Julien

13. "You can tell me anything."

Julien

Present

I watch as Marina's knees buckle and she falls to her knees, holding her face in her hands. Her body is wracked with deep sobs that shake her shoulders. She's mumbling incoherently. I want to comfort her but I just stand there like an idiot.

Lost.

I'm completely lost to the words that came out of her mouth. My mother. I haven't seen my mother in years, not since I set her up in a nice beach house on the coast of Florida. She lives there in peace with the guard dog I bought her. She's the only one who has my real phone number and I've got guys watching her every move to ensure her safety. Amelia Reid lives a good life.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, Julien... I'm so sorry..." She mumbles over and over as she rocks back and fourth.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

She lifts her tear-streaked face and I vow right there to do all I can to make sure I never see her like this again. Marina's so broken, so battered. It seems like all I've seen her do is sob. I don't like it. It hurts to see her this way.

"I'm sorry... I... I just blurted it out. You were never meant to know."

I kneel down beside her and pull her into my lap, mindful of her back. "I was never meant to know what? You can tell me anything."

She looks up at me and for a moment I catch a glimpse of the light in her eyes before a dark memory clouds it. Her eyes darken before she closes them, depriving my of their ocean hues.

Then she speaks.

...

Marina

Age 17

I left the cabin feeling like I was on cloud nine with lips bruised from his kisses and a heart full of love.

He loved me! Julien said he loved me!

I practically skipped all the way home. After telling me that story, I had no doubt that Julien felt the same. Not only that, but he said that tonight we were going to escape. I had complete faith in Julien and I knew that when he said he had it all figured out that he was telling the truth. I also knew that he had been saving up for a while and that his mother pitched in some finances. All three of us were going to disappear together.

I should've known it was a pipe dream.

I was late at night. My mother always complained about getting her beauty rest so I knew she was already asleep. Daddy was another story. I crept silently through the back door entrance that the servants used. I remembered when Julien taught me how to use it fondly with a smile. I entered the main foyer and cringed at the sound my shoes made on the marble floor. I practically tiptoed up the stairs, careful to distribute my weight in the right way to avoid the creaking of the banister, and made it to the top floor where my bedroom was located. I was going to pack a small bag and then sneak back outside.

I should've known it would never work.

Before I even made it to my room, the door to Daddy's office opened. "Marina. Come in here for a moment, would you?"

I flinched at the sound of his voice and tried my hardest to make it seem like I wasn't just creeping around suspiciously and entered his office.

I knew immediately that he knew.

Somehow, my father knew.

And I think I knew how considering Giovanni was sitting right beside him.