Page 60 of Their Stormy Reunion

“Yeah. Hell, I’ve got so much personal time off accrued, I could be gone with pay for damn near six months.”

Simon nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

Fallon looked at the notes in her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me about these before?”

“Because I thought I had Simon and Roan taking care of things. There was no reason to bring it up.”

She looked up at me, her hazel eyes glinting. “Michael, where are you and I going?” she asked as she threw the notes down on my coffee table.

I had been able to talk her into coming over to my house so we could discuss things. Instead of continuing to sit on my couch, she was now pacing my living room, limping back and forth.

“What are you talking about? You mean us? You know where we’re going. We’re trying to move forward. Start fresh.”

“That’s what I thought, too, but how can we do that when you’re lying to me? We’ve had enough lies in our past without you doing it now.”

“I’m not lying. And anyway, this doesn’t pertain to our relationship.”

She stormed over to where I was seated and leaned over me. She looked like a Valkyrie as she pointed her finger at me. “Are you trying to say that your biological father who killed your mother, who is out of prison and gunning for you, doesn’t pertain to me?” she shouted. “That’s a pretty big thing in your life. As a matter of fact, I’d say that’s the hugest thing you’ve got going on in your life right now, and you didn’t tell me about it.”

I stood up, and we were face-to-face. “The biggest deal in my life right now, is you. Getting a second chance with you fills my thoughts night and day. I was happy to ask for time off, since I need all my concentration on my job when I’m there, but right now I can’t give it because of all my feelings for you. Winning you back is all I think about.” My voice was hoarse.

“Well, you’re doing a piss poor job of it.” I watched in horror as her face crumpled. “Michael, don’t you understand? You still haven’t told me why you drove me away from you nine years ago. Even when we were together then, you never talked about the time before you were adopted. And now all of a sudden, you’re telling me that your biological dad was in prison for killing your mom and for some unknown reason he’s out and is out to get you, your parents, and me? How can you possibly think that we have any kind of foundation for us to be together?”

Tears were streaming down her face. I reached for her and she backed away, almost falling as he right leg gave out on her. I grabbed her, pulling her into my arms. I was wrecked by everything she’d just said; shattered at the thought that just when I thought I had her back in my world, I’d lost her.

Fallon’s body shuddered against me, her sobs shaking her body. I picked her up and sat us down on the couch. I cradled her on my lap, holding her close and once more praying to God that I wouldn’t lose her.

I came out of my trance and felt the warmth of Michael’s arms around me as I sat on his lap. Sheltered and safe.

“I have a story to tell you,” he whispered into my ear.

“Okay,” I murmured.

Michael started talking.

“My first memory is my mom yelling at me to hide. I know this wasn’t the first time this had happened because I recognized the sick feeling in my belly. I remember thinking the monster was back in the house.

“I couldn’t breathe right. My mom was crying, so her yells were hard to understand, but the way she pushed me under my bed was easy to comprehend. Then she was begging Sid not to hurt her. Sid was the name of the monster.”

I gripped Michael’s forearm, my nails biting into his skin.

“I heard the crack of a fist hitting flesh. It was so loud I jerked and hit my head on the bottom of the bed, but I didn’t make a sound.

“‘Where is he?’ the monster screamed. My mom said she didn’t know. I heard another loud sound, and my mom groaned. I knew I wasn’t supposed to move or make noise. Not when I was under the bed.

“‘Where is he?’ the monster kept screaming. My mom kept saying she didn’t know, and that was when she fell down beside the bed. Her face was turned to me, but it looked wrong. Her pretty silver eyes had puffs around them.”

I whimpered. Listening to what Michael was saying was like having razors slice through my skin. I motioned for him to lie down until we were facing each other on the couch.

“I crawled out from beneath the bed to get to her,” he went on.

I tightened my arms around him and whispered, “Oh no, Baby. How old were you?”

“Two or three. I’m not sure. When I got near my mom, the monster picked me up by my arm and it hurt real bad. I remember thinking he ripped my arm off.”

I squeezed him tighter.

“Mom yelled, ‘Sid, don’t hurt our baby.’ He yelled back, ‘There’s no baby. There’s just this useless piece of whiny shit.’