radicalducati 2.67
2.67
Angelina’s POV
“I mean I was no angel either, I did try to provoke him with my words, but still he was a very hateful person in my eyes. And Lucas? Man Lucas had murder plastered plain on his face for me the second my eyes met his in that living room. He scared the shit out of me. The only nice people in this house were Diana and Sara. April was still trying to get over the death of her father so we didn’t really interact much at first” she said softly.
“How did all that change all of a sudden? I mean the way Lucas described your relationship with Alex made it seem like you two are soul mates. And the softness I heard last night when he was talking to you made me feel like he adores you like a little sister. How can they be the same people you just told me about?” I asked in a baffled tone.
“Well, just like I had a presumed idea of them, they had the same thing about me. Jacob killed my father, right in front of me. I saw him come out of his office with the gun in his hand. But I never told my clan who actually did it. I hid the truth from everyone. Frankly, because I was thankful for what Jacob did. That man needed to die and it wasn’t just because of his schemes against the Snows. It’s because he was an extremely horrible person, husband, and father. Jacob set me and my mom free without even knowing. And for that, I was willing to protect his identity from my clan’s vengeance. But Alex and Lucas didn’t see it that way. They thought I had some hidden agenda. That I was the enemy just like my father was. That I was going to bring nothing but trouble and problems into this house as retaliation for murdering my father and that’s why they were both very cruel to me. Alex asked me many times why I didn’t tell on his brother, but because I hated him so much for intimidating me, I refused to tell him the real reason. And it didn’t help at all when Lucas cornered me in the kitchen my first night here, and said some pretty horrible things to me, right before he drove a knife a mere inch above my head into one of the high, wooden cabinets” she said gently.
My eyes widened in pure shock “Oh my God!”
She was actually smiling when she said that, genuinely smiling!
What the hell!
“Hey, I was pretty fucking pissed back then, don’t look at me now laughing about it. I mean I hated Lucas even more than I hated Alex after that crazy ass move. Alex was mean and would always threaten me with words, but he never actually hit me or did anything like that stupid stunt that Lucas did on me. It was all empty threats to get me in line and scare me enough so I don’t plan on doing something to destroy them. I seriously thought that Lucas had it for me then. That if Alex didn’t stop him that night and asked him to let me go, he would have seriously killed me. But I was wrong to assume that. He was just grieving for his father. He was angry and was lashing out on me. Despite hating me immensely, he would have never physically hurt me. About three days after I settled down here in this house, things changed with the brothers. Everyone found out the abuse I’ve been through to get married to Alex, they found out how horrible my life has been in that house with that man, they saw me for who I really am and I did the same. They changed their behavior with me entirely. They became their true selves with me. Kind hearted, passionate, and very protective of me. At first I kept my distance. I was still wary of them. But day by day, Alex never went back to that same cruel, cold man I met for the first time. He became softer, kinder, caring of me so much that I started falling for him. No one would believe how extremely fast our relationship developed in the span of two weeks, but it was true. We fell hard and fast for each other and it was all real. The more I got to know them, the more I became a part of this family and considered them my closest people in this world” she said calmly.
“I had read Lucas all wrong back then. He is a very sweet person with a crazy, complicated side that still surprises me till now. But he’s a very good person when you get to know him and when he decides to let you in. The reason I’m telling you my own story is to let you know a very important thing. It doesn’t matter what happened in our pasts. Who our family was or who we’re related to. All that matters is being your true self without putting up a wall or a façade to make people see you in a different way, because that’s how we truly get hurt. You tried hiding your truth out of fear and you were entitled to that considering everything you’ve heard and been through. Lucas was a royal ass to you your first few days here, just like he was to me. But I know he changed after learning the truth about you, and I know you know that, too. He showed you the real him, and tried to apologize in his own way for everything he made you go through. I’m not sure about the details here, but judging by how angry you got at him, it told me that he means something to you. Something more than just a mere peaceful coexistence in this house. You trusted him, maybe told him some stuff you normally would never share with him and it hurt to feel like he wasn’t being as open with you as you were with him. To know that he never actually trusted you enough to tell you the truth about us. I get it, I really do. But Angelina, everyone is capable of making mistakes. We’re not perfect. He deeply regrets hiding that truth from you, but I can guarantee that he had a very compelling reason for his reluctance to share something of extreme sensitivity like this with you. Alex and Lucas have deep trust issues after what happened with their father’s murder. Did he tell you that it was his uncle who led the assassin inside the town to kill his own brother? That he also tried to kill Alex and Lucas just to ensure getting the leadership position of the town and the borders?” she asked firmly.
“Yeah, he told me” I said in a small voice.
“Can you imagine how horrible it feels to realize that someone from your own flesh and blood, someone you’ve known your entire life as this sweet, loving person, stabs you in the back in the most unexpected, gutting way? It’s absolutely devastating and life altering. That’s why he hid the truth. Not because he thinks you are Zade’s daughter, or because he suspects you are going to betray him by siding with Zade, but because he still carries his uncle’s betrayal inside him and that left a huge mark on him, and even on Alex. It made them both expect betrayal from just about anyone. His mistake led to you being hurt and that’s when he realized his huge error of judgment. He regrets it deeply and he’s truly sorry for the way he made you feel. I know him pretty well by now, and trust me, if he doesn’t feel anything special for you, he wouldn’t have cared one bit about hiding the truth, or bothered to even apologize to you nor seek your forgiveness”
Well, she had a point there. If he was really just trying to screw with me, he wouldn’t have given a damn about how much it hurt me, learning the truth in that way.
But still, something inside me broke after last night.
Something I’m not sure it can ever be glued back together.