Read Forever We Fall: Broken #4 (The Broken Series) for Free Online Page B

someone else to get her?" Shaking his head, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I could feel him trembling. "That's the part I have a hard time swallowing."
    I stared blankly at Kyle's face for a moment, stunned by his admission. He'd always seemed so accepting of my mother. I hadn't known he'd wondered about the same things I had. A huge swell of warmth and comfort flushed through me, prickling my skin. He got it. He finally understood…
    "I wish I had a good enough answer for you, Kyle, but I don't," Tracy whispered. "My self-esteem was non-existent and I forced myself to believe that she was better off without me – that she was safe."
    Squeezing my hand gently, she proceeded to say, "I had the naive belief that I was the one Jimmy despised, and that he would never harm you. He never once laid a finger on you when I was there…his anger was solely directed at me and I pretended to myself that he would have no reason to…" her voice caught and she took a deep choking breath before continuing. "Oh god, I have no excuses," she sobbed. "I was a coward."
    "Your hand looks like mine," I whispered, ignoring her pleas, my eyes locked on the frail sun-kissed skin of my mother's hand. "I always wondered."
    Looking up, her eyes burned into mine and I watched as a number of different emotions churned around in her brown eyes. "I made a terrible, selfish mistake, Lia, and I'm so, so sorry," she wept. "I know it doesn't change anything. I can't take the past back. I can't rewrite the time that has passed. But I love you and I'm so proud of the woman in front of me…" Inhaling deeply, she clutched my hand and said, "I would have gladly given you every organ in my body. When I saw you lying in that hospital bed…" Her voice warbled, her emotions spilling over. "I would have given you the skin off my bones…"
    "I always wondered what you would feel like." Tentatively I moved my thumb over her hand and sighed. "I never felt softness," I admitted. "Your hand touching mine, right now, is the softest touch I've ever felt from my parents."
    I heard Kyle's breathing hitch. His knee bobbed restlessly beside mine, and I guessed he was having a hard time trying to keep himself from pulling me into his arms. This hurt him. He had never felt much tenderness from his parents, but he hadn't suffered beatings.
    Not like I had.
    Not like she had.
    "What was it like for you?" she asked, her voice barely audible. "What…w-what did that man do to you?"
    "I thought I would die," I confessed, not waiting for comfort or an apology. The urge I had inside of me to lay myself bare was overwhelming. I wasn't telling her this to hurt her. I was telling her because I felt if I didn't get it out I would burst. The look in her eyes told me she understood my words. She could hear my pain. She could feel my fear. "Most nights, I went to bed thinking I would never wake up." Shuddering violently, I concentrated on keeping my voice even. "That this is the night he will snap. I used to pray he'd do it with mercy. A pillow to my face. Or snap my neck. Something quick and painless."
    "Did he…did he touch you, Lia?"
    "Yes," I replied. "Not in the way you're thinking, but as I got older he would..." I stopped to think of how best to phrase my words. Looking directly into my mother's eyes, I said, "Sometimes he would look at me with this hungry gleam in his eyes. That look was worse than the physical pain." I shook my head and sighed. "It made night-time even more terrifying because I wasn't just fearing his fists…"
    "Stop," Kyle croaked as he jerked out of his chair and backed away to the kitchen door. "I can't hear this, baby."
    "It's okay, Kyle," I whispered as I watched him retreat from the room.
    Turning to face my mother, I said, "He suffers when I speak about my childhood. Sometimes I think he's reliving my past as I speak it."
    "You're so incredibly brave," she gushed. "I don't know where you get it from when both of your parents are such cowards…"
    "I