11

Iris Parker

I woke at the sound of footsteps nearing the living room. The footsteps were careful, as if trying to be as quiet as possible. However, the old wooden floor sent enough shock waves to my ears and my eyes opened instantly.

From where I was lying down, I quickly recognized Liam walking over to me. And that wasn't it...

I stood up as quick as I could, my heart beating loudly and heavily. A hurricane of emotions started brewing inside of me. Mix of relief, disbelief, joy, hurt, regret and so many others swelled my heart making my eyes warm up.

Jace was hugging Liam tightly, his back facing me. I cupped my mouth with both of my hands, taking the moment in, thanking God that my son was here.

Jace was here.

Liam rescued Jace.

When my eyes met Liam's, he gave me a small smile, a relieved one. He brought his pointing finger to his mouth and glancing over at Jace who seemed to be sleeping.

I couldn't hold onto the tears anymore as I approached them slowly. I arose silently from where I was sitting and slowly made my way to the two. As I neared, I observed that Jace's clothes were muddy dirty, his legs were bruised and his hair was very messy.

The tears started falling. They hurt him. How could someone do this to a child? My heart ached at what Jace must have went through in a span of less than two days. If only I could've protected him better. Surely this wouldn't have happened.

I suppressed the negative thoughts for a while and concentrated on the fact that my son was here now. He was finally home. But would he ever be the same?

"Jace..." I whispered once I was close enough. He was indeed sleeping soundly, as if finally getting a rest. Liam set him down on the couch and as he laid there, I could clearly see the bruises that were all over his body.

He had purple patches everywhere, his clothes were stained with mud and dried blood, his arms and legs were bruised. I gasped in horror. I tried to stay strong, don't cry, but all that came crumbling down at the sight of my beaten child.

Anger fuelled me, making me to turn to Liam as I wiped the tears frustratedly.

"Who did this to him?!" I asked angrily, pummelling his chest frustratedly . Liam's face darkened as he looked at Jace and then back to me.

"We took care of it, don't worry." he answered calmly which irritated me. How could he remain so calm knowing that his son was hurt. Kidnapped and beaten up. I hit him again.

"Don't worry?! Liam, they hurt him! He's just a child for goodness' sake. Who knows when they might come again and, and, and-- what if--" Liam held me by both of my arms, getting me back to my senses. He looked straight into my eyes and it was only now that I caught the glimmer of anger in his green eyes.

"It won't happen okay? Jace is safe and they will never be able to take any of them ever again. I'm here and you're here. We'll protect them together, alright?" he said. He was calm, but I could sense the same anger and frustration coming from him. He was trying his best to be as calm as he could be.

As I looked at him, all I could do was nod. Some tears fell and I tried to regulate my breaths, calming myself.

For now, think about Jace. He needs me the most right now.

I headed to the kitchen and grabbed a cloth. Turning on the hot water, I damped the cloth and came back to the living room. Liam sat down beside Jace, his head lay against the sofa with his eyes closed. It's been a tough day for him. For all of us.

I knelt on the floor, beside Jace and started wiping my son. Liam sat up and watched me as I cleaned Jace. I tried to concentrate on the task, being equally careful that I didn't wake him up, but that was hard. Liam was just beside me, intently watching me.

Suddenly, I remembered that we hadn't seen each other for five years. We all had such a long day and it seemed like we've been by each other's side for so long. My stupid heart started beating fast although I tried to stop any emotions that I would feel toward him, my heart had a mind of its own.

Not being able to take it anymore, I looked up to him and instantly, our eyes met. His gaze sent an electric shock through my whole body. I quickly looked away, afraid of what looking at him too much might cause me to do.

We stayed silent for a while when I finally broke it.

"You must be tired. Go rest with Jacob and Jamie upstairs." I said and turned to him. He ran a hand through his dark blonde hair, messing it up even more. He took a deep breath before looking at me again. I unconsciously bit my lip to keep myself from turning away.

I waited for an answer, but he only stared at me for what seemed like the longest time, as if trying to look for an answer to his questions. I kept my gaze on him because I didn't want to seem like I was hiding something.

Instead, I stared back. In his eyes, the past flashed. Back when we were happy...

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked all of a sudden. At first, I furrowed my brows at his question, but then I understood what he was trying to ask. His eyes looked pained, hurt.

It was about the three. I finally broke our eye lock, feeling guilty. I wiped Jace's faces still feeling Liam's gaze on me. I knew he was hurting.

Now that Jace was rescued, he finally had the time to think things through. Now, he was starting to ask questions, questions I dreaded to answer. I always feared the day when I had to explain him everything and now that it was here in front of me, I didn't know what to say.

He let out a deep exasperated breath. "Iris, why didn't you tell me? We could've raised them together. They could've known me." he said. Pain and hurt was heard in his voice. Then, it dawned me, this was the first time he ever let his emotion speak through so clearly.

Liam always had control on everyone, on everything. Especially his emotions. He never let anyone see through him, he refused to be taken advantage off by anything or anyone, not even his emotions. But now... he sounded so defeated and hurt.

The tone of his voice scarred my heart deeply, I realized again that I was extremely selfish keeping the triplets away from their father. To keep them away from him.

My hand stopped wiping Jace's bruises and I looked up to Liam. The rawness of emotions in his eyes hurt me even more. His eyes were rimmed with tears. He looked at me with such confusion and pain that I couldn't handle it also. My cheeks warmed up and my eyes were watery.

"I couldn't dare come back to you..." I whispered, my throat being blocked with a lump. It was a miracle I didn't stutter. He squinted his eyes, thinking if he heard me right.

"Not even for them?"

"I was hurt Liam!" I said, unintentionally raising my voice. I stood up and walked away. My chest felt too heavy and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I needed to get away from him. The pain of the past was coming back again.

I heard him follow me and in a matter of a few seconds, he grabbed me by the arm and spun me around to face him. My tears were again, falling nonstop.

"Stop doing this, Iris. Stop running away from everything when things get hard." he said. It was a slap in my face. Did he really just say that?

"I'm not running away." I threw back spitefully. He scoffed, insulting me even more.

"Oh really? And what you're doing right now, walking away because you can't give me an answer, that's not called running away?" he asked mockingly. His words cut deep like daggers.

"Fine! I'm a coward, I'm a weakling. Call it whatever. But you know what, Liam? If you want me to stop running away, then stop hurting me!" I retorted back with the most frustration and anger I could vent out. His eyes widened, shocked at my outburst. "If you want me to stop running away, then stop breaking my heart. Stop making me feel so helpless."

Iris Parker

After our little fight, I went back to the living room and stayed beside Jace through the whole night. As for Liam, I heard him go up the stairs going to Jacob and Jamie. I took my time to calm down and think clearly.

"He loves you?" Steve laughed at his own statement. I glared at him with all the hate I could put into a look, but he ignored me. He took a step closer and lifted my face with his hand. I immediately jerked away, feeling disgusted of even being touched by him.

"Leave." I spat which he laughed at again.

"Feisty. I always wondered how he was able to tame you." he started.

I blinked confusedly and felt insulted at his choice of word as if I was some sort of animal. "What do you even want?" I breathed exasperated. Steve Watson always creeped me out, always made me feel to be weary around him.

Being with him alone was worse.

"I've come to tell you what you need." he answers knowingly as he picked up a snow globe that was on display, carefully observing it. "Liam doesn't love you. He needed you, to get your parents' business, take back what was his. And he got it. Now, you're married to him, he gets the companies in pretense of saving it." he paused and looked at me. He smiled slyly and continued. "Of course, he forgot to tell you that little detail."

"Stop with the nonsense--"

"Fool. Do you remember your first meeting? A restaurant, right? You bumped onto him, spilled your drink on his clothes. And that's where everything started." I squinted my eyes at him. How did he know that? "Don't you see? Everything was planned. Your first meeting, first dates, how he would make you fall for him, everything, Iris." I hated the way my name sounded as he said it.

I shook my head. It was my turn to laugh at him and his incredulity. "Has your greed of power finally got the best of you?" He scoffed and nodded slowly. Turning to the table, he fished something out of his pocket and set it on the table. It was a piece of paper.

"Poor little thing. So many things you don't know. For your sake, I'm willing to help you know the man you married." Steve neared the door, holding the knob as he turned to me. A shot of relief surged through me, but a swirling tornado of emotions was starting inside me. "Just a clue, you know nothing about Liam Parker."

I walked over to the table and observed the piece of paper.

'Il Supremo dell'Italia."

My eyes opened when I felt a stirring next to me. Jace was crying in his sleep. I looked outside the window to see the sun high in the sky. However, the house was filled with silence, no one's up yet.

I rubbed Jace's arm, calming him down and gently shushing him. He eased and the tears stopped falling. I wiped them out of his face and planted a kiss on his forehead, thanking God that my little boy was safe.

I was never gonna allow anything to happen to him ever again. I will never let anyone hurt him.

I stayed there for a while, letting the relief of Jace's safeness comfort me, but at the same time. My fight with Liam last night and the questions of what was gonna happen now made its way onto my mind.

Things were never going to be the same, that I knew. The life that I had built between the triplets and I was forever gone. Liam was here now. I couldn't take him away from them now. No, that's just plain cruel.

I started to play with my hands in nervousness as the thoughts jumbled in my head. My fears were a living reality now. There was no way out. We were a complete family now.

"Calm down." a deep voice said. I immediately searched its owner and I see Liam and the other two on either side of him. Jacob and Jamie, upon seeing their older brother, they perked up, letting go of Liam's hands and ran towards us.

I hurriedly put my finger to my mouth and shushed them. "Let him sleep for a while, okay?" I say and they both nod, but the smile on their faces showed me that they were just as happy as I was that Jace was back.

Liam kneeled beside Jace and kissed his forehead, the same spot I planted my kisses on. I stared at him as he did this. He looked up to me and caught me. Ugh.

I got up, making things less awkward and hugged the two, kissing them. "Are you hungry?" I questioned. They nod, their look still not straying from their brother.

"Pancakes mommy. I'm sure Jace would love that." Jacob whispered carefully. I smiled instantly and looked over to the other two who were looking at us.

I nodded at Liam, sending a message that he take care of them for a while. He nodded back and I left the living room.

---

I made more pancakes than necessary and by the time Jace woke up, I finished cooking. I rushed to his side and assured him that he was safe. He started crying, as if he was still living the nightmare he had been in, but I hugged him tight telling him that he was safe now.

The three other boys crouched over to him, comforting him also. When Jace saw Liam, he got up and hugged him, shocking me. "Daddy." he said simply. Okay, that's weird.

The corner of Liam's mouth curled up as he hugged him back. The tugging in my heart was back again, but I ignored it as always. Instead, I tried to answer the questions that were rising. Liam probably introduced himself when he rescued him.

"You're okay, now." Liam whispered to him. Jace's breath normalized after a while as he held on to his father. Soon, his tears subsided also. Jamie and Jacob only watched, understanding that Jace needed time and space to finally settle down.

My heart sank as I watched them. Then Liam's question came back to mind.

"Not even for them?"