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I was glad that none of the three reprih as it was
I guessed that all of this had not really been for hie, but ofto rettable events that had transpired in o and see hiht now other than ht to keep Jerareement "Xavier has taken Victoria out for some fresh air, so I’m free to come too"
And so Sofia, Vivienne, Rose and I left the penthouse and hts I led theons resided, and found ain as we arrived outside his door
I unlocked it and swung it open He lay in the same position as I’d left him, curled up in a ball, head braced close to his chest The three wo forward I realized that this was the first ti Jeramiah, her cousin, face to face And Vivienne, too
Even as the women neared, Jeramiah did not look up Not until Sofia reached down and planted a gentle hand on his shoulder He jerked as though electrified and raised his head His eyes fixed on Sofia, then swept across Vivienne and Rose I quickly backed out of the door so that he would not see h to last several lifetih the gap in the partially open door
"What do you ith ," Sofia replied gently There was silence as he continued to eye the women Then Sofia continued, "Jeramiah, you need to understand that none of us have ever ht be for you to accept it, your uncle wants to help you He… we… all wanted you to be a part of our family from the moment we learned of your existence from Ben None of us wanted to see you isolated like your father" Jeramiah flinched at the mention of my brother "Derek forced you to view his memories because he wanted you to know the truth The truth can be thethat will help you move on Get on with your life Lucas sure as hell wasn’t the victiined him to be, but what does it even lance in h the crack in the door I nodded to her in encourage through to Jera, albeit with a vacant face
Silence descended on the cave again, all four of us waiting expectantly for Jerah his eyes still looked distant "Then…" he murmured, "if all I saw is true… I don’t knohere it leaves houl seeh he struggled to even form a sentence But as brief as his statement was, I understood what he , be they va else, needed sooal to strive for Just as for centuriesmy people to sanctuary, Jeramiah’s had been to fill the void in his life he’d felt ever since he was a boy And he had latched onto the idea of paying soe to his father It was clear as day why he had clung so hard to the idea that his father had been the victim; the assumption hat his life was based upon Without that, he had nothing to drive hi else, so more, a different reason to live
He seemed close to a nervous breakdown
Sofia’s expression was traced with concern as she looked down upon the da man Then Vivienne spoke to her nephew for the first time She bent do, as Sofia had done, and dared reach out to touch his hand
"Do you knoho I a his eyes--which he had averted back to the floor--up to ed
"And do you knoho this young lady is?" Viv continued, pointing to Rose, who took the hint and also moved closer
Jeramiah eyed her "My cousin," he muttered
"And Sofia?"
"Also… my aunt"
"And I don’t need to ask whether you knoho Derek is"
Even through his daze, Jeraed a scowl He shook his head stiffly
"Then don’t you have so to live for?" Vivienne concluded The way she addressed Jeramiah now reminded me so much of the way she would try to soothe our older brother during one of his bouts of insecurity
"But I do not know you" Jeraers to me"
"Well," Rose spoke up, "did you ever hter stared hard at her cousin
"No," Jeraet to know us As my mom said, ere ready to welcome you with open arms until you went and set our island on fire You murdered Kailyn, and you allaring at Jeraet to know us," Rose went on, unrelenting in her steely gaze, "an apology would be a good place to start"