He was in shock. He didn’t move, not able to even call for help. Eventually, the sobs made it from his chest, soon turning into wails as he pulled his hair from the roots, anger filling him like never before. All her life she’d been a victim of his dad’s abuse, and finally, his dad had ended it. He’d killed her.
When he called for help on his mobile, simply saying his mum was dead and his dad had done it, he waited beside her, not touching, just looking.
It wasn’t until the autopsy Troy found out just how vicious the attack had been. She’d been stabbed with a steak knife over thirty times, all over her body—even her feet received wounds. It had been a short knife. Perhaps if he’d chosen a longer one, she’d have died sooner, but even then, his dad seemed to know how to drag out her pain.
They’d found his dad a week later after a massive manhunt. He was in nearby Liverpool, hiding out with friends. The last time Troy saw him was in court when he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Life didn’t mean life anymore. Ten years apparently was enough to warrant good behaviour, and now he was up for parole. He should never come out, in Troy's opinion. His mum was dead, she suffered her whole life, and he could be free in six months. He was only fifty, still young enough to marry again, find some other women to beat up and kill.
Troy didn’t understand why she stayed with him all those years, and if he were honest with himself, he still didn’t understand. But then why did he put up with all the bastards using him and his body when he knew better?
He was worth more. He couldn’t be like his mum, but inside him there would always be the fear he would end up with someone like his dad and he would simply put up with it.
“Troy,” Liam’s soft words woke him from his thoughts and they looked at each other. “Talk to me. I hate it when you go quiet.”
“I've said it all before. Aren’t you sick of hearing it?”
“No.” Liam pulled him closer, wrapping his arm around his shoulder and kissing his head. “I'm always ready to listen to anything you have to say.”
“Do you think they’ll let him out of prison? It’s been ten years. Ten years is enough for murder now apparently.”
“I hope he doesn’t, and if they do release him, I hope you never have to set eyes on him again. We’ll sort this out, Troy. We can make an appointment to see your solicitor tomorrow and talk to him about your options. There has to be something we can do. This is still affecting you. Even after ten years, you're still in pain with what he did, with what you saw.”
Troy laid his head on Liam’s chest, closing his eyes and breathing in the familiar scent clinging to him. They’d often shared beds when they were kids, and it had just continued as they got older. Even though they weren’t blood, they were closer than some of the brothers he knew, although not having any growing up, Troy didn’t fully understand what brotherly love felt like.
You can't choose your family, but Troy had chosen to keep Liam as his. He was the only family he had left. They only had each other.
“Thank you,” Troy whispered out against his chest.
Liam just held him tighter, turning more into him and cradling him in those strong arms. Troy would never be bigger than him and despite working hard, he was happy with how he looked. Besides, he enjoyed being smaller, it meant he could be held like this.
“I'm worried I’ll be like her one day, you know.” Troy had never voiced that out loud before, but his recent relationship and the parole appeal made him take a stark look at himself and see how weak he was around the men in his life. “I take too much shit, and it needs to stop.”
Liam stiffened against him, gripping his shoulder a little too tightly. “If anyone’s ever laid one hand on you, I’ll—”
“No! I didn’t mean it like that.” Troy tilted his head back and smiled softly at him, brushing a fingertip over the lines caused by Liam’s frown. “No one’s ever hit me, okay, but I take too much shit by giving my heart much too soon. It’s all about them, and it always ends up with me and my needs not being thought about. I'm an enabler. I let them do this to me and it has to stop.”
“You'll never be in a situation with anyone who could treat you like your mum.”
“How can you be so sure?” Troy looked into Liam’s eyes, wishing he could feel as confident as he did.
“Because I'm here to make sure it doesn’t happen. You don’t have to say anything and I know what’s going on, and trust me, if anyone ever laid a finger on you I'd break it off and shove it up their arse.”
Troy grinned. “Still protecting me even after all these years.”
“I always will do.” Liam cupped his cheek in his hand and smiled at him. “I love you. You're my family. My best friend. You're everything to me.”
“Not everything, Liam.” Troy felt his body react to those soft touches and kind words, and rolled off Liam, looking up at the ceiling again, taking slow breaths and reminding himself now wasn’t the time to have those type of thoughts.
“Troy…”
“Just don’t go there.”
Troy wasn’t going to risk literally cocking up the only loving relationship he had left by reopening old wounds. He’d long since put the thought of Liam being anything other than friends out of his mind. Liam considered him a brother, and Troy had to remind himself constantly as he went through his horny teenage years that brothers didn’t have the type of thoughts Troy had for Liam.
It had been too long. It was too late to change anything.
Chapter 8
A week after Kelly left, they met up for tea at what used to be their house, but what was now just Dalton’s. She’d done some thinking and so had Dalton. They both agreed they cared deeply for the other and still wanted to be friends, but it was unfair, mainly to Kelly in Dalton’s mind, to keep her tied to a marriage and to a person she didn’t want to be with.
She was in love with this bloke Richard, and he seemed responsible with no criminal record that Dalton had found in the searches. She was going to live with her mum on the other side of Manchester and they were going to start dating, taking things slowly and out in the open this time.
It seemed quick in Dalton’s mind, but he reminded himself this shit began over six months ago and he had to get it through his thick skull. He was behind, and he didn’t even try to catch up sometimes, happy to bury his head in the sand and just let the world and its troubles pass him by.
They’d agreed to make the split quick, and she’d arranged a van to take most of her stuff to her mum’s house until she found one of her own. Dalton hadn't known what she would be taking, so he’d waited until she arrived early Saturday morning, her mum in tow and her dad driving the van. Dalton had always gotten along with her parents so when they barely talked to him and gave him the cold shoulder, it made him hurt inside.
Kelly was upset, he was upset, and her parents didn’t seem to know what to do, so they left them alone while they hugged, saying their goodbyes. All she’d taken were her clothes and personal stuff. The furniture and everything else was left for Dalton.
Oh, and she took the cat. Yeah, Dalton wasn’t too happy about that. She was his after all, and he’d found her when she was a kitten. She must have gotten lost from her home and ended up in their garden—little red collar wrapped around her neck which was too small, causing bald patches around her throat. Dalton had taken it off and given her some food, and there she stayed.
He helped put little Mog in her basket and gave her a kiss, taking one last look at her bright green eyes and enjoying hearing her loud purr as he tickled her chin. Then he left Kelly with her, going into the garden to be alone. Just hearing them driving off made his knees buckle, and he knelt on the grass, crying like he hadn't in a long time. He didn’t know why, but it was the fact she’d taken Mog which made him break. He couldn’t believe it, he was hurt beyond belief and shocked.
On shaky legs, he made it to the garden furniture, sitting down on one of the chairs and pulling his phone out, dialling Milo’s home number and not even caring which one of them picked up. Samuel’s sweet voice answered, and before Dalton could stop himself, he blurted out, “She took my cat.” His voice broke, tears silently rolling down his cheeks. “She just… Kelly took her,” he choked out through his tight throat. “I didn’t think… but now she’s gone and...” He broke off, not knowing what to say and not really being able to get his words out without his voice breaking.
“Dalton, I'm on my way. I’ll be there soon, okay?”
“Okay.” Dalton sat in silence, looking into the distance and jerking when he felt the tender touch of Samuel some time later. He must have flown over with how quickly he got there. “I'm sorry,” he whispered. “I'm so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Samuel stood in between his thighs, holding Dalton’s face to his chest and rocking him as Dalton tried to stop the irritating tears from leaving his eyes. “Maybe I could call her, ask her to bring Mog back. Did you say you'd like her to stay?”
“No.” Dalton sniffed. “I just thought, I mean, she was mine. I thought with Kelly not having her own place she’d leave Mog here. It was just so sudden, and I was too hurt to say anything.”