Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
He really wanted to see me? He really wanted to repair everything that was broken between us?
“Not without Axel,” I instantly blurted. If I agreed to this without bringing Axel with me, my older brother would lose his shit, especially after everything Dad and Mom had done to me—to us.
“He won’t answer my calls,” Dad said quietly. “If you can get him to come with you, that would be even better. I miss both of you.”
“I’ll try,” I told him, my voice sounding weak to my own ears.
“I love you, sweetheart.”
I sobbed and hung up the phone without saying it back.
I barely cast Axel’s receptionist a glance as I pushed through the door that separated the lobby from the counseling rooms. She tried to stop me, but I knocked on Axel’s door before she could.
He swung open the door, his eyes widening when he saw how hard I was crying. “Jesus, Sis,” he breathed as he pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly. He led me into the room and shut the door behind him. “How the fuck did you even make it here safely?” he demanded.
“Dad called me,” I blubbered, crying so hard I could barely speak.
“Oh, fuck,” Axel whispered. He sat on the couch in his office and pulled me down to sit beside him. “I was hoping he wouldn’t reach out to you.”
“He wants to do dinner,” I told him. I swiped at my cheeks, but I couldn’t seem to stop crying. “I want to see him, Axel, but I told him not without you.”
Axel’s eyes widened the slightest bit. “He was okay with that?” Axel asked me.
I nodded. “He wants to see you, too.” I rubbed my eyes. “He wants to work things out, Axel, and I’m stupid enough to want it.”
“Oh, Sis, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid,” he said softly. “It just means that you love our parents, and you crave to have that love and care reciprocated,” he assured me. “There’s nothing wrong with that.” He drew in a deep breath. “If you want to see him and talk to him, then I’ll reach out to Dad myself and set up a place and time.”
“Thank you,” I croaked.
He drew in a deep breath, relaxing back into the couch and pulling me with him. “You just scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled as I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, sleep tugging at me. He laughed softly. “Do you have any more patients to see today?”
“No. I was just going to catch up on some paperwork and patient files. Get some rest,” he told me. “You need it.”
“Thank you for always being here when I need you.”
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “You’re my sister, Ally. I’ll always be the one person you can count on,” he promised.
26
HER PAST
Christian
Axel knocked on my open office door. With a tired sigh, I looked up at him. Today had been exhausting, and after having two crying patients and then one that had a small nervous breakdown in my office, I really just wanted to go home, curl up with Ally, and go to sleep for a couple of hours.
“Ally is here,” he announced. I arched an eyebrow at him. “I already talked to Caiden. You were with a patient when she showed up.”
I stood up from my chair. “Is she okay?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “She will be. Our dad called her.” I stopped. I didn’t know much about her shit with her parents, but obviously if she came here, it was something pretty rough. “Sit down,” he told me as he dropped onto my couch. “I want to tell you a little bit about our background with our parents so you understand why this phone call upset her so much.”
Without a word, I dropped back into my chair, giving him my undivided attention. He reached up and rubbed his temples with a tired sigh. “Ally was always a daddy’s girl when we were growing up. Mom was always kind of cold and indifferent with us—always worried about her perfect image and what everyone thought about her.” He shrugged. “Mom has an issue with needing everything to be perfect. Ally and I—we were far from perfect, but she did a good enough job hiding that from people she associated with.”
He blew out a soft breath. “But Ally got older, and her mind began to develop more, which also meant that Dad began to notice the signs of bipolar depression. I remember Mom and Dad having so many fucking arguments about getting her help, and Mom would always win, so Ally went years without being properly taken care of.”
“And it hindered her,” I said quietly.
Axel nodded. “A lot. By the time it got bad enough that Mom and Dad finally went and got her professional help, it was so hard for the doctor to figure out where to begin. And by that time, I was already starting my senior year of high school.” He shook his head, his lips flattening. “Ally never went out with friends anymore. Mom forbade it. She didn’t want everyone knowing how much of a fuck up Ally was. So, she and I grew a lot closer, and she kind of became one of the guys. Whenever Julian and some of the other guys we hung out with came over, she was always included.”