Bodyguard: Ace Cain

|37| Sweet Revenge

|Sweet Revenge|

Noel rudely woke me up again by chaining my hands together. I do not know what he expected from me. I could not overpower him or anything like that. I also was unaware of the building's layout. Chaining me up seemed pointless, but Noel took extra precautions.

I am not sure why he woke me up, but it definitely put me in a bad mood. Especially when he pulled on my arm to get me off the couch. His touch was rough, and he had a frown on his face that could not be overlooked. Noel appeared irritated, and I was curious as to what had gotten him so worked up.

We walked for what seemed like ages before arriving at a door. It was metal and rusted, with a broken handle. As soon as he opened it, I was face to face with my father, who was once again bound to a chair. His mouth was not covered this time, and he was relieved to see me still alive as Noel pushed me inside. I was not sure how I felt about my father at the time, but my heart was relieved to see him OK.

"I will be right back," Noel warned. He left the room, leaving my father and me alone.

There was not any tension like I expected. There was more confusion and a lack of understanding. My father had this information about my mother for who knows how long but did not think to tell me. He knows I have been dying to know if she is okay and if she will be returning home. My first thought was that she had just left my father. However, if that were the case, she would have brought me with her. For whatever reason, my father withheld this information from me.

We did not know what to say to each other, so my father bravely broke the silence. "I apologize, Reign," were his first words.

As I spoke to him, my gaze remained fixed on the ground. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked right away.

"Because protecting you was most important," he explained. "In retrospect, it would have been better if you knew. At least then we would not be in such a mess."

My head shook with disbelief. "Do you believe that keeping information from me protects me? Information about my mother, who had been missing for so long," I felt myself become emotional. "How long had you known?"

He fell silent, unsure whether he should tell me or not. I was already angry. Anything he said would not change the rage that was building up inside of me. My heart was broken knowing that I would never get to say goodbye to her. To see her smiling face when I got home from school. She would not even see me graduate or attend college if I chose to. What about Prom? Who was going to go dress shopping with me or do my hair? All those important moments in a child's life, and my mother would miss them. Did he not understand that?

He sighed and shook his head with disappointment because he was unable to move. "Know that your mother loved you, and I apologize for not doing a better job of protecting her."

His words meant little to me, but my mother's love was never forgotten. She would go out of her way to show me. Furthermore, she was the parent who was there. That was enough to figure out which parent valued me the most. My father had a lot of making up to do, and I believe he began to realize this while being confined by Noel for the last four days.

We fell silent again because I could not think of anything to say. Instead, Noel was fuming as the door creaked open again. At his side was Tyler who I've already talked to about working for him. Hailey walked in as well, but she did not look at me. Their faces were filled with worry as they stood close to Noel. It was difficult to tell what was bothering them, but being around Noel always had a negative outcome.

Noel's hand slapped me across the face, causing a terrible stinging sensation. My father yelled at him to get his hands off me, but he did not listen. Instead, his hands encircled my throat as he lifted me to stand. The fire in his eyes was difficult to miss. He was angry and did not care if he choked me or not.