Redemption

by Jennifer Bene

  “So are you. I had such a great day today, and I really needed it.” Hugging Amanda back, Lianna smiled at her as she approached her husband. Looking around the room, she caught Mathieu’s eye when she realized David wasn’t with them. “Hey Mathieu, have you seen David?”

  “No,” he answered, sitting up to look at her over the back of the couch. “I haven’t seen him all day. We thought he went with you guys.”

  “Lianna,” Jean-Luc called her over in a hushed voice, and she waved at Mathieu and the girls as she walked over to meet him in the foyer.

  “Have you seen David today?” she asked, and Jean-Luc shook his head.

  “I need to talk with you. Can you come to my office?”

  “Sure, just give me a few minutes,” she said, heading for the stairs as she called back over her shoulder. “I’ll come back down after I talk to David.”

  “He’s not here,” Jean-Luc called after her, and she froze just a few steps off the foyer to turn and look at him.

  “What do you mean he’s not here?”

  Taking a slow breath, Jean-Luc moved to the base of the stairs, keeping his voice low. “I saw how he treated you, and... that’s not acceptable in my house.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” she asked, a strange tendril of confusion and concern winding its way up her back.

  “Let’s go talk about it.” Gesturing toward his office, Jean-Luc tried to get her to follow him, but she didn’t move.

  “No. Let’s talk about it right here.” Facing him completely, she crossed her arms and asked a question that made her more than a little nauseous. “Where is David?”

  “I know you’re confused, mon oisillon, but after what he did to you… you can’t truly want to be with him.” Moving onto the bottom step of the stairs, Jean-Luc kept his gaze on hers. “You don’t have to be with him, you’re not alone anymore.”

  “How— I’m not confused, Jean-Luc!” she snapped, knowing she was being too loud, but she couldn’t stop it as the floor seemed to be slowly sliding out from under her. How could he know? How? The answer clicked, but it only brought more anger to the surface. Uncle Mike. Tightening her hands into fists, she pressed her nails into her palms in an effort to stay calm. “Tell me where David is.”

  “He’s gone home, because that’s where he needs to be,” Jean-Luc answered, his voice carrying that unique edge like he was both talking to a small child and a frightened animal. “But your home is here, with us.”

  “You don’t get to tell me where my home is.” Turning away from him, she started up the stairs again, digging in her purse until she found her phone. With a few quick taps, she called his number, but it went directly to voicemail. Muttering under her breath, she looked down at the phone to see two voicemails waiting for her. Clicking the first one as she rounded the top of the stairs, heading for her room, she stopped in place when she realized it was David’s voice.

  Jean-Luc was still following her, calling out to her to wait and talk to him, but she shut him out to concentrate on the insane shit David was saying. Handcuffs and tasers and a plane to New York. Turning to face him, she held out her hand as the first voicemail ended with David urging her to leave and telling her he loved her.

  “What the fuck, Jean-Luc?” she yelled, not even giving a shit that her voice was echoing across the foyer now. As soon as he tried to talk, she held up a hand again and tapped the second voicemail. There was a moment of relief as it confirmed he was safely with Harry, but nothing could hold back the rage she suddenly felt. “You beat him up and threw him on a plane? You’re insane! I can’t believe you’d do this, you— You’re a liar! You’re all a bunch of fucking liars. You, Marc, my father, all of you!”

  “I’ve never lied to you!” Jean-Luc said, his voice pleading, but when he took a step toward her, she took several back.

  “Stay away from me. I won’t believe a word you have to say, Jean-Luc.” Shaking her head, she felt the betrayal down to her core. “All you do is lie. All of you. You told me you didn’t help my father with his business, but I remember Marc. He was at my father’s penthouse a few years ago, and you know what? They lied to me then too. They didn’t tell me who he really was, they made up some bullshit name — just more lies. That’s all you do, you fucking lie! David was right!”

  “That’s not true! Did David tell you that?” Jean-Luc raised his voice. “He’s the liar, Lianna. Not me. Marc and I have never been involved in your father’s business. He wouldn’t allow us to be. He barely helped out the family by moving money around!”

  “I saw him!” she shouted, pointing at him. “You’re a fucking liar!”

  “Mon oisillon, please, listen to me. It’s not true. I tried to come see you after you were born, and your father turned me away.” He was almost begging, but she didn’t care. “All I’ve ever wanted was to know you, to reconnect with my brother and you, and I would never lie to you. All I want is what’s best for you. I want to keep you safe, and David is not good for you.”

  “YOU DON’T KNOW ME!” she roared, and he stopped moving closer, looking lost for a moment as he stared at her.

  “But... we want to,” he whispered, his voice growing a little stronger as he continued. “We want you to stay here, to be happy, to spend time with your family—”

  “I’m going home! I don’t need a family if this is what you’re like, and I’m not staying where I can’t trust anyone.” Throwing open the door to her room, she couldn’t tell if she wanted to scream or cry, but she knew she didn’t want to do any of it in this house. Grabbing the first suitcase she could reach, she tossed it onto the bed and flipped it open, realizing too late that it was David’s.

  “Lianna, please,” Jean-Luc pleaded at the door, but she ignored him, moving as quickly as she could around the room to pack everything away. She didn’t care what suitcase things went in, she just wanted to leave as quickly as possible. “Please stay, just talk to me.”

  “No.” Refusing to look at him, she found the jewelry box and the stocking in the gift bag and tossed it at his feet before moving into the bathroom to gather all of her toiletries.

  “You should at least keep the bracelet.” Jean-Luc picked up the bag, holding it in his hands as he watched her. “It was a gift. Your grandmother would have—”

  “I don’t want anything from you,” she snapped, searching the room for anything she might have missed. The suitcases were a fucking mess, but it didn’t matter. David was in New York, and Jean-Luc and the Faures had betrayed her. Just like he’d always told her they would. Tears burned her eyes as she started to line the luggage up at the end of the bed.

  “At least... at least let me drive you to the airport,” Jean-Luc pleaded, and she could hear the emotion in his voice. The man was on the edge of tears as well, but she didn’t care.

  “Anyone but you. I don’t want to ever see you again.” Keeping her gaze on the floor, she grabbed two of the suitcases and wheeled them past him, leaving him standing at the door of what had been her room until about ten minutes before.

  Fifteen

  David

  “Would you sit down already? You need to eat.” Harry sounded more than a little irritated, but David didn’t have the capacity to focus on him and the whirlwind of shit spinning around in his own head.

  “Has she called back yet?” he asked, and the old man sighed.

  “Don’t you think I would’ve told you that, boy?” Smacking the table, Harry pointed at the chair. “Pacing a hole in my floor isn’t going to make her call you back any faster, so sit down and eat. Now.”

  “Fine.” David dropped into the chair, jabbed the fork into the re-heated leftovers, and took a bite. Shannon’s turkey casserole was even better than he remembered, and even though he’d never admit it aloud, it was more than a little comforting to taste something so familiar when the whole world felt like it was collapsing. If he were less of an asshole, he’d figure out how to be thankful without somehow making it sound sarcastic to the old man.
David was eating homemade food, he was clean, and wearing Liam’s clothes, which seemed to be what always happened when he ended up on Harry’s doorstep after he fucked up.

  “It’s good, isn’t it?” Harry said, taking a bite as well, but he seemed to accept David’s nod as enough of a response for them both to continue eating.

  Unfortunately, by the time their plates were empty, Harry’s phone still hadn’t rung, and the tension was starting to get to him. Groaning, David put his head in his hands. “This is all their fault. They tried so fucking hard to convince her that life was just so goddamn grand over there. They throw her this ridiculous birthday party the night we get there, give her this over-the-top bracelet covered in jewels, and just shove it in everybody’s faces how much money they have.”

  Shoving away from the table, he stood up to start pacing again. His head was still pounding, and he was sure it had a lot to do with the bruise on his skull, and a bit to do with the lack of sleep. He couldn’t even figure out how many hours it had been since he’d actually been asleep instead of knocked out by drugs. As he paced, Harry was just watching him, leaned back in his chair, and he grumbled.

  “What?”

  “Just waiting to see what else they did that was so terrible,” the old man said, his voice deadpan, but that just irritated David even more.

  “You weren’t there, Harry. They acted like the perfect little family. Straight out of Stepford. Everyone so fucking happy, everyone telling each other they love them.” Growling, he shoved a hand into his hair and gripped it. “It was like they had a meeting and planned out how to make sure Lianna would want to stay. All these family meals where everyone sits together and talks as if their stupid lives are actually interesting, laughing and shit like the world is just so fucking grand.”

  “You could have had that, David,” Harry said, shaking his head as he tapped his water on the table.

  “No, I couldn’t!” he snapped. “How in the hell would I have ever got that fancy house, with all their nice cars and swimming pools and a bunch of fucking rooms that no one even uses most of the year?”

  “That’s not what I meant, boy. You’re describing a family, which is exactly what you’ve been rejecting all these years.”

  Confused by the defeat in Harry’s voice, David stopped beside the table to stare at him. “What the hell are you talking about, old man?”

  “Do you know how many times Shannon has tried to get you over here for your birthday?” He glared at David through narrowed eyes as he gestured toward the stairs. “Hell, the boys try to take you out drinking every year, but you’re too busy being miserable.”

  “I’ve never—”

  “Don’t do that. You know we’ve always tried to include you, we wanted you in this family, and it’s my own damn fault that I didn’t drag you here when I had the chance.”

  Letting out a barking laugh, David stepped closer to the table, bracing his hands on the back of a chair. “What were you supposed to do? Kidnap me and lock me up here?”

  “Well... I wouldn’t be the first person to do something like that,” he mumbled, and David let out a groan, pushing the chair back in with more force than necessary.

  “Really? You wanna talk about that?”

  “No,” Harry replied, shaking his head as he looked down at the table for a moment. “But I think we both know that if I’d made you come here and grow up with my boys, you would’ve never got yourself wrapped up in this shit.”

  Swallowing, David hesitated on how to respond, because when the old man looked at him, he knew it was true. Growing up in this house would have led to a very different life. “But I would have resented you for taking me away from Dad,” he answered quietly.

  Shrugging, Harry’s gaze drifted away for a moment before he looked David in the eye. “I think I could have lived with that if it meant you got a life, boy.”

  “My life is fine…” he growled. “Or it will be as soon as I get Lianna back.”

  Harry stood and walked over to the fridge to pull out a pair of beers. He popped off the caps before he set them on the table and took his seat again. “Well, what did she think of them?”

  “You really wanna know?” he asked, and when Harry nodded and pointed at the chair, David pulled it out took his seat with a sigh. Taking a swig of the beer, he remembered how Lianna had smiled and hugged them in the airport. “She totally fell for their shit, Harry. Right off the bat. Everyone was pretending to be all nice and friendly, so excited to have her in the fold, and—”

  “You really think none of those people were excited to meet Lianna?”

  “Maybe they were,” David admitted, but he quickly shook his head. “It doesn’t fucking matter, though. It’s all bullshit. They’re a bunch of liars. I mean… the first chance Jean-Luc had to alienate her, he tazed me and threw me handcuffed on a fucking airplane.”

  “I asked you about her, not the Faures. Did you change your mind on which hill you plan to die on, boy?”

  “No!” he shouted, groaning as he leaned forward on the table, cradling the beer between his hands. “I’m just trying to keep her safe, and she’s not safe there. Even you have to see that.”

  “I don’t have to see anything. From my point of view, you’re the only one he threw out, and I have a feeling you didn’t make the best impression.”

  “What does that mean?” he asked, his voice low as he tried to stay calm and not take his rage out on Harry.

  “You’ve never been good at hiding your true feelings, David.” Gesturing toward him, Harry took a swig of beer. “Like right now, I can tell you’re itching to take my head off because I’m not telling you what you want to hear. And I’m sure every one of them could tell how much you disliked them — Jean-Luc included.”

  “Well, I was right. They’re evil.”

  “And you’re in love with one of them,” Harry retorted, and David cursed under his breath, shaking his head.

  “She isn’t like them…”

  “They’re her family, David, and that’s not going to change.” Sitting up in his chair, Harry braced his elbows on the table in a mirror of how David was already sitting. “We don’t always get to choose our family, and that means there’s some things we can’t escape. But if you still want her in your life, you’re going to have to accept that part of her at some point.”

  “Pretty hard to do that when I’m half a world away thanks to her goddamn uncle.”

  “Other than kicking you out, what happened that was so evil?” Harry asked.

  “He…” Grumbling, David tried to find the right words to encompass the Faures and what being on their estate had been like. “They’re just— His kids aren’t all bad, at least not yet, but Jean-Luc was just waiting to take her away from me. To isolate her.”

  “Because you were an asshole?”

  “Fuck off,” David snapped, pouring more beer down his throat.

  “Exactly.” Chuckling, the old man lifted his beer, tilting it toward David. “Whatever you did, I’m pretty sure if you took a minute, you’d see he was just trying to protect her. He’ll come around eventually when he sees how much you care about her.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen, since Jean-Luc knows what happened between me and Lianna.”

  “I’m sure he doesn’t know…” Harry’s voice trailed off.

  David kept his gaze on the table, that empty pit in his stomach opening wider. “He knows. Everything.” Lifting a hand, he slammed it back onto the table in a fist. “All the shit you’ve refused to hear about.”

  “And I still don’t wanna know, but... that makes it pretty clear why Jean-Luc sent you packing.”

  “I’m aware,” he whispered, knowing Harry was right. “But I don’t want her there.”

  “She’s with her family, and they obviously don’t want to hurt her. As much as you don’t want her with them, you have to know that she’s safe.”

  “I don’t care!” David shouted, groaning as he wiped a hand over his fa
ce.

  “I know that, boy.” Nodding, Harry tapped his beer against David’s and they both tilted them up. “And until she comes back, we’ll keep you busy and try and keep your head out of your ass.”

  “You mean if she comes back,” he corrected, and Harry sighed.

  “Well, whether you get Lianna back or not, you’ve always got a family here, David. We’ve always been your family.” The old man looked at him for a long moment, his voice serious when he continued. “Always will be, whether you like it or not.”

  Family.

  It felt like a dirty word after spending so many days around the Faures, but when he looked around the kitchen, he had to admit that this shabby little house was the only constant in a childhood filled with evictions, motels, and nights sleeping in his dad’s truck. But he’d chosen his dad over Harry a long time ago, and he’d kept making that choice even after his father died.

  All he’d wanted was to finish his dad’s work, to not have all those years together wasted — and he’d done it. He’d ruined Robert Mercier, destroyed the company, and Michael Turner had ended up in prison, although the state didn’t know even a tenth of the crimes the bastard had really committed. Still, when he’d needed him, Harry had shown up. He’d always been there when shit got hard, and even though he hadn’t thought about the future at all, those years were starting to rack up in his head. The more he thought about a life without Lianna in it, the longer those years felt, and having people to lean on wasn’t exactly a bad idea.

  “Did you hear me, boy?” Harry asked, and David lifted his head to look the man in the eye.

  “I heard you, old man… and thanks.”

  “You’re welcome, now finish your damn beer and then lay down on the couch before you pass out on my table.” Harry’s gruff voice was a relief. The man had never been one to get too emotional about anything, and David was grateful for it at the moment.

  It wasn’t like he didn’t care about Harry and Shannon and their boys. He did. It was part of the reason he’d pushed them away for so long. When the end game of his life was basically a kamikaze mission against his family’s mortal enemy, it wasn’t exactly responsible to have anyone close when the timer on the bomb was ticking down. But… he’d always appreciated the way Shannon made sure she set aside some of the boys’ clothes for him. That, even long after Harry and his dad fell out, the man would still come by with food, claiming they’d made too much. Whenever things got really dark, Harry’s family always seemed to show up. Liam or Tommy would suddenly want him to sleep over, to go on a camping trip, and his dad always let him go. But the older he got, the less help he needed, and there was no way in hell he was having a sleepover with the boys once he was a teenager. There was work to do, and whenever he left his dad alone too long, he’d come back to find him passed out drunk.