Hearts Need Love

Chapter 23

It took an hour to stop Will from going after his father, and another hour after that to get him to sit down and shut up. Nico understood his rage, even shared it, but landing himself in jail on an assault charge wasn't going to help anyone.

"I can't just do nothing," Will ground out. "She's still with the piece of shit."

"We'll have her come live with us," Nico offered. "And if he comes around here looking to hurt either of you, I've got my gun."

"Do you really think she's going to agree to that?" Will asked.

Nico sighed. "No. But you can talk to her. And maybe you can talk to those twins, ask them how they got their mother out of it. Her boyfriend after Apollo was an abusive shit, wasn't he?"

Will nodded. "But Mary hates me. She's not going to help me with anything."

"You don't know that until you try," Nico said, sounding too much like his dad. "See if Kayla or Austin knows their address or number."

Will buried his head in his hands for a good minute before grabbing his phone. "Hazel's going to keep Bianca?"

Nico nodded. "And you know she'd be so excited for your mom to move in."

Will sent a text to both Kayla and Austin before laying back on the bed. "I always thought they were so happy. I just...I can't believe this."

Nico laid next to him. "Do you remember him ever hitting you?"

Will shook his head. "I don't remember anything. Was I that blind?"

"Will..." Nico rolled onto his stomach and propped his chin up on his hands, looking down at Will's face. "If you even dare start blaming yourself..."

"How can I not? I didn't notice that my father was beating my mother. How can someone not notice that?" Will laid the phone on his chest. "I could have stopped it. I could've, I know it."

"They kept it behind closed doors, Will. There was nothing you could do." Nico ran his fingers through Will's hair. "Just trust me on that, okay? I'm a cop, I've seen these things. If you honestly can't remember him hurting you, you were either too young to remember or you blocked it all out, which means it had been really bad. You're as much of a victim as she is. He's the only villain."

Will didn't look like he believed him but stayed silent, his eyes on the ceiling. Nico just stayed silent with him, waiting for one of Will's half-siblings to respond. Eventually, Austin did with an address.

"Will, here we go." Nico showed him the text. "Let's get going before it's too late to just pop in."

Will glanced at the phone. "I still vote on just killing him."

"I know you do." Nico pulled him to his feet. "But we aren't doing that."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not having either of us go down for murder." Nico led him to the car and typed the address into the GPS before driving, his hands gripping the stirring wheel tight. "Think of Bi. She wouldn't last long with you in prison."

Will just stared out the window, and Nico couldn't blame him for the silence. His life had been turned upsidedown.

When they finally got to the apartment, Mary's male counterpart let them in after their introductions. They were just alike in every way you could see. But it didn't take long to notice the differences in personalities.

"I'm Milo," he introduced. "And I apologize if my sister's been a bitch to you. She gets a little too feisty. Has our dad's anger issues."

Will glanced around. "Is she here?"