Chapter 19: Bonds of Depravity

Jessica came in later that evenin’, hesitant, her eyes shadowed with the weight of her mother’s calls, the lawyers’ letters, Malcom’s earnest, oblivious love. She sat on the edge of the couch, pullin’ her knees up, her schoolgirl skirt bunched, her body still raw from the night’s depravity, from childbirth weeks ago. Her belly was soft, marked with faint stretch lines, a constant reminder of the twins sleeping in the nursery down the hall. The air still hung heavy from our earlier discussion, the scent of stale cum and baby powder lingering like a perverse shroud over the ranch.

Alex sat beside her, pulling her close, wrapping an arm around her shoulders—sisterly in a way that went beyond blood, forged in the fires of the ranch. Zoe stood, watching us, her gaze intense, a mirror to Alex’s resolve. I remained standing, a silent figure of authority, my gaze pinning Jessica, my body still aching from the night before, milk leaking faint onto my tank top, a stark reminder of the dual roles I played—mother and monster.

“They’re pushing hard, Jess,” I said, my voice softer now, but firm, cutting through the quiet. “Your mother, Malcom’s family. They want those babies. They’ll use the courts. They’ll dig. And if they dig deep enough ... they’ll find us. They’ll find Libra, Gemini, Aries, Taurus. All of us.”

Jessica’s breath hitched, her eyes wide with fear. “I know, Teresa. I ... I don’t know what to do.”

“You marry him,” Alex murmured, her voice low, gentle, rubbing Jessica’s arm. “You marry Malcom. You give the twins his name. It’s a shield. It’s protection. For them. For all of us.”

“But ... it’s a lie,” Jessica whispered, tears welling in her eyes. “He thinks they’re his. We’ve had sex plenty of times, but he’s never come inside me, always pulled out at the last second. The only reason he thinks these babies are his is because I said so.” Her voice broke, laced with the weight of her deceit. “He’s ... he’s good to me. Gentle. He doesn’t know...”

“Good and gentle won’t fight Leon’s network,” Zoe stated, her voice sharp, her tone carrying the weight of their shared history under Maggie’s roof, now so far removed. “Good and gentle won’t buy silence. Good and gentle won’t protect your babies from the abyss we live in. We do what we have to do, Jess. Always.”

I walked closer, kneeling before her, my hands reaching out to cup her face, my thumbs brushing away her tears. My own nipples ached, leaking faint milk at the thought of my daughter, of all our children. “This family ... it’s built on sin, Jess. On lies. On doing what others won’t, what others can’t even imagine. We protect our own. And right now ... marrying Malcom is protecting our own. It’s a sacrifice. A heavy one. But it buys time. It buys safety. It buys a future for Libra, Gemini, Aries, Taurus, Pisces, Aquarius.”