Code of Silence

Untitled Part 27

It had been 8 hours of traveling; eight hours of sitting and after the night they had endured Felicity was exhausted. They walked up the steps to the door of her uncle's house, and the men opened the door leading them inside. She had met Anatoli only once when she was young, but seeing him again, and him immediately engulfing her in a hug made her feel like she was with family.

He ushered them into the living room, shouting orders for his men to get them something to drink, blankets and to make them comfortable. He solemnly shook Oliver's hand and listened as they explained to him about their trip and the boat.

"Позвольте мне заставить моих людей работать над тем, кто мог это сделать! (Let me get my men working on who might have done this!)" Anatoli immediately turned and informed his men that he wanted answers to who had sabotaged the boat and to not come back until they had them. Oliver thanked him and pulled Felicity to his side. "Would you mind if I took Felicity to our room? She is exhausted and I think she needs to rest."

He wanted to talk to Anatoli alone, and he knew once she was asleep it would give him the opportunity to do so. "Of course! Nikolai, please show them to their room." Anatoli walked over and placed his hands-on Felicity's shoulders. "Ты с семьей мой ребенок. Здесь никто не причинит вам вреда. (You are with family my child! No one will hurt you here.)"

He kissed her cheek and then they followed Nikolai up to their room. Nikolai opened their door and Felicity walked in looking around curiously. It was a beautiful room with a large bed, a nice ornate dresser to one side and a bathroom off to the left. There was a huge picture window on the right and Felicity walked over, her arms around her waist and gazed at the gardens below. She turned as Oliver approached her, "Who would do this Lev? Who would want us dead?" Oliver sighed, "I think they were trying to get at me and you were just collateral.", he said as anger tinged his tone. He pulled her close.

"Why don't you lay down my love? Rest." He walked her over to the bed and as she crawled on the bed, he grabbed the blanket from the foot of the bed and pulled it over her. "Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?" she asked reaching for him.

He laid down beside her and she laid her head on his chest. He gently stroked her back and despite the fact she was scared to go to sleep her eyes grew heavy and soon she was resting. He kissed her head and looked at her face for a moment before he slid from beneath her and walked out closing the door silently behind him.

He found Anatoli downstairs in his office and he shut the door when Anatoli invited him into the room. "You have suspicions of who did this. I can see it in your face сын! (son!)" Anatoli said as he waved for him to sit.

"I do. But I didn't want to say anything in front of Felicity until I was absolutely certain. Can you look into Noah Cutler?", he asked.

Anatoli looked at Oliver in surprise, "Felicity's Dad!"

Oliver sat forward, his face grim. "He hates the fact that Felicity married me and my gut tells me he is involved."

Anatoli's eyes hardened. "If we find out he was involved, and he did this knowing he was putting his daughter in danger.......он мертвый человек! (he is a dead man!)".

Oliver didn't speak Russian but he could tell by the tone of Anatoli's voice and the look in his eyes that they were on the same page. Noah would die!

Felicity tossed and turned in her sleep. The boat accident had caused her to be fearful and her fearfulness was causing her to remember. Her mind was conjuring things she had tried so very hard to forget. Things that caused pain. But she couldn't forget. Tears fell down her face as she slept and she remembered being with her father.

She had been so young, just 16. He was praising her, showing her off to the men who were at their home to do business. Her body stiffened in her sleep as she remembered one of them touching her hair, touching her. She had looked at her father in confusion, but he had just smiled and said everything would be ok. It had never been ok again.

She cried out "No!" in her sleep as the memories of the men touching her flooded back. She tried so hard to keep it pushed down. The disgust she felt with herself, the embarrassment that she didn't stop them. The resentment that had grown against her father for not protecting her. Her mother had known, but had been unable to protect her. She was fighting her own demons at the time and Noah's abuse of Donna was at a particularly high point. He would threaten to kill her anytime she tried to interfere and had even choked her within an inch of her life when she had tested him.

Her mother had been afraid of Noah and so she and Felicity had stayed. All of the memories came flooding back and then she started screaming.

Oliver heard an ear-piercing scream come from their room; from Felicity and he raced up the stairs, Anatoli and his men right behind him with guns drawn. He ran into the room to see Felicity thrashing on the bed, tears on her cheeks, her voice hoarse as she screamed,

"No! Please stop!!!" She had always screamed it in her head. But they had never stopped.

Oliver touched her shoulder and she pulled away from him. It made his heart ache. What was she dreaming about? He needed to get her awake. He gently shook her shoulder, calling her name. "Felicity!"

She suddenly bolted upright and looked around the room, her eyes wide with terror, her body immediately backing away from him against the headboard. He watched her in confusion but did not touch her again."Felicity, baby! It's me!"

He tried to catch her gaze and when he did, she suddenly launched herself into his arms. "Lev!!!"

Anatoli and his men backed out of the room, lending them privacy and Oliver held her tightly. She was trembling and her tears were still falling.

"What is it my love? What were you dreaming about?" He pulled back and looked at her with concern.

She knew she needed to tell him. She needed to tell him everything about what her father had made her do, what he had allowed the men to do, and what she had been too weak to stop. She looked at him with fearful eyes. She was afraid. Afraid he would think differently of her. Afraid he would leave her. She didn't know if she could tell him. Not yet!

She shook her head no, and buried her face in the crook of his shoulder. He knew she was telling him she could not talk about it, so he just held her tight.

She suddenly just started crying as the emotions she had suppressed came flooding out. Her fears were bringing her feelings back to her, she was starting to feel the pain again. She didn't want to feel the pain.

"My father..........!", she sobbed. Oliver gripped her tight, hoping that with the sheer strength of his arms he could stop the trembling.

"Your safe Felicity!", he said softly. "You will always be safe with me."

She sobbed, and Oliver's heart broke. He knew there had been some history with her father. The abuse had been something that they had never talked about. He knew they needed to but he was not going to pressure her. He would wait until she was ready.

Oliver laid back on the bed, pulling her down with him. She curled over him, wrapping herself as tightly as she could around him and just cried.

"I know something happened with your father Felicity. And I want you to know that I am here when you are ready to talk." He gently stroked her cheek. "Know that whatever you have to tell me, whatever happened. It will not change how I feel about you. I love you!"

She continued to sob as the feelings washed over her. As she cried she could feel a cathartic lifting of the burden that she had been carrying all of these years and she knew that when she told Oliver the truth that the burden would lift completely.

She made a decision to tell him. But she couldn't do it right now. Her emotions were too raw, too painful. She needed to have some control of her emotions.

"I know I need to tell you about what happened with my father. And I will. I just can't right now." She held him tight, he was her anchor. "Can we talk tonight?", she said into his neck.

"Yes baby. We can talk tonight."