Page 132 of Slaughter

“I’m exactly like him,” he shouts, that anger coming so easy. “I took you. I forced you to …”

“No, you didn’t. I wanted you,” I admit with shame, hanging my head. “I wanted you to fuck me. Begged for it. Still want it—”

“Stop saying that,” he interrupts me. He sighs heavily and lifts his drink to his lips but thinks twice when he sees it’s water. His jaw tightens, and he lowers it. “Then when I saw the tapes. I tried, Bunny. I tried so fucking hard not to watch them, but I wasn’t strong enough. I had to see what he did to you. I wanted to hate myself. Needed to hate myself.” He lifts his hands out wide. “What I’ve done to you. The things I’ve said …”

“They were all true.” I know he’s talking about the way he called me a whore. How I begged him and other men to fuck me. I craved sexual attention even if I never liked it. I needed to know that men found me attractive. I needed to know that I was still wanted after Victor told me I would never be.

I’ll make sure no other man ever wants you again!

Victor took everything from me, but I was still alive. I wasn’t gonna let him control me until I died.

“Don’t.” He growls. “Don’t fucking let me off the hook! I was terrible to you. And now …”

“And now you know.”

He runs a hand through his hair. “If I could go back.”

“You can’t change the past, Avery,” I say softly. “I tried for so long.”

“You should have told me.”

“He would have killed me,” I argue.

“You’re dead anyway,” he snaps.

“What?” I whisper, a chill falling over me.

His dark blue eyes meet mine, and they hold so much anger that I take a step back. “You’ve been dead ever since he touched you. I just haven’t noticed it until now. But I’m gonna save you, Bunny. I’m gonna bring you back because I need you.”

My breath picks up at his confession.

He walks over to me, placing his hand on my face, and gently rubs my cheek with his thumb. “I’m gonna slaughter them, Bunny. For you. I’m gonna put you on a fucking throne and lay them at your feet for what they did to you.”

“Promise?” I ask.

The look in his red eyes is answer enough, but he speaks anyway. “I promise.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

AVERY

I NEVER MAKE PROMISES. Not since I thought she left me.

They’re too easily broken. And I’ve always prided myself on my word, but this is something I know I can keep. This woman has been through hell because of me, and I plan on returning the favor to any man who did or plans to do her wrong.

I haven’t slept in two days. Last night, I sat in my bed flooded with memories of our past and thought of what our future could have been if not for what my father did to her.

I fucking hated myself. For what he did to her. For what I did to her. I don’t deserve her, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want her. “I love you, Bunny,” I say softly.

She places her hands on my chest and whispers, “I love you too, Avery.”

I wrap my free arm around her back and pull her to me. Her breath hitches, and I know what she is thinking. She wants me. I want her too. I never not wanted her. Not even after what I saw. I wanna show this woman I can be what she needs. Deserves.

She looks up at me and licks her lips nervously while we stand in silence. I lean my head down and run the tip of my nose along her jawline. Her arms wrap around my back, sucking me into her.

I pause, my lips hovering over hers. I haven’t allowed myself to kiss her on the lips, not even once, because I knew I’d be done for if I did. I was trying to treat her like a slave. How fucking stupid of me. She has always been more than that for me.

She’s been my anger.

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