Accept Me by J. L. Mac

Josephine Geroux
    Findings: Phillipe Geroux-deceased. Collette Geroux-deceased. Known relatives- Josephine Geroux,
     
    “Give me that!” I cry. “It’s about me!”
    “No. When did you find out?” Damon grates out, his jaw clenched.
    Things are spinning out of control too fast. My head swims with words but all of them seem like the wrong ones.
    “When?” he demands.
    “I saw your birth certificate when I found the notebooks and I started looking for her,” I confess feebly. “I sent the person on the document a letter. I didn’t know it was her.”
    Damon closes his eyes tightly and drops his head. He pushes his hands through his already disheveled locks. “And?”
    “She called me the day you proposed and admitted that she’s your mom.”
    “Josephine…”
    It’s unclear if the way he’s said my name is a plea or a reprimand. I take one step closer to him and stretch my hand out to him. I just want to make this better. I don’t want him to hurt. I don’t want him to know, but it’s coming. I can feel his next question before he has even spoken it.
    “What do you know?” His tormented gaze meets mine, leaving me unsure and frightened.
    With one deep breath, I shore up what little courage I have left and prepare to confess the horrid truth. I prepare to break his already delicate heart and shatter his mind.
    “Everything.”
    The word that carries so much comes out as a mumble. It’s weighted with rape, tragedy, abuse, and lies perpetrated against Damon by everyone around him, including me. It doesn’t get much worse than this.
    “Elaborate, Josephine.”
    I hate when he uses my full name in that tone. It’s a sure sign that he’s beyond serious. I have nothing left to do but tell him everything and pray that he doesn’t crumble beneath the burden of knowing. “Ignorance is bliss” couldn’t ring truer right now.
    “Damon, baby—”
    “Don’t! Don’t you dare try to sugarcoat this right now! Tell me what you know!” He points his finger at me and bellows so loud that my ears ring in protest.
    Tears sting my eyes and the knot in my throat is enough to choke on. I’m backed into a corner by my tormented Big Man with no place to go.
    “He raped her, Damon,” I whisper. The admission sounds so foreign. It doesn’t sound like me. Maybe because I hate the truth so damn much or maybe because this is the first time I’ve actually said it aloud. I watch closely as Damon’s brows draw up, forming a crinkled line. His attention drifts from me to the floor at my feet. I can see him mulling over my words in his head.
    “Oh my God.” He covers his face with his big hands and turns away from me. “Fuck!”
    Damon’s balled fist crashes violently into the back of his office door. The wood shudders and splinters beneath the crushing force of his fist and I startle instinctively. I’ve seen him angry before, but I’ve never seen him quite this pissed. There’s far more than anger flashing in his eyes though. I see that he’s hurt, devastated. I imagine not only for the misinformation he’s been force-fed all these years, but also for the loss of his mother and for the unspeakable crime that his father committed. Damon knows what it feels like to be seventeen and feel as if your life has ended before it has even begun. Both he and Noni were robbed of so much by the same man. It’s a link of commonality between the both of them that I hope will help them connect despite their grim history.
    “Go away, Jo,” he whispers, not looking at me. “I’ll give you all the money you need. Go to the penthouse for now. I’ll make sure arrangements are made for you, but you have to leave here.” He moves his head from side to side in little shakes, his lips pursed tightly together.
    This is bad.
    He strides right past me and grabs his suit coat from the chair in front of his desk, slipping into it with practiced ease.
    “What? Why? I’m not going any fucking place!” I snap, all sadness