Page 16 of Possessive

"Gianni mentioned Kurt's sister Daisy," Reuben said. "One of her boyfriends is your cousin, Ric."

"Gianni said Daisy would have Kurt killed if she knew what he did to me," I said. "You think Ric knew?"

Reuben grunted. "No. He wouldn't have kept something like that from her. She'd rip his balls off and make him eat them."

I was starting to like her. She sounded like one hell of a woman. "You think there might be conflict between them because her brother did this to his cousin?"

"Conflict is bad for business," Reuben said. "If it becomes a problem, I'll deal with it. I assume you don't want your cousin knowing you're here either."

I unravelled myself a little, to relieve the pressure in my stomach. Eating would get easier, but it would take time. I'd have to be gentle with myself until then.

"No I don't," I said. "I don't want him to see me like this either." It was probably irrational to feel ashamed about the things Kurt did to me. No one said the human brain was completely logical.

"No one blames you for what he did," Reuben said.

"I do," I said. "I wonder if I could have fought harder. If I did something different, he would have let me out of there. Or maybe he would have stopped coming."

Reuben leaned forward a couple of centimetres, not close enough to touch, but looking like he wanted to. "You would have preferred to die down there alone."

"When I thought you'd kill me, I was relieved," I admitted. "I gave up on living a long time ago. I gave up fighting when he…" I swallowed hard.

"Forced himself on you." Reuben was always blunt, but he was pulling no punches tonight.

"Yes," I whispered. "He liked to toy with me. To see how long it would take before I cried or screamed."

I gripped the hem of my borrowed T-shirt and raised it up, above my stomach. It was too dark in the basement for him to have seen the scars, but from a sharp intake of breath, he saw them now.

He lifted a hand towards me, but stopped a centimetre or two from touching my skin. "What?—"

"Cigar," I said simply. He'd sit beside the cage smoking one before pressing the hot tip against the sensitive skin of my stomach. Or my back.

Reuben swore under his breath. "Sadistic prick."

I lifted the T-shirt higher.

"Fucking hell," Reuben growled.

I glanced down at my bare chest. One of my nipples was perfectly normal, slightly erect in the cool air. The other was nothing but an angry, twisted scar. The skin melted around it was a testament to how long he'd held the tip of the cigar in place. He'd laughed while he did it. Laughed harder when I screamed in agony.

I dropped the shirt back down. "That was the first time I wished I was dead."

I thought I might break that night. Hoped I would. That was also the night I stopped fighting. I hoped he'd tire of me and stay away. Or better yet, kill me.

"He's going to wish he'd never been born." Reuben's tone was one I hadn't heard from him before. It sent a chill up and down my spine. If it was directed at me, I would have been terrified. But it wasn't. His fury was for me, on my behalf. I didn't know why, but it was.

"This is why I don't want my family to see me," I said softly. "I'm not me anymore. I'm a broken doll."

Ice blue eyes fixed sternly on me. "You are not broken. Nor are you a doll. You're a survivor. What you've been through would have destroyed most people. You have all the scars to prove that. But he didn't destroy you. You will get your strength back and we'll deal with Lasalle. Do you think those scars make you ugly?"

"They do." I turned my face.

"Mina," he said softly, making me turn back to him. "You've always been beautiful. Those scars make you even more beautiful. Every one of them shows how fucking strong you are. You said you stopped fighting. You didn't. You've never stopped fighting. You adjusted. You did what you had to do to walk out of there. I don't think you have any idea how fucking incredible that is."

I opened my mouth to say something, but he raised a finger and placed it right in front of my lips, close but not touching.

"I promise you this. I'm going to do everything I can to make you see how beautiful you really are. You deserve nothing less."

"You don't know—" I started.

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