Lucas shifted uncomfortably. I expected this reaction.
“When the lightning flashed, you both looked up and saw me watching. I got frightened and ducked. Your shirts were covered in blood, and you struggled to carry whatever it was in your arms into the trunk of your mom’s car. The next day I was waking up to my mom asking me if I was aware you were moving. I ran down the stairs and found the three of you packing the car.
“That was when Mason warned me, once again, to keep quiet and not to find you. He made a lewd comment about my mom, and before I knew it, I was on my knees crying on your driveway having lost the love of my life without so much as a goodbye.
“Fast forward ten years and suddenly I have detectives turning up at my birthday party. The woman corners me in the bathroom and starts asking questions about the relationship I had with you. She made mention we shared the same birthday, so she’d done her homework. I told her I knew nothing. Then she asked me about Mason. Whatever I had replied had obviously triggered her curiosity. They didn’t leave me alone. I could feel them watching, waiting for the truth to somehow reveal itself.
“What I didn’t know was that Mason was also watching. Before the detectives arrived in my life, they’d already paid you a visit, and in turn, you’d tipped him off. Mason left work and headed to find the one person who had the tiniest bit of knowledge on him and what happened that night. He found me. He also found my workplace and destroyed Maximus Kline’s artwork by carving into them.”
“How do you know it was him?”
“Because he left a calling card. Maximus graciously handed it to me. It read, Truth or Dare.
Lucas’s eyes widened at the mention of our childhood game the three of us played. “That night when I returned home a bouquet of flowers my ex had given me on my birthday were all missing their buds. Frightened he had been in my space, I slid a chest of drawers across the door for extra security. But that night, I was restless. Tossing and turning in my sleep, fighting through a nightmare that featured Mason. When I woke with a fright, I saw him standing at the foot of the bed. Doing what he does best. Watching. Waiting. Intimidating.”
Lucas swallowed hard. “He was in your apartment?”
“Yes. And he was holding his favorite carving knife.”
Lucas rubbed his jaw, agitated. He rose to his feet and pulled on a pair of shorts. When he started pacing, I wondered how far I should go.
“Carry on,” he urged, sensing my hesitancy.
“I reached for the light, and when I turned back, he was gone.”
“You’re certain he was there?”
“Certain. His cologne remained. I went searching through the apartment turning on every light, but I couldn’t find anything. I thought I was going crazy when I saw the chest still in place across the door. I went to the bathroom to wash my face and lo and behold there was a message on the mirror.”
Lucas stilled, arms resting on the back of the couch. “What did it say?”
“Little Wren.”
“Little Wren?”
I nodded, a chill running up my spine.
“Fucking Christ!”
“Mason wanted me to remember all the horrible things he’d done to me out at the cabin. He was letting me know he was watching. Reissuing the warning to keep my mouth shut. He just never stuck around long enough for me to reassure him I wasn’t going to utter a word.”
Lucas sat on the end of the couch, his chin resting on steepled fingers. For the next few minutes, I told him about the trip to my parents’ house, the rock through the window and seeing Mason standing in the rain on the porch. There one second, and gone the next.
“I had been in contact with my college friend, Christina. I’d agreed to see her the next day. When I arrived, her baby Evie was on the floor, but there was no Christina. I let myself in and went searching for her. There was a knocking on the wall coming from down the hallway. I followed the noise and walked in on Mason on top of Christina having sex, in the exact same position as when I saw him with Joanie.”
Lucas slowly closed his eyes and shook his head, no doubt ashamed of his brother’s behavior.
“He continued fucking her while looking me straight in the eyes. It was a cruel reminder of what I’d never given him. A reminder that he would always hold a grudge over it.”
“How did that end?”
“Not well. As you can imagine, I’d had it! Mason was slowly turning everything I loved into something dark and repulsive. We argued, and Christina didn’t believe a word I said. He, of course, was on his best behavior and holding Evie like she was his.”
“Is she?”
“No, that’s a whole other story. He used her as a silent threat. I’d been seconds from telling Christina who he really was but when I saw him holding her, that promise in his eyes he’d hurt her if I uttered a word. I decided to leave. I took the opportunity to tell him I wasn’t saying anything to the detectives, but he didn’t believe me. I felt he was choosing not to believe. He wanted the drama and craved keeping me on my toes.”
I told Lucas about the photos of Peter and the beautiful blonde and to my surprise, he didn’t seem shocked. Even Mason’s own brother expected the worst from him.
“To be honest, I know it was Mason who sent them as a way of crushing something else in my life, but he actually did me a favor.
When I revealed how David had been found hogtied naked with his face in another man’s genitals behind a dumpster, Lucas was rightfully horrified.
“Jesus,” Lucas exclaimed stunned by the progress of the story. “Mason always did have a perverted and twisted sense of humor.”
“I met with the detectives that afternoon and discussed everything I’m telling you now. I couldn’t let Mason continue wreaking havoc in my life.”
“Did you tell them anything?”
“Yes. But the only reason why I hadn’t beforehand was because of you. I couldn’t bring myself to incriminate you in anything. Mason had a way of dragging people down with him. They assigned me an ex-SWAT to look after me. His name is B, and he isn’t much of a conversationalist.”
“Where is this B now?”
“At the end of the drive.”
“Jesus, Gemma!” Lucas rose to his feet and recommenced the pacing. “All this was happening, and I wasn’t there for you. All this time my own brother, since we were teenagers, had been hurting you right under my nose.”
“This isn’t your fault, Lucas.” I too got to my feet and wrapped the blanket around my torso. “Mason had everything planned out. He played on my fears and knew how to hurt me. In a way, he was protecting you.”
“No, he wasn’t, Gem. So please don’t bother spinning that story with me. I missed all the cues. I missed all the nights you were in bed crying because of what he’d done to you. I missed being your protector because all that time he claimed to be my protector from everything that was going on at home.” He took a step forward, his fingers running along the scar tracing the letters.
“He did this to you. My own brother almost raped you and carved into your beautiful skin. Gem…” his forehead touched mine, tears streaking down my cheeks, “… will you ever forgive me?”
“I don’t need to forgive you, Lucas. I kept quiet about it. It was my choice to not say anything. I dealt with it the best way I could. But we have to face the current problem. Mason will eventually find out I’m here and who knows what he’ll do.”
“He can come. I welcome it. He and I have a score to settle.”
Chapter 29
As expected, my words had greatly disturbed Lucas.
There had been so much time that had been wasted based on a misunderstanding. But there was still something that needed to be addressed. I had told Lucas about everything Mason had done to me, but he was still yet to reveal what happened the night of the storm.