The Billionaire’s Bride by L. Steele

42

Ava

The sound of voices had woken me up. I had pulled on my clothes then crept out of the room. I had peeked into the living room, to find the two of them engaged in conversation.

I had hesitated, not wanting to interrupt, when Baron had charged Ed. They’d sprawled to the floor, rolled over. I had stepped toward them, intent on breaking up the fight; that's when Ed had placed his forehead against Baron’s in what was, clearly, an emotional moment between the two.

They had spoken in low voices. I crept close enough to hear them forgive each other… And the way they had looked at each other… There was so much pain, so much shared history, so much…anger, and underneath all of that, so much…connection. It was such a private moment… I had felt like an intruder. It didn’t feel right, somehow. I had witnessed what was, clearly…something very emotional between them and they weren’t even aware of it… That’s when I had spoken up.

Now, both of them glance at me, until Edward springs up. He holds out his arm to Baron, who hesitates, then grabs it. Ed pulls him up. Both men turn to face me.

"Well?" I glance between them, "What was that all about?"

Both men hold my gaze; twin expressions of stubbornness greet me.

"Come on," I blow out a breath, "I heard you guys speak, and this wasn’t a normal bro-to-bro conversion, the kind you guys normally indulge in."

"Bro-to-bro?" Edward mutters. "What does that even mean?"

"I mean, it wasn’t the kind of posturing you Seven indulge in when you get together. This felt…raw…and real…and painful."

"That’s because it was." Baron blows out a breath. He glares sideways at Ed, and the two exchange one of their looks.

"See?" I throw up my hands, "This is what I mean. You guys have a shared history and neither of you ever shared it with me."

"It wasn’t the right time earlier." Baron stalks over to me, "But it is time now." He cups my cheek. "Believe me when I say, it’s not an easy story to tell but," he swallows, "you deserve to know."

I glance past him at Edward, who nods at me.

"Okay." I swallow. "Tell me then."

Baron leads me over to the settee, then sinks down next to me. Edward sits in the chair opposite us. He glances at Baron, who takes my hand in his. He weaves his fingers through mine and the gesture is so…tender, so unlike how Baron has been with me before. And it’s not like he hasn’t been affectionate… But this, is almost more like a plea for my support… My heart stutters. My throat closes. Oh, hell, do I really want to know about what they are going to tell me?

"So," I square my shoulders, "what is it?"

He hesitates and I glance down at my palm that is swallowed up by his much larger one. I bring our joined hands up and kiss the back of his. "You can tell me anything, Baron."

His chest rises and falls. I glance up to find him staring at me with such vulnerability in his eyes, my breath grows shallow and my heart begins to pound. "What is it?" I murmur, "You’re scaring me, Barry."

"Barry?" He blinks. "No one calls me Barry."

"Guess I do, now."

His lips quirk. He rolls his shoulders before composing himself. "You know about the incident, of course, and I guess you’ve heard something about how Ed and I…" he firms his lips, "how we were hurt the worst by it?"

"It’s what I gathered from the girls, yes." I nod.

"When we were kidnapped, Ed and I were initially held with the rest of the Seven," Baron says in a hard voice. "We were all blindfolded and gagged then, so we could hear the rest of the boys, but not see them."

"Baron managed to free himself. He got to me and freed me. We’d been best friends since the first grade. Before we could remove the restrains of the other boys, they got to us. They separated us, took us into a different room," Edward murmurs. "And then,” he swallows, "then one of the men raped me."

"Oh, Ed," I swallow, "I am so sorry." My heart feels like it's going to shatter; tears prick the backs of my eyes. I swallow them back and my throat burns.

"The worst thing was, as he buggered me, I was actually aroused. I was twelve-years-old. I didn’t understand the difference between physiological reactions and desires, and they used my naiveté to shame me." Edward pauses to gather his thoughts, or maybe, his courage. "But it gets worse... They forced me to use the erection on Baron."

"What?" I cry in horror. "How could they? Oh, my god!" I glance from Ed to Baron, who stares into the distance.

"I refused, of course." Edward murmurs, "so they began beating him up. I could see them hit him, hear his groans." Ed swallows. "It was…" He shakes his head, "When I finally couldn’t take it any longer, I agreed."

"You…a…agreed?" I blink.

"It was either that or stand by and watch him being beaten to death." Ed sets his jaw." When I agreed, one of the men raped me again. He forced an erection on me, and this time, I had to use it on Baron."

"Which, in turn, elicited an erection from me, and when they asked me to use it on Ed, I—" Baron's throat moves as he swallows, "I knew if I didn’t, they'd only beat him up, or beat me again and... I couldn't bear the thought of it...so I did it."

Edward jumps in, “They made it seem like they were giving us a choice, which only added to the guilt each of us felt—and still do—but the truth is, we didn’t have any other option. They used our shame to manipulate us. The thing is, if you want to cause serious psychological harm to a child, use shame. It’s the most powerful emotion, and the hardest one to erase.”

“We didn’t know how to handle it, so we buried it,” Baron adds. “As you may have noticed, that didn’t work out so well.” He grimaces and shares another look with Edward.

"There were so many times, when I was sure that I was going to break, that I couldn't bear it anymore. It was the courage in Edward's gaze that kept me going. Baron's voice cracks, and I grip his palm between both of mine.

"Oh, my god." Tears flow down my face and I wipe them away. "I am so sorry for what they did to you guys. You were so young, just coming to terms with your own sexuality. It would have hurt you, and scarred you for life."

"And it did." Edward lowers his chin. "So, there it is, our sordid little secret."

"Now you know." Baron tries to pull his hand away from me, but I hold on.

"And you haven’t told anyone else about this?"

Both men shake their head.

"So why tell me?"

"Because," Baron turns me, "I want you to know. We," he jerks his chin toward Ed, "we want you to know about what happened between the two of us. You need to know everything about me, so we can make a fresh start."

"A fresh start." I tip up my chin, "Is that what it is?"

"It’s," he peers into my face, "whatever you want it to be, Eve."

I swallow down the sobs that threaten, "Okay." I half smile, "It’s going to be okay." I reach up, brush the hair off of his forehead, "Thank you for telling me."

He nods.

I turn to Edward, "Thank you for sharing this with me. Thank you for trusting me."

"I came today because," he links his fingers together and leans forward, "because I wanted you two to know that you have my blessing…" He chuckles. “Not that a blessing from an ex-priest means a whole lot.” He lifts a shoulder, "And it’s not that you two need it, but for what it’s worth, I don’t hold a grudge against either of you."

Baron wraps his arm around me and pulls me close. I recognize his gesture for what it is. Possessiveness, a mark of ownership, establishing his claim in front of his friend… And I can’t blame him. After everything we’ve been through, this feels right. And organic and natural, and so real.

"Thanks, man," Baron murmurs, "it…means a lot to hear that from you."

"You better treat her right," he says quietly, "else you’ll have to answer to me."

"Edward," I swallow, "I… I’m so sorry."

"Don’t be." His lips twist. "You gave me a new lease on life and I’ll always be grateful for that." He rises to his feet, "And now, I need to get going."

He has almost made it to the elevator when Baron calls out to him, "You’re coming to the wedding, right?"

Ed stiffens, his shoulders go solid, then he seems to force himself to relax. He jerks his head in our direction, "I’ll make sure to swing by."