radicalducati 71
71
Alex’s POV
“What is it, Alex?” my mom asked warily.
I took a deep breath and said tightly “David….. He’s not really Stefan’s son. He adopted him when he was six months old from an orphanage”
The room fell into silence as they all tried to make sense of what I said.
“Why would he say that? What if he was lying?” my mom eventually managed to ask.
I looked at Lucas and nodded my head for him to tell her how Stefan came to confessing that shocking admission.
“I pressed him about it in the car. Kept telling him what an asshole he was; among other things, for not even caring if we killed his son or not. I guess I kind of pissed him off enough to finally cause a genuine reaction. He said he hopes that bastard is rotting in hell right now, for he was exactly that to him, a bastard and nothing more. Then he proceeded to tell us that he was having problems conceiving a baby and when he realized that it wasn’t happening, he adopted one. According to him, he knew he will eventually need to have someone he could control into doing whatever he might need in the future”
“Just when I start to think that man couldn’t get even more of a monster than he already was, I discover something more vile about him” my mom says tightly as she shakes her head.
Jenny and April both had tears on their faces already.
“It’s going to crush David completely” my mom said emotionally.
“Do you have to tell him? I mean the truth is not going to change anything, he’s already dead. It will only hurt David further” Jenny asked sadly.
It was Lucas who answered her “He has to know. We have no right to keep that from him. Even if that truth hurts him, he needs to know why his father never bothered with him for real. But I have a feeling that even if David was his own flesh and blood, it wouldn’t have made any difference. That asshole killed his own brother and didn’t bat an eye about it for God’s sake”
“Lucas is right, he should know everything. If he’s going to start fresh with us from now on, we can’t keep secrets from him, especially that one” I said firmly.
I looked at Lucas and spoke gently “Do you want to come with me to talk to him?”
He nodded his head tightly and started to get up.
“Alex, make him go to his room, have a decent shower and a bite to eat before you send him anywhere. He must be starving” my mom said softly.
I nod my head and head outside with Lucas next to me.
Just before we knock on Mathew’s door, I turn towards him and speak seriously “Try to be a little less aggressive please. Like I said, a fresh start is not going to be one sided only, it’s a two way street. Not to mention we’re about to inform him that his whole life has been built on a lie and a sick man’s manipulation, so maybe a little understanding will do no harm”
I was actually feeling sympathetic towards David now.
What April said, it got to me.
I might be turning soft, and it might have something to do with Jenny, but I’m not going to deny it any longer and look at David the same way I used to look at him before.
I wanted him to really earn my trust.
Lucas didn’t reply verbally. He just gave me a tight nod.
Mathew opened the door for us and backed away to grant us entry.
We went inside the living room and saw David tied up to the same chair as yesterday, minus a the gag in his mouth now.
If he looked like shit yesterday, he looked even more shittier today.
His eyes were extra swollen and deeply red, and the bags under his eyes told me he barely slept at all for the past two days.
I also didn’t miss the slight trembling that started going through his body at the sight of us, nor the fear that claimed his features. But he stayed quiet, keeping the fear at bay.
Lucas made himself comfortable right away as he sat on the couch, putting David directly on his right side.
Lucas was also inspecting him from head to toe.
Mathew came inside and sat next to Lucas silently.
I moved towards David and he tensed up immediately. He was looking up at me with a hurt expression, no doubt expecting me to hit him like Lucas did yesterday.
He couldn’t maintain eye contact with me for more than five seconds, before he lowered his eyes down to the ground.
I moved around him and started undoing his ties.
He seemed shocked as he maintained the same position even after he was no longer bound, his arms still frozen behind the chair.
I came around to face him and sat in front of him on the edge of the coffee table.
“We killed your father last night and buried him next to mine” I said firmly as I studied his reaction.
He didn’t seem shocked at all. His expression showed no sliver of sadness over that news.
“Do you think we wronged him by murdering him?”
His answer came out in a raspy tired voice “No, he got what he deserved. I know I also deserve the same fate”
“You’re okay with dying?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
He gulped visibly and said with a slight tremor in his voice “No, I’m not, I don’t think anyone is. But I know that I deserve it”
“I came here to tell you that you have two options, only two. Either join your father in the family cemetery, or join us back at the house and become a part of us…. For real this time, no scheming. What do you choose?” I said in a hard tone.
His eyes widened at hearing my second option, and it took him half a minute to be able to respond.
He blinked a few times and asked incredulously “After everything….. How…?” he shook his head unable to form a complete sentence.
I understood what he wanted to ask as I answered him steadily “We’re giving you a second chance David. After all you’re not your father. If you were, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation right now. You came clean to us, put your life on the line to save us, accepted your fate and were willing to die for it. I can’t give you the same sentence I gave your father, that would put you in the same category as him to which you clearly don’t belong. I see the difference between you, I’m acknowledging that and giving you a second chance to make things right to us. Get a completely fresh start and join our family for real. Unless you prefer dying of course”
David furrowed his eyebrows and said in confusion “How can you all ever trust me again, or even bear to look at me everyday?”
“Trust can be earned if you prove to us that you can be trusted. If you show us the real David inside you and not the one who was being manipulated and controlled by his father. The one who was brave enough to knock on my door and tell me everything he did to save my life along with my brother’s. It’s that act of bravery and honesty that will make us able to accept you into our lives. Like I said with a clean sheet. Everything before yesterday will be forgotten and preferred to be buried and never brought up again”
He looked at Lucas, trying to see if he was with me on that decision.
They stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds before David broke the silence and addressed Lucas sincerely “I will never fail you nor betray you again. I’d rather die than let any harm come to you or your family. I can tell Alex is willing to welcome me back and forgive my part in all of this, but I will choose death if it’s something you can’t accept Lucas. I can’t start fresh knowing you still hold hatred towards me, knowing that you can never be that brother I thought I had the last few weeks. I’d choose death over not being forgiven by you”