Page 132 of Corrupted Heart

“You’re not broken, Kratos,” she whispers in the dark.

I shake my head. “Yes, I?—”

“Just because you’re made differently it doesn’t mean you’re broken. The scars you bear or the pain you’ve suffered don’t either.” Her eyes capture mine. “You’re just put together different.” Her mouth twists in a wry smile. “Like me.”

My lips press softly to hers, kissing her deeply as my arms encircle her small body. When she hitches out a small cry, I pull away sharply with a furrowed brow.

“Babygirl…”

“I…” Her eyes are blurry with tears. She wipes them with the back of her hand, looking away. “I have to tell you something, too.”

My jaw goes rigid as I stroke her hair back from her face. I slide a thick finger over her cheek, brushing away a teardrop.

“When you tried to wash my hair earlier…”

“Don’t worry about?—”

“No, it’s…” Her eyes squeeze shut and she takes a heavy breath. “It’s not that I didn’t want you too. I’d love it if you washed my hair,” she chokes. “It’s just…”

I cup her face again, stroking her cheek with my thumb. Her hand wraps around mine, pulling me closer.

“When I was a sophomore in high school, I started going out with this guy, Tim Ciglione. He was a senior, and all the girls mooned over him. You know the type: rich, popular, captain of the lacrosse team. And smug about all of it.”

Her mouth tightens. Her eyes go a little darker.

So do mine as my blood begins to simmer.

"His dad had this huge, luxury penthouse with a rooftop pool and hot tub and everything, so when Tim decided to throw a party when his dad was going to be out of town, it was the party to be at. We’d only gone on a few dates, but he told me he wanted the night to be special, and that he really wanted me to be there so he could show me off to all the cool, popular people he was friends with. So, I arrive at the party and he’s instantly all over me. Smiling at me, laughing at all my dumb jokes, touching me…”

The beast inside me snarls.

“Giving me drinks. Soon, I was pretty drunk, and in the hot tub alone with him.” She looks at me furtively. “We… We’d never done anything besides kissing, so that’s what we were doing…just kissing.”

Rage explodes in my chest, but I nod for her to continue. I know in my heart that I don’t want to hear this, but just as I needed her to know about Amaya, she needs me to know about this.

If it goes where the acid in my blood thinks it’s going, though, I know there’s only one conclusion to this story: me, finding this Tim motherfucker, and putting him in the goddamn ground.

“Eventually, I told him I had to go home. But he started pushing for more. You know, wanting to put his hands under my bikini, that sort of thing.”

I see pure red.

“I said no, so he started pressing me to touch him. He…”

She swallows, looking away.

“You don’t have to tell me, babygirl.”

“Yes, I do. I want to.”

She takes a shaky breath.

“He pulled his dick out, grabbed my head, and tried to, like, guide it there.”

Mother. Fucker.

He’s a dead man. Fucking dead.

“When I said no, he pulled harder. When I tried to move away, he…” She grimaces. “He pushed my head underwater and tried to force his dick into my mouth.”

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