Page 7 of Saviors

“We won’t hurt you, little bloom.” Connor smiled, but my stomach turned.

I didn’t trust smiles. Or kindness. It was an illusion. A way to lure you in. I didn’t move from my spot on the couch where I clutched the jacket to my bare chest. I realized it belong to Reid.

“Maybe you guys should step out for a minute so she can get dressed?” It was a question, but Ivette’s tone made it clear there was only one answer. How I wished I had an ounce of her confidence. Her authority.

The men, these brothers who looked nothing alike, stared at me for another moment. Fear slithered to my heart, but then they turned and exited the room. As soon as the lock clicked, I jumped to my feet. My head spun and my body swayed. But this was my chance.

“Please.” Tears welled up behind my eyes. “You have to h-help me.”

My words came out in a rush. I could barely breathe. The hope of being saved was so strong.

Ivette grabbed my hands gently as I reached for her. I didn’t even care about my nakedness or her touch, not when freedom was so close. Not when modesty had been beaten out of me.

“My b-boyfriend he…” How did I explain the guy I was dating suddenly changed when I tried to end things? That he’d kept me locked in a closet for months. Threatened my family to stop me from running. “Oh god… my brothers.”

My heart plummeted. My hands slipped from hers, falling limply to my side. My hope sank as quickly as it had risen. I couldn’t be saved. Too much was at risk. My limbs shook as I collapsed onto the couch again.

Ivette smiled as she dropped a bag on the table in front of me. “Let’s start with getting you dressed. Then we can figure out what to do.”

I groped mindlessly for the bag. Clothes wouldn’t change anything, but I did as I was told. My fingers grasped a few t-shirts. Some were Ivette’s, and she was at least a size smaller than me.

Instead, I pulled a man’s black cotton t-shirt over my head. I’d kill for a bra. Something to feel more covered. In lieu of one, I shoved myself into a gray sweatshirt. It was thick and soft. Pulling up the hood made me feel protected. It was an illusion, of course, but one I greedily took.

Next, I yanked on a pair of leggings. They were skin tight, but the sweater hit my knees, hiding most of my body. A slight masculine scent clung to the clothes. I waited for the nausea to come. For the smell to draw me back into my nightmares, but it never did.

“Here you go.” Ivette dropped a set of white slip on tennis shoes by my feet.

I stared at their pristine color. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I burrowed further into the fabrics. It had been so long since I’d been clothed. Since I’d had a pair of shoes.

“Hey.” She sat on the couch next to me. Her tone was meant to be soothing, but instead it made my stomach clench with fear. It reminded me this would all go away soon. “You can cry if you need to. I would.”

I was glad she didn’t lie to me. Tell me I was safe. Or that everything was okay. Because it wasn’t. Nothing would ever be okay again.

I hastily swept at the tears as the door clicked open. “W-where’s Simon?”

Bile rose in my throat as I said his name. The urge to vomit was so intense I had to breathe through my nose to suppress it.

“Don’t worry about it.” There was a firm note of authority in Reid’s voice.

Maverick gave me a smile that should’ve seemed wrong on his strong, scarred face. “You won’t ever have to see him again, Belladonna.”

“No!” The room spun as I shot to my feet. The ground came up to meet me, but Ivette was fast. She wrapped an arm around my waist, guiding me down to the couch. “I have to go back. Please take me back.”

Maverick’s smile disappeared, confirming my initial thought that I should be afraid of these guys. His tone held a threat. “He was hurting you.”

“That’s not love.” Connor’s jaw clenched. I shook my head at their absurdity. At their belief in any kind of love.

“Of course it isn’t.” A choked laugh ripped from my ribs. Breathing became difficult. “He’s a fucking monster, but I have to go back.”

Reid’s crystal blue eyes sharpened. His energy shifted in the room. The urge to run pulsed through me. “Why?”

My fingers clawed at my chest, trying to stop the pain that radiated through it. My lungs burned as I tried to suck air inside.

I pictured my younger brothers. They were grown men now, however I couldn’t help seeing them as children in my mind. I saw them bleeding. Begging for their sister to save them. Saw the life leave their eyes.

I imagined all the things Simon had said he’d do to them. Burn them. Cut them. Shoot them.

Maybe once I could’ve believed it was an idle threat. But now I knew his true nature. He could do it. He could kill them.

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