Page 31 of Caged Bliss

“Did he ever?—?”

“No, he never touched me. Just drop it, okay? I love you, Claud, but you don’t belong here. Kayla’s right, just go.”

Then Serena shoves the door open and she leaves. I’m stuck in the bathroom, feet planted on the tiles. I want to move, but my body won’t let me.

I knew Rodney was an abusive piece of shit. I heard the insults. He slung plenty at me. But he never crossed the line into something perverted, and Serena never told me about this, not until right now. How much of that was the drugs? And how much was Serena crying out for help? I don’t know, and I can’t know, but her words keep ringing in my ears, and I feel like I’m going to crumble.

She wants me gone. She’s happy here. She’s better off on drugs hanging around with vapid assholes like Kayla and fucking a dirty mob shithead like Tommy, because that’s better than living with her uncle.

Because her sister never saw what was really happening.

“Fuck,” I say and storm out, tears streaming down my face. “Fuck,” I say and find my stuff in the backroom. “Fuck,” I say, over and over to myself as I go home, heading for my apartment, and when I’m safely inside with the door shut behind me, I start to sink down to the floor.

Then freeze.

“Claudia,” he says, and the big dark shape pulls itself off my couch and stands. “What’s wrong?”

Angelo. Here. Right now. In my apartment. I shiver and should scream.

Instead, I walk to him, and I let him wrap his arms around me.

Chapter 17

Claudia

He doesn’t have to hold me while I cry. There’s no rule we made, no deal we struck. He doesn’t have to wipe my tears away when I start to calm down, and he doesn’t have to kiss my hair and whisper gentle soothing words while he rubs my back, and he doesn’t have to pour us both a drink when I’m finally back to myself.

“You don’t have to talk about it, but tell me this. Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you?”

I shake my head and take a sip of wine. It’s the cheap stuff, which is the best I can afford. He doesn’t seem to mind as he takes a long drink.

“Just Serena.” I think about telling him more, telling him about Rodney, but I don’t. I can’t bring myself to say it, and what she confessed isn’t for him anyway. That was for me, and I’ll have to find a way to live with it. Or maybe I’ll find a way to kill that scumbag. A girl can dream.

I curl up next to him on the couch and brush against his left arm. He grimaces and adjusts it, keeping it away from me, and I finally notice that he’s been favoring his right side this whole time.

“I’m fine,” he says when he notices me looking. “Just a scratch.”

“Must be a bad scratch the way you keep grimacing every time you move it.”

“I took care of it already.” He’s close to me. I like the way he smells and the way he talks and the way he stares at me like he can’t look anywhere else. I like it too much.

“You weren’t at the club tonight. I was looking for you.”

“Needed to stay away for a little while.” His smile is tense and he tilts his head.

“You came to my apartment instead? You can’t just let yourself in, by the way.”

“I like it in here. Smells like you.”

I roll my eyes. “Obviously.” And now I’m smiling. “But you still can’t break in here.”

“I’ll keep your opinion in mind.”

“It’s not an opinion, it’s—” But I stop myself. He doesn’t care. “At least text first, okay? Can you do that?”

“I’ll text,” he agrees. And hey, that’s progress.

“How long were you waiting for me?”

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