Part One Hundred and Two

Adara was already in bed when I finished putting Christian to sleep on his mattress on the floor. She smiled sadly as I walked in and closed the door. She turned on her side as I slid into bed next to her.

“What did Malachi mean when he said you know why?”

My hand cradled her stomach and I thought about it for a few seconds. Malachi was a proud man but nothing that had happened to him was his fault and the one secret that he wasn’t aware I knew would remain safe. I’d never tell anybody that Franklin had raped him as a boy.

“Franklin would tie Malachi to a tree, the one I cut down, especially when it snowed. He left him there for hours until Georgina came home and found him, that was before he could heal. His training sessions consisted of Malachi’s hands tied behind his back and Franklin with a baseball bat. Broken arms and ribs, so many times. He was cruel, Adara. He beat Malachi with a whip when he got home late and one night, he tried his best to kill him.”

“How can a father do som