Fight: A Stepbrother Romance Novella by Stephanie Brother Page B

slightly, though he was nowhere near his normal color. Clearly still enraged, he didn't even look my way when he said through gritted teeth, "You can stay for the funeral." Without looking at either one of us, he turned and marched from the room.
    Mia sagged against me, her arms wrapped around me. "I'm so sorry about that, Paxton. I don't know why he's like that with you."
    I could have educated her, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to see the horror on her face, or get into that right now. My thoughts were still centered on my mom, and her passing. I was also overwhelmed with gratitude and emotion I couldn't quite name that Mia had stood up for me, demanding I be allowed to stay, or she would go with me. I wasn't going to stay very long, certainly not through the funeral, but I didn't resist when she came with me to my room, taking me into her arms again as she rocked me on the bed in a soothing manner.
    Before I knew it, sobs ripped from my throat, and I buried my face against her shoulder, soaking her thin T-shirt with my salty tears. As she rocked and murmured comforting words to me, I cried for losing my mom, and for the years I had lost with my mother. I also cried for the childhood I'd lost—that had been stolen from me by a ruthless pervert, and I cried for what I had endured every night then and since.
    She laid down with me, and there was nothing sexual about the way she held me so tenderly. Mia was giving me comfort, and I took it as the selfish bastard I am. I ran my hands through her hair because the gesture soothed me as much as it calmed her. I hated being so egocentric and focused on my needs, but I couldn't seem to stop drawing her comfort like I was a sponge, and she was water.
    "Why does my father hate you so much, Paxton?"
    I was too raw and emotional to even think about lying or deflecting the truth. "He hates me because I know the truth."
    She held me closer, her lips brushing against my cheek in a tender gesture of support before she whispered, "What truth?"
    A strange sense of numbness slipped over me, and I didn't know if it was grief, apathy, or just sheer exhaustion. Whatever the cause, it prevented me from lying or evading her question.
    "The truth is, Mia, Dirk Gaithway is a pedophile and a bully. He raped me almost every night for the four years I lived in this house, and it wasn't until he told me he was going to share me with his friends that I found the balls to run away. I couldn't take anymore, so I left my mom behind, and I bowed to his intimidation when I called and tried to get hold of her. I was afraid of him, so afraid that I let him run me out of my mom's life for eleven years. If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn’t have seen her the past few days, and I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to tell her how much I loved her. Thank you for that."
    She had gone stiff in my arms, but she hadn't pushed me away. After a second, a harsh slob escaped her, and she clung even tighter to me. I guess I had braced myself for her doubt, or her outright refusal to believe, so when all she did was hold me and pull me closer, whispering sounds of sorrow at what I had endured, I simply surrendered. I surrendered to her embrace, to her comfort, and to the blackness creeping through me. I don't know if I fell asleep or passed out, but I let go of everything around me, including my consciousness, as I drifted into a state of unawareness.
     
    ***
    Mia
    I woke alone. I wasn't terribly surprised to find him gone, but it broke my heart to know he hadn't stayed around to see my reaction the morning after his revelations. I had believed him without question. My dad had never behaved in a way to suggest he was a pedophile, but as Paxton had told me the truth, the words resonated within me, and I had known he wasn't lying. It sickened me to think the man I had looked up to, who had doted on me like an adored and pampered princess, was a child rapist who had planned to share his stepson with his equally perverted