Free Assassin Deception by C. L. Scholey

vulnerable.
    “James, before this happened I wanted to talk to you, I needed to talk to you,” Chloe began in an urgent voice.
    “Oh?”
    “Yes, but you were gone when I got up. You see, I found something the other day, something that upset me. I should have told you sooner, but I was afraid. I’m sorry.”
    “What did you find?” James asked, with an air of eagerness.
    “It was a book, my father’s book, a horrible book filled with hideous lies. It had been taped to the back of a picture frame. It gave vivid descriptions of brutal, inhumane executions. Oh, James, my poor mother, he traumatized her up until the day she died, soiled her mind with his filth.”
    “It’s all right,” James soothed. He pulled her into his arms and cradled her against his chest.
    “The things he wrote. It was no wonder my mother feared you, feared for me. He must have purposely left it out so she could find it, read it. He had been manipulating her until he died, even after he died. It’s in my pocket, James, the back one. In the jeans I was wearing when the house blew. I wanted to show it to you the minute I saw you, but then the house exploded. He made it sound like he was trying to protect us. That he hurt us and drank for a reason. That he needed to beat me to save me. That everything was entirely your fault.”
    “I’m sorry he hurt you again, sweetheart. If I had known there was a book I would have destroyed it,” James said angrily.
    “James, was my father that evil? Did he really do terrible, cruel things, awful horrifying things to make people suffer while dying terror-stricken?” Chloe wept. “Are there really people out there like that? Was my father really one of them?”
    “Chloe, no matter how cruel or evil someone was, I would never order them buried alive, tortured. I would never allow any of my people to be so perverted. It was all lies,” James replied, his tone grim.
    Chloe stilled instantly. “You found the book,” she whispered in understanding. Now she understood where the underlying sadness in his voice was coming from. He already knew.
    “Dirk found it. We all read it. I was afraid you might believe it,” James said sadly.
    “Oh, James, how could you?” Chloe sobbed, trying to pull free from him, but James wouldn’t allow it. He pulled her closer with gentle, loving hands, holding her still against his chest. Carefully, he settled her head against him; she could hear his heartbeat.
    “Chloe, you must understand. He was, after all, your father. Why wouldn’t you want to believe he had your best interests at heart? He should have loved you, protected you and your mother, not terrorized you both,” James said raggedly.
    “You were more a father to me than he ever was,” Chloe cried. “Would my mother honestly believe him trying to assault me would be in my best interest? Do you think I would believe that? He knew he could get away with anything, anything, James! She was completely under his thumb. But he took it too far. He hadn’t counted on how protective you were. My real family stopped him for good. I just wish you had done it sooner, why didn’t you do it sooner, James?”
    “If you knew it to be lies why didn’t you bring the book to me sooner?” James offered as a rebuttal, instead of answering her question.
    “I wanted to understand why he was the way he was. I thought if I had insight to his frame of mind I could forgive him. But when I read the book I knew it for what it was, a book of deceptions, manipulation. He was a control freak.
    “I can’t begin to imagine the fear my mother lived with, and every day of her life! I’m so lucky I had you growing up. Granny was right to want to send me away; Mother might have given me the book in her fear of you.
    “While I was that young, who knows what she would have me believing? I might have ended up just like her. Twisted and terrified like she was. It would have killed me to question you or Dirk, to fear either of you when I love