Chapter 109

Mia

It was only a few seconds later that he returned with a bottle of water in his hand. Of course he wouldn’t leave for too long since I was fully awake.

Sitting back down on the side of the bed, he handed me the bottle.

I took it, thoroughly noting that the seal was not broken and the bottle hadn’t been tampered with.

I twisted the lid open and then drank to my heart’s content. Once I was satisfied, I put the lid back on and returned my eyes to Herbert, who was obviously watching me with something akin to adoration.

I began. “Do you do this sort of thing you’ve done to me with other—”

I wanted to say children but felt rather sick thinking about that word in relation to Herbert. In the end, I decided to use the word people instead.

“People? I mean do you do this sort of thing to other people, too?” I asked.

Herbert furiously shook his head in the negative as he moved closer to me.

“Oh, no, sweeting. Not other people. Just you and your brother. Uncle could never imagine doing that sort of thing to other people, not even your aunt.” He laughed as if he found that funny. “That old hag is the last person I’d ever want to make love to.”

Make love? That was what he called what he had done to me and Andy? Lovemaking? When we had barely reached our teens. When we hadn’t even reached the age of consent yet? When it had been forced? When it had been molestation and rape?

I felt sick to my stomach once again and wanted to throw up all that water I’d just drunk.

I closed my eyes, commanding my stomach to stay calm. Once I managed that, I turned my attention to Herbert once again.

“Why?” I couldn’t help asking. “Why does it have to be me and Andy?”

Herbert looked at me for a long while, as if he couldn’t understand why I was asking him such an odd question. He was giving me the type of look that told me bluntly, Isn’t it obvious?

Of course, I certainly couldn’t understand why it was supposed to be obvious, and I asked again, to reinforce my question. “Why me and Andy? We’re kind of related. It’s wrong.”

Herbert shook his head. “Not by blood, love. Not by blood, so it’s not wrong.”

Not by blood, so it’s not wrong? Seriously?

Yes, of course we weren’t related by blood since he was married to our mother’s sister, but it was still fucking wrong because he was still part of the family.

“But Andy and I were children,” I snapped. “You took our childhood away from us.” I was seething now. God, how I wanted to stay calm, but I couldn’t help myself, especially on this topic and thinking back on what had happened.

“Yes, you both were children, but you both had been so adorable and beautiful,” he said. “So much like your mother, my Rose.”

What? Mom? His Rose?

Had he been in love with Mom?

The moment that very thought hit me, realization settled in. Shit!

“You were in love with Mom, weren’t you?” I asked, my eyes wide in surprise.

He smiled sheepishly as he nodded. “Yes, sweeting, I loved Rose. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever known. But when I met her, it was too late. She was already married to that bastard, and I was engaged to the old hag.”

The new information made my head spin. Once the details were absorbed into my mind, I asked, “Why did you even bother to marry Aunt when you obviously have never liked her?”

He chuckled in amusement, giving me that look again, telling me it was obvious.

“So that I can see Rose whenever possible. At every family event, Thanksgiving, Christmas…”

Obviously, this was Herbert’s logic, and it didn’t surprise me after all. Come to think of it, he must have been obsessed with Mom as he had been with me and Andy.

Suddenly, he grabbed my hand and kissed it with his wet lips, which made me want to recoil with disgust. But I held myself in check and stayed as still as I could. I knew if I were to withdraw my hand, he’d get angry and hit me like he did when I had been a child. After all, this was one of the rare occasions that Herbert was behaving pleasantly, and I had to keep on his good side lest he change to his other side, the nasty tyrant that hit women and children simply to ease his irritation.

I knew he was in a good mood—his pleasant, happy disposition—simply because things had gone his way and he’d gotten what he wanted, which was me.

“You are so much like your mother, your looks and behavior,” he said. “And that’s why I adore you. Then Andy came along, and he was the apple of Rose’s eye. I used to love both you and Andy like my own children, you know. I used to imagine us four together: Rose, you, Andy, and me. I used to imagine what it would be like to make that bastard disappear. And then he did.” He chuckled brokenly. “The only problem is Rose disappeared along with him. Rose died in that car accident, and I blamed that bastard for it.”

I listened carefully as I slowly slipped my hand from his grasp. It now occurred to me that Herbert had always referred to Dad as that bastard. He would never mention Dad’s name. And of course, his wife was the old hag.

“When I found out she died…” He continued. “I lost a part of me. I became depressed and saw no way out. But then…” He raised his eyes to me.

I gasped the instant we made eye contact. God, this man was truly ugly, especially when he was smiling at me like that, like a demon who’d found his prey, his food, even though his eyes were teary.

“Then you and Andy came to me like little angels, and I couldn’t help myself. Day in and day out, I held myself back, telling myself it wasn’t time yet, but then…then I couldn’t help myself and took a sample of the forbidden fruit. I got hooked, just like a drug.”

I swallowed hard as I listened to this man, my body tense as the memories of that night, of that first time, came to me once again.