Page 86 of Secrets, Lies and Love
We talk for a while longer, and when the online call finally ends, I call Odin again.
“Did you find out anything about Cecily’s family?”
“Several things. What exactly do you want to know?”
“How to get revenge. Maybe my girlfriend is good enough to forget what she suffered, but I’m not. She was beaten, starved.”
“Fuck!”
“She was vulnerable, especially in the hands of her stepmother, and lived in hell for years. I’m not leaving it at that.”
“I’ll send you a report on both. In the case of the stepmother, it will be easier. Her current husband is involved in a web of illegal businesses.”
“Send it to me and I will decide what to do. About the sister, too. Both will pay.”
“Does Cecily know about this?”
“No. And she doesn’t need to. I just need to be sure that they will forever regret hurting her.”
“You are the smartest little boy in the world! I feel so proud, my dear.”
I hear my son laugh after Cecily praises him, and something inside my heart tightens. She’s managed, in a short period, to make Joseph laugh more than he had in all the time since he was born.
He only had a few months with his mother before Sue died in the car accident, and sometimes I wonder if, in his childish head, he knew he would never see her again and that made him sad.
Now, with Cecily, he blossoms. Maybe because she is the only person around him, apart from his family, who truly loves him.
I take off my shoes and socks as I always do before entering my son’s playroom. When I appear in their field of vision, they both smile. It’s not the first time this has happened. I’ve been trying to get home early to attend this little family gathering, and at each one, I feel a peace I’ve never experienced before.
Completion.
Yes, that’s it, I feel complete.
“Babas!”
“That’s me,” I say, unable to hide the pride I feel when Joseph greets me so joyfully.
“Play!”
“Yes. That’s why I came home early, to play.” I bend down to talk to Cecily and kiss her mouth.
The first time I did that, she turned away, claiming that perhaps Joseph would come to see us as a couple. I don’t know if he understands that she’s my girlfriend, but I’m not going to raise my son in a bubble.
Cecily is mine.
Isn’t it enough to have to pretend to the whole world and hide in my own kingdom? No way.
“You’re stubborn,” she whispers after the kiss, but she’s smiling.
“I’m hungry for your mouth. Now, explain to me what today’s game is. I’m looking forward to getting started.”
Cecily
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Days Later
Today,Madison called to say that her sister, Brooklyn, who came out of her coma a few days ago, is recovering much faster than expected.
