wouldn't make much difference if you did
destroy the phone, it's already backed up in four different places
online. How many other girls have there been, Dad?" She felt Brian
wrap his arms more tightly around her as they prepared to hear his
answer.

"None," at the look of disbelief he received
from the three of them he held his hands up in surrender and was
near tears now. "I swear it was just her. I've never even been
attracted to any other young girls, ever. That's the God's honest
truth. It wasn't even until her Uncle Jack showed me her picture
that I realized how I felt and that's when I decided to buy her
virginity, to try to get it out of my system. It didn't work
though, you can ask her, I kept coming to her even as she grew into
a woman. If I was only attracted to young girls I would've quit
going to her, it's the truth, I swear." Paul looked to her for
confirmation and she nodded.

"Paul, I know this will sound crazy, and it
may be the wrong choice to make, but for the first time, it's my
choice. I really don't want this to go to trial. I've found my
closure, and I really don't think he's a risk to any other girls. I
always kind of knew it was just me he was interested in, well,
instead of Jenny. I just can't face this all again and again, the
lawyers, the judge, the jury…I just can't take all that. I just
want my normal life with my normal husband. Please, Paul." He
studied her for several long moments before nodding and then turned
to Brian, the two seemed to share a bit of silent communication
before Paul spoke again.

"I respect that, and honestly, this getting
out would kill Jenny…and Kara and Mom for that matter. I feel awful
for sitting on a secret like this, and I agree, it may be the worst
choice. But, it may also be better than dragging you through this."
Warren must've thought he'd won, if the normal smug expression
returning to his face was any indication, but Paul shut that down
rather quickly.

"Just because this isn't going to trial
doesn't mean you aren't going to have to pay for what you've done."
They were all staring openmouthed at Paul now. "I have an idea, you
and my family will be protected, but my father is going to have to
give up much more than just a few years' jail time and house
arrest."

Brian smiled, "I think I know the direction
you're headed. I agree with it, as long as you're sure, Aria, that
you don't want to pursue this further," he turned to study her
face.

It may be wrong, to let him go with no real
punishment, but in all honesty he was a very powerful man and would
probably end up getting off anyway and his wife, children, and
herself would have to be drug through months of trials and media
for nothing. The wounds were finally healing, and she wasn't about
to rip them open again.

"I'm sure. I just want to heal, and I don't
think the circus this would open up would help that any. I hate to
be rude, but can we leave?" Paul smiled kindly at her, she
purposely avoided looking in his father's direction.

"Of course, Aria, I completely understand,
and I hope you know that my father isn't a reflection on the rest
of us. I am completely disgusted by what I heard and if we weren't
at my wedding I'd have kicked his ass by now, in fact, I still
might…"

"Sweetheart, let's get out of here and let
Paul handle his dad, okay, I think we've had enough for the day,"
she nodded and Brian pulled her closer into his side as they made
their way back through the crowd.

It was so surreal, the reception had gone on
without them, it seemed that no one else had even noticed what had
been going on in their little corner. Her entire world had just
been knocked off its axis, and everyone else just continued talking
and carrying on like nothing had happened.

Neither of them had said a word on the way
back to their room, they were both in their own little worlds
trying to process everything that had happened. For Aria it was the
strangest sense of relief, for twelve years she'd let the man she
knew only as King have a part of her, and today she took that back.
It was the closure she needed, it may not have been the most
logical ending to her story, but it was what she needed most.

She needed to see him and to realize that
Brian wasn't anything like him and he never could be. Seeing King
today made her realize that he and the others like him were why she
was holding back from her husband, why she was always unable to
give him all of her self. They may have taken something from her,
but she'd never given them anything.

That was the difference that she hadn't
noticed before, when she made love with her husband he wouldn't be
taking something, they would both be giving something to one
another.

Aria looked over at Brian, he was sitting at
the small table in the room, and she was sitting on the bed, he was
giving her space, as usual. She didn't want space any more. She
wanted exactly what she told Paul today: normal.

Aria kicked off her shoes and climbed under
the blankets, holding them back she patted the empty space next to
her, "Will you come snuggle with me?"

Brian looked surprised, but stood and removed
his shoes and tie and climbed under the blankets with her, she
immediately rested her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms
around her.

She sighed in pleasure, Brian was different,
he could never evoke the same feelings men like King did. He was
safe, he was love, he was comfort, he was home.

"So today was…" she started, but wasn't quite
sure what she wanted to say.

"Interesting doesn't quite cut it, does it?
It's amazing how small the world is sometimes."

"Ugh, I haven't even started to process the
odds of that yet. I'm still stuck on facing him." Brian's arms
tightened around her for a moment.

"Me too, how are you doing with it all?
You've been so quiet, I can't really tell what you're
thinking."

"In some ways it was a huge, monumental
moment in my life, I came to some realizations today that I needed.
I found closure and now I know I can move forward, but at the same
time it all feels really…anticlimactic."

Brian chuckled, "It was, wasn't it? I kept
waiting for something huge to happen, because it felt like such a
huge moment, and then…nothing."