Page 13 of Shattered Wings

Rising cautiously, my body aches in places that it hasn’t ached in for a very long time. Something isn’t sitting well with me right now. Heading into the bathroom, I flip on the light and gasp at what I see in the mirror. There’s an enormous bruise on my neck. It looks like someone sucked it like they were a damn vampire trying to drink my blood. My thighs bear bruises in the shape of fingerprints as well. WHAT. THE. FUCK. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have gotten so messed up last night that I went out and fucked someone. Lachlan would never come over and take advantage of me, especially not with me asleep. Oh my god, this can’t be happening right now, considering all the other shit I have to deal with.

Regardless, I need some answers. The only person I can ask at the moment is Lach. So, walking over to my nightstand, I pick up my cell phone, I guess I put it there last night.

Sending a text to Lach, I say…

Ellie: Hey. Did you happen to come over here after you dropped me off last night?

He responds instantly, but my stomach drops.

Lachlan: No, I didn’t come back over. Why, are you alright?

Hell no, I’m not alright. Now I am panicking because someone was in my room with me. There’s no doubt that someone touched me when they shouldn’t have.

Ellie: I’m fine. No need to worry. I’ll text you later.

But I am worried. I’m freaking the fuck out because I don’t know what actually happened to me. It felt like a dream, but if that was the case, why are there marks all over my body?

I don’t have time to sit and dwell on this all day long though. I’m taking Blakely out for ice cream and a movie today. This is a problem for another day. Until it isn’t…

Heading into the bathroom, I rush through my routine as quickly as I can. After showering, I throw some concealer on this hideous mark, and then blow dry my hair. Looking down into the trash, there’s a used condom. Holding onto the counter, bile rises to the back of my throat. No. No. No. My body shakes and my teeth chatter as tears gather in my eyes. Someone is screwing with me. Could it be the person who slit my tire? Don’t be weak, Illiana, and don’t let this fucker win. Go have a great day with your daughter and we will figure out the rest later. Talk to Lachlan. He’ll help you. You already let Jaxon win. Don’t let this person destroy you, too.

Drying my eyes, I head back into my bedroom. Tomorrow is another day. I’ll talk to Lach and tell him what happened to me. I know he will help me sort this out. Throwing on some panties and a bra, I grab a pair of distressed jeans, shorts, and a pink t-shirt from my dresser. After getting dressed, I slide my feet into my white converse, and I’m ready to go.

When I get into the kitchen, Blakely is sitting at the counter playing a game on her tablet. My mom and Lena are leaning up against the counter with their heads together, talking in hushed voices. Hmm…I wonder what that’s about.

“Hey mom, Lena, what are you both doing today?” When I asked them, they both snapped their heads up and looked in my direction, as if I had caught them with their hands in the cookie jar and they were about to be scolded like children. They are seriously looking guilty. “Mom, what’s going on?”

“Nothings going on, Illiana. Lena and I were just talking about how we would like to take Blakely back home with us for a few weeks. We miss her and we don’t get to spend nearly enough time with her. We’ll keep her for a few weeks and then we will bring her back as long as that’s alright with you,” I’m definitely not against that. With everything that’s going on, I need to make sure she’s safe. Right now, it doesn’t feel like she’s safe at all. If this person can get to me, then they can get to her as well. I’d kill someone for hurting my kid.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, Mom. Blake needs to get away from this house for a while. This is the perfect opportunity. Thank you both for doing this for us.”

“You don’t have to thank us, sweet girl. We love you and Blakely,” Lena says. God, I love her. How did her son turn out to be such a piece of shit, though.

“We love you both too, so very much. I’m going to go ahead and take Blakely out for ice cream. Our movie is in about two hours. I’m sorry that I slept later than usual, but thank you for waking up to take care of Blake.” Those pills and wine fucked me over. If I wasn’t so out of my damn mind, what happened to me wouldn’t have happened.

“Okay, sweetheart. Drive safe and we’ll see you later this evening,” mom says.

After giving them both a kiss on the cheek, getting my purse and phone, I call for Blakely so we can get on the road. There’s this little tiki ice shack we love. They sell ice cream and shaved ice. People come from all over the Gulf Coast to get their treats. It’s well worth it.

“Blakely, you ready to go, baby girl? It’s ice cream and movie day. You can get your favorite unicorn ice cream if you want.” Her head shoots up from the tablet as soon as I say unicorn ice cream. I shit you not, it’s like crack for kids. She’ll have so much damn energy, but the smile on her face will be worth it after the past few weeks we’ve had.

“I ready. We go now mama,” she says while screaming like a banshee. She jumps up from the counter, grabbing her tablet by the handle of the case, and walks over to the door to the garage. Guess my little lady is in a hurry. At least she’s happy right now. Putting aside all the bullshit, her happiness is all that matters. By the time I get over to the door, Blake already has her shoes on.

Calling out to Mom and Lena as I go, “See y’all later. Love you.” Closing the door behind me, I open up the door for Blake. Once she’s hooked into her car seat, I hop into the front. Pressing the button to open the garage, we’re off. It’s nice to get out of the house. As soon as I step inside, I swear it feels like the damn house is sucking all the oxygen out of my body.

Ben

I had such a successful fucking morning. Being inside of my girl for the first time was even better than I thought it would be. I know she’s only ever been with that piece of shit, Jaxon, so her pussy was nice and tight for me. It pissed me the fuck off when she called out Lachlan’s name. I’ll take care of him too. Right now I’m on cloud nine because she’s got my marks all over her body. I’ve claimed her body. And now she’ll never be able to get away from me.

I’ve been following Illiana for a while now. It pissed me off when that bitch, Christina, slit her tires. She was lucky that nothing happened to Illiana or I would have slit her fucking throat. I’ve been playing the long game with Christina. She’s had to do my bidding with Jaxon. After all, I needed him out of the way. Just a little bit longer, and I can get rid of her, too. She has the nastiest cunt I’ve ever had, the displeasure of fucking. She’s meeting me tonight with some sort of proof about all of Jaxon’s cheating and some other shit. I’m talking about hard core proof. Once she hand’s over the drive with all the information I need on Jaxon, then I’m killing her. She just doesn’t know it yet.

The last place I expected to be was at the tiki ice shack. Illiana just had to bring the little brat out for ice cream. I know she loves unicorn ice cream crap. Even though it’ll rot her teeth, Illiana gives it to her, anyway. It’s not her fault, though. Jaxon is the one that introduced them to this place. It’s all his fault. Everything is all his fault. But I’m going to rectify that situation like I’ve done all the issues before. I will eradicate him from their lives, as if he never existed.

He should have stayed away from my girl all those years ago. They might have grown up together, but she’s been mine since the moment I saw her at the party I had at my house in high school. I should have done something sooner. I shouldn’t have waited to push him towards other women when we were in AIT.

Jaxon had plans, but so did I. I had never planned to join the army, but once I discovered Jax was, I quickly made the decision to join as well. I knew he’d be taking my girl all around the world and I was determined to follow her, no matter what I had to do.

Jaxon has always been such a pathetic piece of shit. A few smooth words and I had the fool feasting from the palm of my hand. He’s done any and everything I’ve asked or suggested over the years. What man in his right mind would hurt a woman as beautiful and smart as Illiana? He did, all because of me. You blackmailed him, you fucking idiot. Jaxon wasn’t as stupid as you made him out to be. But I don’t regret it because she’s going to be mine. I’ve let her carry on this little childish friendship with Lachlan for years too, but now it’s time that I put a stop to that. She was never meant to be Lach’s, either. If he has to die for him to stay away from her, then so be it.

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