True Identity

"Dinner is ready," Tyr said, from the doorway of his sister's room. The two women were engaged in a lesson on Hindu philosophy that was as thorough as it was interesting. Abbie was a natural teacher, breaking down concepts to their basic elements for his little sister. The girl was taking notes as if she were in class. They'd been at it for hours now, Abbie patiently answering the girl's questions, even if it meant reviewing the material again. The man was impressed, and so were his parents. What other talents was his lady hiding from the world? From what he'd seen so far, the answer was 'a lot'.

"Huh?" Both women looked up with adorably confused looks on their faces, having forgotten about eating in the midst of the lesson. Suddenly Jubilee's stomach mutinied. They laughed at this, remembering the original reason for Abbie being here in the first place. They were quick to wash up and come to the table, Tyr remembering his promise to take it down a notch for the meal.

"So, besides being an expert in Hindu philosophy, what else should we know about you?" the patriarch of the family asked once everyone had filled their plates and started eating. Abbie immediately pushed back from the table, looking scared.

"Oh, no, sir. I'm not an expert or anything. I just remember a few things from my own Eastern Philosophy class."

"With respect, you don't teach my daughter like you just 'remember a few things'" Victoria said sweetly. She wanted some answers and she planned to have them now that her husband had opened the door to this interrogation. "Where did you study?"

"University of Calgary, Class of 2016," she said automatically, trying hard not to remember other, harsher lessons a lifetime ago. Father insisted that she be versed in many cultures after all. And if his little mistake needed some encouragement to get it right the first time… "I'm sorry, what?"

"Abhaya. Sweetie," the mother said softly, grabbing for her hand and frowning when she flinched away as she always did. "Don't you think it's time that you told us who you really are?"

"I… I should go," she whispered, beginning to tremble. The effect on the room couldn't have been more chaotic if she'd shouted the sentence. Victoria started backpedaling immediately, stating that she didn't have to tell them anything, Barbarossa insisted that she did and the two began arguing. And Jubilee started complaining about wanting more time with her to study after dinner.

But only Tyr recognized the statement for what it was. Abbie wasn't talking about just leaving the house for the night. She was actually planning to leave her whole life behind. He looked into her eyes and saw the truth of it. She was about to move on, leaving with only the money in her bank account and the clothes on her back. He'd seen her bank account balance, knew that she shunted her money to another, likely even more lucrative account. She had enough money to disappear where he would never find her. Especially if she left the continent. Which she would; he could feel it in his bones. She would leave everything they'd built together in a heartbeat, all for some imagined fear.

Suddenly furious at the woman, he did the only thing he could think of. He raced her to the door, stopping her when she went to leave. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back, ignoring his family as they yelled for her to stop.

"Let me go, Anasazi!"

"Never," he growled, working to hold her when she struggled to get out of his hold. The two were seconds from grappling on the ground, causing the mother to come in to try and break things up.

"That's enough you two!"

"No! I will not lose you to this," Tyr shouted in her face, still holding her back from the door by virtue of his strength training.

"You never had me to lose," she spat, everything in her focused on getting out the door. If she could just get out of the house… It wouldn't even matter which direction she took. She could just disappear.

"Say that again," he yelled, startling everyone. By now he had her pinned to the door. "Tell me that you don't want me to my face. Look me in the eye and say that you don't love me and I'll open this door and let you disappear out of our lives right now. Say it!"

"I… I d-don't…"

"Say it, Bliss. Right now!"

"Stop bullying me!" He leaned into her trembling form, breathing her in.

"You don't know from half," he threatened her, growling again to see her eyes dilate. "Can you tell me that you don't want me? Right here, right now? 'Cause if you can't then you need to come back to the table and tell us what you're hiding."

"I… It's dangerous for you, any of you, to know who I am! I'm trying to protect you!"

"We're not children that need protection," Barbarossa said from behind his son. He was starting to understand what his son had cottoned onto from the beginning. "I know that you and my son have a connection. It won't lessen with distance, trust me. If you truly care for him, if this month has meant anything to you, please tell us." She pulled herself out of Tyr's eyes long enough to get lost in the father's eyes, eyes so like his son's.

"I can't," she whispered, voice breaking as the first tear escaped her eyes. "Please… I can't!"

"You can," her suitor piped up, breaking the connection between father and potential daughter-in-law. Staring into her soul, pain stared back at him. "Whatever it is that hurts you so deeply, I swear to you that we can handle it. Just tell us. I won't turn away from you." He caught the girl as she collapsed against him, sobbing. The two stayed that way for a few minutes, only Abbie's panting sobs filling the room. Since they were already in the living room, Victoria settled on the couch to hear the tale. Jubilee similarly settled down for the eventual explanation. Barbarossa continued to stare at the couple, worried, but unable to think of anything to do to help the suffering girl. He turned towards his wife and she passed him a box of tissues. He grinned at her and turned to the crying girl with the box. She huffed a watery laugh and took a bunch to clean the snot off of her face.

"Yeah, I don't cry pretty," she told her shirt with a sigh. He tried to lift her head, but she resisted, starting to memorize the pattern of his belt. He kissed the top of her head, arms returning to their place around her thick waist.

"Honest tears are always preferable," he whispered against her temple. "'Pretty' doesn't always equal 'honest'." She nodded, still sniffling.

"I came from a cold, conniving family," she began at length. "They delight in being cruel, and above all, winning. I cost them their first and greatest defeat by disappearing out of my life on my eighteenth birthday. My father… My father always wanted a son to be his heir. He got me instead. Then, five years later, when they'd resigned themselves to having a female heir, they suddenly had a son - twins - and I became redundant. To get rid of me, they arranged a marriage for me, one that they deemed was 'worthy' of me. I told them that I would die before I married that sadistic, chuckling, cruel… fuck. When they insisted that it would happen or there would be Hell to pay, I walked away."

"I have legal documents confirming my new identity. I have even more documents separating me from my old life. They're in a fire-proof bin that was one of the only things to survive the fire. If those documents ever fell into the wrong hands, if they were destroyed… I might as well die, 'cause my life, the life I've built here, wouldn't be worth anything anymore. They're all the protection I have against my family." She looked up at that, silently begging Tyr not to make her go on. His face was implacable.

"I… I was born Crystal Lily Darcy." She started memorizing his belt then, letting her statement sink in. The father blinked. The Darcys? They were an American family. He'd never crossed swords with them, they ran in different financial circles. But they weren't as all-powerful as she seemed to think.

"Sweetheart, you have to calm down," Victoria said, looking her over sympathetically. Abbie blinked. She'd expected more of a reaction to her true name.

"Don't you get it? The Darcys are a very influential-"

"Maybe on the East Coast they are," Barbarossa said firmly, "But to the rest of us, they're only a name amongst millions. "My business is very successful as well. I could likely go head to head with these 'Darcys' of yours and win. Relax. You're safe now."

"I'm never safe," she shuddered. "I was supposed to marry Lestat LaGragne the-"

"Lestat is a monster," Tyr said angrily. Lestat LaGragne was constantly in the news for his boozing, short-lived rehab stents, and endless womanizing. The thought of him having Tyr's innocent woman lit something wild in his blood. "You will never marry him."

"That's right, I won't," she said coldly. "But that's my choice to make, not yours, Tyr. Don't you understand? The Darcys are powerful, influential, and purely evil. I learned sixteen languages, studied countless cultures, did everything they ever asked of me and all of it meant exactly squat in the end. They passed me off to a monster for the sake of the Almighty Dollar without a thought to what he would do to me after he had me. If they knew, if they even suspected that I'd gone out and... attached myself to someone without their blessing… The consequences…"

"I don't care about the consequences, Bliss. I care about-"

"You should," the girl quietly. "I see how much you love your family. According to my mother, love is weakness. They will destroy everything you love. Your sister? Out of school forever. She wants to be a lawyer? Never going to happen now. Your father? Prevented from his business ventures. All of them. In this world, businessmen are dependent on each other. Can you stand alone in a world of interdependency? Your mother? Do you like this home, this mansion you live in? Foreclosed on. They live off the pain of others. You will hate me by the time they finish with you and your family."

"Oh, come off it, Abhaya," Jubilee scoffed. "How exactly are they going to accomplish all of that from the other side of another country? Look, I get that they are powerful. I get that they encompassed your life as a child, but you're not a child anymore. Those assholes can't hurt you anymore! You belong to us now and we'll fight to keep you safe from them."

"Jubilee's right," the father said kindly. "You've escaped the circle of their influence now. You can be anybody you want to be now. Including Tyr's woman," he added slyly.

"I… I can't-"

"You can, my lovely one," her suitor said sweetly, leaning in close where he was still holding her against the door. "This was your big secret. This was the thing that was standing between us and we just proved that we can handle it. It's time to stop running, Abhaya. Your old family can't hurt you. Join mine. Let me in, Bliss. Let me love you."

"But what if they come back for me?" she whimpered. "Mother is not accustomed to losing. She expected to gain the renown of the LeGrangne empire and instead-"

"And instead you walked away from that life altogether like the strong, independent woman you are," he smiled. "I'm proud of you, Bliss. You're so smart; you even thought of a contingency plan for if they catch up to you, didn't you?"

"I… I did, Tyr. For all his fortune and power, Father is a very private person. What I am is a scandal and that is enough to keep me safe if they ever catch up to me. He'd do just about anything to stay out of the papers for personal reasons. Mother is selfish and self-centered. The attention might be worth it for her, and screw the fact that it's bad press. I'm still not sure how the situation would unfold. And if I can't guarantee my own safety, how the heck can I protect you and your family?"

"There is no need to protect us, Sweetie," Victoria smiled at the girl. "The Darcys can't hurt you anymore. You're free."

"I'll never be-"

He possessed her lips softly and she fell into the kiss longingly. He still had her hands trapped against his chest, but he used his free arm to draw her in close. She moaned with satisfaction when he angled his head just so and possessed her mouth with an expertise that would have startled her if she were more aware of her surroundings. The twenty-seven year old was not an innocent like his lady. He'd played the field and knew the secret places of a woman's body like no other. But right now he was focused on his woman. The kiss was over too soon for either of them, but there was a definite reduction of tension after it was over.

"You said my name," he told her once she opened passion-glazed eyes to him. He smiled at the dreamy look on her face. "Abhaya, tell me that you can live without this, without me, and I'll drive you to the airport right now. We'll stop by the house and pick up your documents on the way. Tell me that you don't love me. But tell me now. 'Cause if you can't, you need to stop running from me."

"I…" She blinked and took a deep breath to lie. "I don't-"

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you feel nothing for me, Bliss. Right now." She tried to look away, but he wouldn't let her and soon she had to admit defeat.

"I… I can't," she finally admitted slowly.

"You love me," he said, wanting to hear her say it aloud.

"Yes, you stubborn, wonderful man. I love you. I don't know-woah!" she yelled when he picked her up and twirled her in a circle. He was laughing in triumph and the sudden carefree expression on his face made him even more attractive if such a thing was possible. She laughed with him, excited to finally, FINALLY say it aloud. She'd been in love with him since the first time their eyes met three years ago. But the secret she kept was just too big to allow for love. Now that the secret was out, she could say it aloud.

"Say it again," he commanded gently.

"I love you," she said shyly, feeling vulnerable all of a sudden. She looked down in embarrassment, remembering they had an audience. He lifted her chin and caressed her cheek at the same time.

"No, love. Don't look away from me," Tyr said softly. He covered her lips with his and it truly was bliss. She sighed in satisfaction when he wrapped those strong arms of his around her and drew her into his embrace. And this time she went willingly, leaning into him instead of pulling away. The kisses spun out so long that the parents and sister went back into the dining room to finish dinner. When he finally released her she was leaning on him fully, looking up at him shyly. "Better, little one?"

"Mmmm," she hummed up at him, finally understanding what words like 'serene' and 'tranquil' felt like for the first time in a lifetime. "So, this is love?" she asked quietly, feeling no shame in her vulnerability at the moment.

"It is," he nodded, rubbing his hair against hers.

"You two should come and eat before there's nothing left," Victoria called sweetly into the living room. The new couple moved into the dining room and after microwaving their meals, they settled down to eat Esperanza's expertly prepared meal.

"So, what's the game plan to deal with the Darcys?" Jubilee asked when the meal was over. "What?" she said when all eyes turned to the pre-law student. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not eager to find out just how accurate Abbie's descriptions of their cruelty are."

"I don't lie. I don't need to. Look up their history and you'll see their cruelty for yourself."

"I think that we threaten to expose them with Abbie's evidence. That should make them back off," Tyr said, holding her right hand with his left. "I'm going to fight for her, family. I'm sorry if that's going to make your lives harder, but I can't lose my Bliss."

"Abhaya belongs to all of us," Barbarossa said definitively. "There's no reason to give her up, especially to a possibility. You're one of us now," he told the girl, watching her tear up with a smile. "We're not going to lose you."

"You really mean it, Mr. Anas-"

"That's enough of that. Call me Dad. My son is officially courting you after all."

"Daddy's right, Abhaya. Feel free to come to me with any concerns or questions about the courting process. You're one of us now. Welcome to the family." The girl was too choked up to speak, tears rolling down her face as she reached out to hug first the father and then the mother of her suitor. Everyone laughed at that, tearing up themselves.

So, the secret's out. It used to be much bigger of a deal, but it didn't really fit the narrative. Join me next chapter to see what happens next! I am a sucker for a good review. :D