Broken Free (The Broken Series) Read online

  A few seconds later, she pulled away. “Okay, I think I’m okay.” Nope. Another sob strained out of her. “Not okay, not yet. I’m snotting all over you.” She reached for a napkin and knocked over her drink, demolishing her thread bare control. “Oh no,” she squeaked, feeling the flood coming. “Take me out.”

  “Okay, okay.” He stood up with her and led her out. Sofia was so grateful that he pressed her face into his shoulder, hiding her from view. She loved that man. Which brought more tears.

  She let the sobs go once they made it outside. He placed her back against the wall in a cove and stood exactly in front of her, his arms next to her head to shield her marathon moment of estrogen. “Oh my God, I’m a mess, I don’t even know why I’m crying at this point, it’s like…it’s like my body is this huge dam and my eyes are suddenly having this blow out, like tires filled with tears.”

  A burst of snickers erupted from Daniel and he buried his face on her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

  She was grateful for the distraction. “It’s not funny!”

  “No, it’s…”

  Another round of stifled laughter escaped him until his body shook with it. Sofia couldn’t help but smile. Him in the sound of joy was the best medicine ever. “Look at you, you’re laughing your ass off at me!” She stroked her fingers through his silky thick hair. “Okay, okay, you’re right, I’m hysterical.”

  “Oh God,” he gasped, finally catching his breath. He stared down into her face and took it into his hands. He kissed her then, his tongue all rough and naughty passion, plunging deep in her mouth, stroking with that signature all fucking mine Daniel hunger. Whatever was funny also turned him on. And that definitely fixed her up.

  “Public,” she half moaned and whispered.

  “Yes.” He finally pulled up and pecked her nose. “I’ll put you in the car, take care of our bill, and bring your food.”

  She nodded and let him lead her. He still kept her tucked close to his body till they got to her door, like he thoroughly loved protecting her. God, she was just in heaven with that man.

  Chapter Four

  Daniel stood with the remote, staring at the TV’s lifeless screen in his office.

  “How about I look first,” Sofia said. “I don’t think this is a good idea for you sweetie, look at you, you’re a nervous wreck.”

  “I have to. It will haunt me if I don’t.”

  “Okay well, you have the remote, just shut the TV off if it gets bad. We only need to see enough, not all of it.”

  He nodded for several seconds, breathing in and out, steadying himself. He hit the power button then hit the player’s ON switch.

  Neither of them bothered to sit, they both stood before the TV, waiting, Sofia holding his hand tight.

  Nothing. Part of him hoped it was all empty. But that wouldn’t be any damn help. The screen jumped with flickers and Sofia squeezed his hand tighter.

  The image of a girl tied to a bed came on. “Oh God,” Sofia whispered.

  “Fuck.” Daniel had jerked his head down the second naked flesh appeared. “Is that her? I can’t look.”

  “Oh my God…I think…I think so.” Sofia gasped. “Oh no. Daniel? Daniel? Don’t look. Turn it off.” She slapped him on the shoulder a bunch of times. “Hurry, hurry turn it off!”

  He ran and hit the switch but it didn’t turn off, it merely froze the image. Daniel’s blood froze as he stared at the boy on the TV. His back, butt, legs, all of it covered in bruises.

  “Who is that,” he whispered. It was as if his mouth moved outside of his mind. Daniel was slowly slipping inside himself, deep inside as he stared, he couldn’t stop.

  Sofia turned the TV off and ran to him, hugging him, crying. “Daniel,” she sobbed. “God, baby, I’m pretty sure… that is Seth.”

  Every muscle in his body slowly locked up with a protective numb.

  An entire bottle of whisky later, Daniel sat in his office with the door locked, chair in front of the TV, knowing he had to watch it. He had to know what all was in it before he turned it over to the authorities. But there were other reasons he watched even though he knew it would scar him for life.

  In a nightmarish haze, Daniel watched. Daniel went back in that nightmare with his brother and lived it with him. Watched his brother’s endless sexual torture at the hands of his uncle and other strangers. I love you, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me for not being there he told his brother as if he might somehow hear it and be healed of the pain.

  There was so much shame. In those sweet innocent brown eyes, so much confusion just beyond his flimsy I don’t really care, you can’t hurt me wall.

  At one point in the film Daniel saw the sad little turn of his brother’s fourteen year old mouth and broke into sobs. The tilt in his lips told of hope long fucking spent. It told about the dread of knowing you could never run or escape. It told about the slow execution he carried out on his own soul, knowing he wouldn’t have the privilege of dying. It told of broken acceptance. And it shattered Daniel to pieces. To see his tiny body, a shell of a human with no more fight, just submitting to what you were made to become.

  He let it all sink into his blood and pores, resolved to suffer it with him. He understood what Seth endured, he knew how fucking painful it was. And he knew that shame, it was the hardest to be free of. The dirty feeling you could never be clean of, inside and out, long, long, after the trauma left. Only, it never left. It festered.

  But he was Seth’s big brother. In some fucked up twisted part of his brain, he watched it to be there for him. Ten years later. Ten years too late. And now his brother sat in a jail. With nobody. Alone.

  Daniel staggered his way to the bedroom somewhere around four a.m. He collapsed to his knees at the foot of the bed, exhausted and yet hardly spent.

  “Daniel?” Sofia gasped and hurried to the floor next to him. “Oh, Sweetie!” She pulled him into her body. “I got you, I got you, shhh.”

  Fuck. He grabbed hold of her and sobbed, the pain grinding hard against his chest. “It hurts,” he groaned. “It fucking hurts, I need my brother, I want him. I want my fucking brother!” The words came out strangled and choked.

  “I know baby, shhh, I know.” She stroked his head and rocked him. “It’s all over, we’re going to use that to set him free, do you hear me? He’ll come home, we’ll be a family. Uncle Seth will come home.” She sobbed the final word.

  ****

  “Well this is exciting,” Rachel muttered dryly as they went up the elevator. “Hope I don’t get motion sickness.”

  Daniel patted Rachel’s shoulder, grinning. “You’re fine Gammie.”

  “Don’t call me Gammie, you make me feel old.”

  “Oh, now you’re a spring chicken?” Sofia said, lacing her fingers in Daniels, stilling the butterflies in her stomach.

  “Blame that one on your lover boy. And when in God’s name are you two going to tie the knot? I’ve never seen two people so backwards. You done tried on the shoe and wore it to death and you aren’t even married.”

  Daniel crimped his brows, her words agonizing him. They’d signed papers just to make Sofia legally his, for the baby’s sake mostly. The promise was to have the wedding as soon as possible. Rachel had no clue how badly he wanted to tie the knot. Really, really tight, in every conceivable way.

  “We’re waiting for Seth, remember?” Sofia said.

  “Where is he, anyway? I thought he was supposed to do up the flowerbed. Another dilly-dallier, that one. But cute as a button. So he’s excused. And whatever happened to that Spanish Darius girl?”

  “Romanian,” Sofia corrected. “And her name is Dara. She had to go home to take care of her mother. Like I take care of you.”

  “Sofia, why are you hollering in this elevator? It’s ricocheting in my brain.”

  “Turn your aid down, Gammie.”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier for you to turn your voice down?”

  Daniel bit his lip to keep from laughing. He absolutely adored Rachel.
She was the best entertainment he’d ever known. And she was his family now.

  He leaned and kissed her on the cheek when the door opened.

  “Oh my,” she said.

  “Hey, no kissing, you’re gonna break her ear drums!” Sofia said with an accusing gaze.

  Daniel pushed Rachel out of the elevator, loving the banter between them.

  “Sofia Marie, how are you feeling? Come here where I can see you.”

  Rachel seemed to change Sofia’s middle name every time she used it. He wondered who in the family had the name Marie.

  Sofia strolled next to her Gammie’s chair and held her hand. Daniel recognized the Kodak moment and whipped his phone out and snapped it.

  “Are you getting any sleep? You look like my roses after Hurricane Audrey, back in 1963.”

  Sofia, widened her eyes. “Gammie, be nice.”

  “Now how was that mean?”

  “Here we are,” Daniel said, letting Sofia open the door.

  The office was small but warm and friendly. And empty. They were early though. He strolled Rachel up to the window and knocked lightly on the frosted glass, praying to God he didn’t run into anybody he “knew”.

  The glass door opened. “Good morning,” a middle aged woman whispered. “Sign your name right here. Sofia Fletcher?”

  Sofia Fletcher. Was there ever a more perfect name? “Yes.”

  “I’ll get everything ready and come get her in a few.” She handed him a clip board. “Go ahead and fill this out while you wait.”

  Daniel took it, hoping the nurses had been informed that all three of them would be going back there with Sofia. He parked Rachel between him and Sofia. “What magazine would you like, Rachel?”

  “What all do they have?” Daniel named off a few. “Give me the Country Living even though it breaks my heart to look through them.”

  He leaned close and handed it to her. “Why does it break your heart?”

  She licked her finger and began turning pages. “Makes me homesick.”

  He looked at Sofia and got her I have no clue expression. “You like the country?”

  “Oh do I like. Air is clean, sky is clear, you can hear the birds and wild life from your back porch.”

  Daniel loved the sound of all that. “You like back porches?”

  “Oh yes. And front. I especially love the ones that wrap around the whole of the house. We used to have one like that when I was a child. Was so high off the ground, I could nearly walk underneath without ducking. I’d ride my skates up on it all the time, rode the wheels plum off. And momma would call me from the kitchen window, I can still see her angry eyes. ‘Get your tail in here Rachel.’ Don’t ask me what I done, I can never remember, she was always pinning crimes on the innocent.”

  Daniel smiled. “I bet you were just an angel.” He got up and took the seat next to Sofia. “I may need your help with some of the questions.”

  In five minutes Daniel learned a few new treasures about Sofia. She’d had her tonsils removed, two broken bones in her life, but a clean bill of health otherwise. “I take it your diabetes is in remission?”

  Sofia looked at him blankly before erupting in snickers. “Oh my God that memory is like a dream.”

  “Yeah, for me too. A dream come true.”

  “What diabetes?” Rachel asked.

  “None, Gammie, Daniel is picking on me.

  Daniel leaned to Rachel’s ear. “Didn’t Sofia tell you about how we met?”

  “Daniel!” Sofia hit him.

  “No, she did not.” Rachel struggled to turn in her chair to see Sofia. “She used to tell me everything and now…now she’s a miss goody two-shoes.”

  Sofia gasped. “I am not. Fine, I’ll tell you. Later.”

  The nurse opened the door and called Sofia and Daniel got behind Rachel’s chair. “Now where are we going?” she asked.

  “Through there.” Daniel pointed.

  “What for?”

  “For Sofia’s doctor appointment. For the new baby?”

  “So what do you need me in there for?”

  “Daniel thought you’d want to come,” Sofia said.

  “For what, you’re going pee in a cup and have your privates examined. I’ll come along when it’s time to watch the baby on the TV thing.”

  “You’ll be okay out here?” Sofia asked.

  “Stop coddling me like a decrepit old lady. They got nurses in here, I can holler if I fall and can’t get up.”

  Sofia’s laughter tickled all over inside Daniel as she kissed her Gammie on the top of the head. Daniel parked her well out of the way and put the magazine rack in reach. He took his phone out and put it in her lap. “You need anything, call Sofia’s phone, I’ll—”

  She shoved it back into his hands. “For crying out loud, you’re not a state away, you’re in the next room. Now shoo fly, stop bothering me.”

  Daniel smiled and kissed the top of her head and followed Sofia.

  Once in the office, Daniel stood next to the table by Sofia’s head, holding her hand in both of his. The Doctor—Dr. Bethany—turned out to be a complete stranger, thank God. When he’d looked up female OB’s he’d chosen names he didn’t recognize at all. But sometimes he forgot names and faces and with his luck, optimism was a no-no.

  Although with Sofia, that seemed to be slowly changing.

  While they waited for the doctor, Sofia pointed at various pictures on the wall. “She must be religious.”

  “Yes.” Daniel silently read the framed biblical passages not sure if that made him feel better or not.

  The doctor came finally, an elegant petite woman with streaked gray hair, a sprite countenance and boundless energy in her step. Daniel liked her right away, especially thrilled she was older. And he especially appreciated the genuine warmth in the woman’s bright blue eyes. She was…motherly. Exactly what he’d want in a female doctor.

  During the vaginal exam, Sofia squeezed Daniel’s hand tight. He already knew she was perfect there, even had all her tests done, but he asked Sofia to please not mention he was a gynecologist. He didn’t want the doctor digging. Sofia understood and agreed, not happy to be reminded of his dirty past with other women.

  To Sofia, every woman he’d ever been with, thought of being with, looked at, accidentally looked at, almost looked at, thought of looking at, was a total slut. God how he loved that. But with this doctor, none of it mattered.

  “Okay dear, you can sit up now.” Dr. Bethany pulled up her stool and Daniel helped Sofia sit. “Now from the dates you’ve given me, we can guess roughly that you are around twelve weeks pregnant. That puts you due…” She grabbed the due date wheel and slipped her spectacles on, studying it. “Oh. How about a New Year’s baby?” She removed her glasses and smiled at both of them with bright eyes.

  Daniel laughed and hugged Sofia, kissing her forehead. “Wow, that is so perfect.”

  Sofia couldn’t seem to smile any bigger. “So when do we do that? The ultrasound.”

  “I’m thinking around September, the fifth month, that way the baby has all the vital organs we need to see.” She took Sofia’s hand and patted it. “So how are you feeling? Sleeping okay, eating okay? Any nausea?”

  She glanced at Daniel with a smile. “He makes me eat exactly as I should, and no nausea, thankfully.”

  “Very good.” Dr. Bethany smiled warmly, seeming genuinely glad about it. She gave her full attention to Daniel. “I cannot tell you how very thrilled I am that you are here and so supportive. It’s not the most common occurrence in this day and age, I’m afraid. But a very wonderful blessing for you to be a part of.” She sobered a bit and looked at Sofia. “Will you be having the epidural?”

  “Yes,” Daniel said with Sofia’s nod.

  The doctor chuckled. “I think somebody doesn’t want you to go through any pain.” She nodded appreciatively. “A wise and caring man you have there.”

  “Yes.” Sofia sounded pleased the doctor thought so.

  Just so she w
asn’t one of those religious nuts that thought you should do shit natural. Daniel never understood that. Like why go to the fucking doctor at all if that’s the case, why not deliver your baby with your bare hands. In the woods. While hiking up a mountain.

  “Do you have any questions for me dear? Any concerns? No question is too little.”

  Sofia looked at Daniel as though he might know what questions she needed to ask. But he surely didn’t know what went through that pretty head of hers. He’d answered a lot of questions for her already and still planned on going through the pregnancy books with her. “None that I can think of,” she said.

  Chapter Five

  They left the office with their next appointment, August 15. Daniel set it in his phone with the adorable baby cry alarm he’d found. Not that he’d need it, he never stopped thinking about their baby. From who he/she would look like, to how he’d handle their first date. Not well, on that last one to be sure.

  He needed to do so many things, but finding that girl in that sick video was top priority. And now he wasn’t entirely sure that Seth was innocent. If he did kill the man, it would make sense. But there had been something Daniel had seen in Seth’s face and eyes. No. He was definitely lying. Or hiding something. Maybe they’d both killed him. Another very plausible possibility after what he’d seen them do to that poor girl. Daniel hoped they both got some sense of relief from it. And hoped they made him suffer.

  ****

  Sofia watched Daniel as he exited the little grocery store belonging to that receipt from his uncle’s house. Jesus, what a hunk he was. Black jeans hugged that perfect ass of his just right. And that tight black t-shirt and delicious sex-god swagger made her moan.

  “What did they say?” Sofia eyed his crotch as he got back in the car.

  “The last time the cashier saw the girl was a few weeks ago.”

  Sofia gasped. “Oh my God then she is still around. But where?”

  “I think I need to go pay Seth a visit. See if I can convince him to talk to me.”

  “Yes, yes. Definitely. He probably knows where she is! Oh my God, didn’t you say he has money? Can you check if any is being moved or used?”