Damien

"He's not my husband. He's my stepfather."

My head was ringing from her revelation. The whole room went silent. Not a word was said.

"Please say something," she begged me.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

"Damien..." she whispered pleadingly.

I tried again. "I don't understand," I said, still dazed from her admission. "Marcus is your stepfather?"

She nodded.

Then Ty and Michy... oh god. Fury raged inside me.

"Your stepfather is the father of your kids?"

Hallie paled.

"Son of a bitch!" I growled.

"Damien..." she tried to say.

"He fucking touched you? Sick fucking bastard. I swear to god, when I get my hands on him, I'm going to kill him," I vowed.

"Damien..." she sobbed.

I immediately forced myself to calm down.

"Hey. You're safe now. He's never going to hurt you again. I swear it. You are all safe with me, sweetheart," I promised.

She nodded against me.

I looked over to Nate and silently sent him a message, which he got. He nodded, his face hard. Men who abuse women are worthless piece shit.

"Hallie..."

"I don't want you to go after him. I just want him away from Ty and Michy."

"Give us a name and we will do everything we can," Nate promised.

"Marcus. Marcus Barnes."

"Can you send the name to Joaquin so he can get in touch with his guy in the FBI?" Nate asked.

Jake nodded. "On it."

"Can you tell us what you know?"

"He's in an auto-dealership business. It's just a front for a small part of all the illegal things he does. He's involved in prostitution, drugs, and human trafficking. Months before I escaped I was able to get confidential files on all of his illegal operations. It contains all of the names of government and police officials, known businessmen on his payroll."

"Were you able to get a copy of it?" Alan asked.

Hallie nodded. "I have it on a flash drive. I figured I needed it as collateral just in case he gets close. I can give it to you if you'd like."

Nate nodded. "You have no idea how useful it would be. Does he know you have it?"

"I don't think so."

"How did you even discover it?"

"One night I overheard a conversation between Marcus and one of his men. One of the names on his list was threatening to expose him, so he asked his men to send a message letting him know of the files he has on all involved in his illegal operations," she explained. "One night, he threw a party, I was able slip away and quickly search for it in his computer. I had a friend who was good at hacking computers. He helped me."

"The baker? The one who introduced you to the guy who helped you with the fake documents?" I asked.

She nodded.

"By then things were escalating with him. He was becoming more and more abusive."

"How did your mom get involved with him?" Jake asked.

"They met where my mom used to work. He was all roses and butterflies. Treated my mom well and even seemed to accept the fact she had a daughter. I always felt uneasy, but my mom was happy so I didn't do or say anything to her. He married my
Mom and moved back to the UK. His business was there, but now I realize it was just his way of isolating my mom. I was the only family she had and after they married, I saw and heard very little from her. He payed for my education and controlled where and when I was to attend college and where I lived. He explained by saying that he was a powerful man with enemies and was only looking after me, but there was a difference between protective and controlling."

"Your mom never told you he was abusive?"

She shook her head. "I didn't know until later on. Our contact was monitored and timed. She was always in a hurry."

"When did you learn of it?"

"After I graduated, my mom informed me she was pregnant. Asked if I could move closer. Said she was nervous about having another baby and needed me. I agreed," Hallie explained. "He dotted at her. Catered to her wants and needs, but it was all for show. One night, I walked past their room hoping to check on my mother and I heard my mother pleading for him to stop and that he was hurting her. Then a loud whimper came next. I burst through the door and saw him on top of my mom, forcing himself on her."

"Would you rather I have my way with your daughter, he growled, and I was rooted to the ground speechless. My begged and told him to leave me alone. He laughed. Said I was a fucking looker, which angered my mom. She hit him which angered him. She lost the baby that night," Hallie cried. "I became a prisoner after that. I was scared to death of him. My mom begged me not to try to escape or go to the police. She told me to do what I was told and I would be safe, so I did. I was so angry at my mom. At myself, but I felt so guilty for not trying to stop my mom from getting involved with him."

"It wasn't your fault. None of it was," Nate said.

"Nate is right," I agreed.

"I allowed him to hurt my mom. He hurt me. He hurt Ty and god knows he would have continued hurting him and eventually Michy."

"And you got out."

"Not soon enough!"

"Don't do that to yourself," Nate said.

"It's true. I should have done something long ago. It wasn't until he laid a hand on Ty that I was determined to leave. I should have left the moment he killed my mother."

"You couldn't risk being impulsive or sloppy, Hallie. You wouldn't have made it out the front door," Nate argued.

"He killed my mother. He killed her."

"Shh... I've got you, baby," I said, as I pulled her against me.

"You've been through a lot. All of you. And a guy like that will never stop coming after you. We will do everything we can to protect you, but we also need to be prepared when he comes for you," Nate said. "And Hallie, he will come for you. You know he will. It's only a matter of time. You can't hide from him forever, but our chances will be greater if we are in control of when and where."

Hallie nodded against me. "I know he will. It's me he wants gone. He wants me dead and he won't stop until I am. I betrayed him. I took his kids away from him. No one crosses him and gets away with it."

"How did you escape?" Alan asked.

"A baker, Danny helped me. After my mother died, I begged Marcus to let me work and I was surprised when he agreed. I don't know why, but he did. Of course I was watched like a hawk, but I did everything I could to use it as an opportunity to try and make a plan to escape. I worked for him a few hours every other day. Danny eventually figured out what was happening. I wasn't trying to hide it. I would purposely leave clues for him to find and eventually we had an opportunity. I told him what I could and he helped me. He helped me get tickets for the ferry. He knew someone who faked documents, so I had him help me get in touch with this man and he made the necessary paper works for us."

"Fake documents?" Nate asked.

She nodded.

"So what's your real name?"

"It's Hallie. I only used the name on the  documents to help us cross back to the states. I couldn't risk him finding us by using our real names while traveling back. I'm hoping Marcus hasn't figured it out, but I'm not sure. I'm hoping he thinks we haven't left Yorkshire. I'm certain he would have checked airlines and whatever he can. We wore a disguise while traveling, so I'm hoping even if he come across the ferry we took and asked around, none would recognize us as the people he was looking for. When we got here, we stayed in a small town called, Westchester. There I met a middle aged lady who helped us get back on our feet."

"Why did you move to LA?" Nate asked.

"I was starting to get scared and paranoid. I felt like I stayed longer than was safe for all of us. I also didn't want to put her life in danger by helping us,"
Hallie shrugged. "I chose LA cause I figured this is the last place Marcus would think I would go. It's too exposed."

The guys nodded.

"And," Hallie started.

"And what?" Alan asked.

"I'm also looking for my dad."

"Your dad?" I asked. She never spoke of him.

She nodded. "I never knew him and my mom never spoke about him. Whenever I would ask, she would simply say that he was someone of no importance and that it was just me and her against the world, but before she died, she was able to tell me his name and say that he was my father and I needed to find him."

"What's his name?" I asked.

"Larry. Larry Winston."

"Of Winston Corp?" Jake asked in surprise.

She nodded.

"Shit. Now that you mentioned his name I see the resemblance."

"You know him?" She asked.

"We worked security for him a few times."

"Does he know?"

Hallie shrugged. "I don't know."

"He's a stand up guy. One of the good ones," Nate said. "We wouldn't accept his business if he wasn't. I'm sure he would have done right by you if he knew or at least he would now when he learns of you."

"You can't know that," Hallie said.

"You're right, I can't. But I'd like to think that I know him well enough to know that he will do the right thing."

"If you are in fact his kid,"
Jake began, "not that I'm saying you're not or suggesting your mom lied, because shit, you look a lot like him. Anyways," he shook his head. "What I was trying to say is that, being his daughter. His only child, you're his only heir. You stand to inherit everything he owns."

"I don't care about that. I was only looking for him because I thought he could help me."

"Do you still want to meet him?" I asked.

She looked at me. I saw the hesitation in her eyes. "I'm scared. What if he rejects me?"

"Then it would be his loss. You're an incredible woman, Hallie Scott and he would be crazy not to acknowledge you as his own and want to get to know you."

"You always know what to say," she said, tears filling her eyes.

"It's the truth."

"You only have to say the word, and we can arrange it," Nate said.

"It would expose her to the world," Alan said.

"I've got a plan," Nate said. "Only if Hallie agrees first," he said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We'll use her as bait," Nate said.