TAKE ME TO DADDY!
1579 Words
MELANIE
“Oh no!” I hurry to my feet, shame heating up my cheeks with bright red colors.
I’m suddenly aware of how naked I am, how bare I’ve laid myself in front of these men I vowed to do anything and everything to stay away from.
I keep my eyes on the ground as I search relentlessly for my underwear. I can feel their gazes burning the skin of my back.
“This was a f*****g mistake.” It’s a curse underneath my breath, but I know they can hear me.
Not that I care much about that. Right now, Penelope is my main priority.
“Are you there, mummy?”
Shit.
I turn around to find the brothers fully dressed, besides Cassian.
Val had brought me here in my underwear, what the hell am I supposed to do now? I sure as hell can’t show up to the door dressed like this.
I’m not even dressed at all!
Great.
How responsible of me. I got away from Brandon to protect Penelope from her father, and the first thing I did was f**k men far more dangerous.
Mother of the year!
Who knows? If I keep up with this, I could get both of us killed soon.
I stare blankly at them, fingers pressed against my hips.
I know they— especially Cassian and Xavier— have a lot to say, seeing as they didn’t know about my daughter before now, but I don’t have time to explain.
“Here,” Cassian finally breaks the silence, stretching his shirt out to me.
“You can have this.”
When I don’t move, he tosses the shirt over to me.
I manage to catch it before it touches the ground, quickly putting it on and buttoning up with shaky fingers.
Val quietly puts a warm blanket over my shoulders, covering the rest of my body.
My hair must be in a mess, and I definitely smell like s*x.
“Thank…” I clear my coarse throat.
“Thank you.” I say, avoiding their gazes, before walking towards the door.
I turn around to give them a glance.
“Please, stay here.”
It’ll be better Penelope doesn’t see them yet. Not until I’ve found a way to introduce them without my cheeks going ablaze.
When I open the door, my princess is standing there, clutching her dress as tears fill her eyes.
My heart all but jumps out of my chest.
I drop to my knees immediately, panic flooding my veins as I cup her cheeks, frantically searching her face for a sign.
What’s wrong?
“Hey, sweetie. Are you okay?”
She shakes her head. Her neck feels hot.
Fuck.
“Did something happen? Did you have a nightmare?”
“Daddy,” she blurts out. Snot running down her nose.
Goosebumps rush to the surface of my skin, a gripping cold running down my spine as a ball forms in my throat.
“Pen?”
“Daddy is on the TV.”
What? That’s not even possible.
“Come, sweetie,” I rise to my feet. She probably had a nightmare.
“Let’s go to bed.”
“No!” She screams, pulling her hand away from me.
“I’m not going to bed, you’re not going to bed. Daddy…daddy is on the TV!”
My brows narrow into slits.
So, it’s not a nightmare.
She turns and dashes away, while I hurry behind, trying to keep up with her.
I watch as she pushes the door of Val’s room open so hard, I fear the noise will draw attention to us. I follow swiftly behind.
She was right.
Oh my God.
My heart plummets to the pit of my stomach so fast, I almost vomit all over Val’s plush burgundy rug.
The flat screen TV by the wall is on.
I’m looking at a live stream.
My fingers grip the blanket tighter, nails digging into the skin of my palm.
Brandon.
Brandon is on the screen. On live TV. He’s still wearing the shirt I saw him in. His eyes are bloodshot red, hair in a mess. He has snot running down his nose as he cries out.
“Help me! My wife, she took my child away…”
Oh no.
“She’s been struggling for years with postpartum depression…”
I shake my head.
“…she even used to hurt herself. I tried, tried so hard to support and protect her, as well as protect my daughter from her…”
My gaze shifts to Penelope who has planted herself in front of the screen.
Her hands are shaking.
Her hands are…
No. No!
“…please, Melanie…” Brandon breaks the fourth wall, stares right into the camera.
“If you’re seeing this, don’t hurt Pen…”
“You manipulative bastard! I will never hurt my child!” I scream out.
Penelope whips her head in my direction. Her stare is blank, empty, lifeless.
No.
My baby.
Please.
She’s scratching her palm viciously, over and over again.
“…I’ll do anything you want…” Brandon’s voice cuts into my thoughts.
“Whatever it is. Just don’t hurt Pen. Take me instead.”
I press my right hand against my mouth to stop myself from screaming. My other hand reaches out, pleading for Pen to come to me.
“Pen, baby,”
She doesn’t respond.
Instead, she turns away from me and faces the wall.
No.
“Pen, sweetie.”
Right in front of me, she hits her forehead on the wall.
A raw scream tears through my throat.
“Pen!”
“Take me to daddy.” She repeats, hitting her again.
“No!”
“Take me to daddy! Take me to my daddy! I want to see my daddy!”
I try to pull her away from the wall, but she moves away, tripping against a wooden table and falling to the floor.
She starts to roll from end to end, kicking out, thrashing, screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Take me back! Take me back!”
I lunge at her, but she sends her right foot flying forward, kicking me in my face.
“Pen!”
The last scream is raw, from the very bottom of my heart as I fall to the ground.
The door bursts open. Val rushes in first, and the rest of them follow.
From the corner of my eye, I see Cassian switch off the TV.
Xavier and Valentin rush to Penelope.
It’s Xavier that risks his face by planting himself in front of Pen, trapping her legs between his knees, and wrapping her small wrists in one palm.
She stays still.
“You’re okay.” Xavier speaks softly.
“You’re okay, little one. It’s okay.”
Penelope’s screams stop. She blinks once, then twice, before the tears come gushing down her cheeks.
Xavier moves just enough to pick her up and put her head against his shoulder. She sobs helplessly into the collar of his shirt.
She doesn’t even know him, yet he was able to calm her down, and I…I couldn’t.
She hates me.
My daughter really hates me.
Val and Xavier take Penelope out of the room. Cassian stretches his hand to help me up, but I don’t take it.
I can’t.
Not after what they’ve seen. They’ve just witnessed the two biggest failures in my life; my marriage and my motherhood.
I’m good for absolutely nothing.
“We’ll be in the study with her.”
I don’t reply or even look up until the door shuts behind them.
I won’t forgive Brandon for this.
I push myself up to my feet and search around the room for my phone.
Once I find it beside my denim trousers, I pick it up and dial Brandon’s number.
“You bastard!” I yell.
It is impossible to hide the gate in my heart. He has taken everything from me, yet it’ll never be enough for him, will it?
Brandon’s laughter echoes in my ear.
“You stupid b***h. Did you really think it’ll be that easy to leave me?”
I gasp.
Oh God.
“You…”
“Come back, Melanie. Come back home, and we can put this whole charade behind us. You and I know you’re nothing without me. Where would you go? What do you have?”
I swallow hard, trying to fight my tears.
He’s not worth it. His words are not worth it.
Don’t cry.
“The money in my wallet would only take you so far. No one would take you in. You said it yourself, remember? Even your own mother didn’t want you. I’m the only one who can put up with your nonsense, your ill luck…”
“f**k you!”
“I would rather not.” He chuckles.
“You’re sick!” I seethe.
“I would jump off a cliff before I ever return to you!”
“Yeah, right. Just let me have my daughter before you do that.”
I scoff bitterly.
“As if I’ll ever let you see her again.”
“That’s a shame,” He sighs.
“Because I’m going to make sure everyone sees you for the worthless b***h you truly are, including Pen. There’ll be nowhere left in this world for you to hide, Melanie Kingston…”
I flinch at the mention of his last name beside my first.
“…I promise you.”
- Writer
