Page 203 of Making Choices

“I ain’t interested in talkin’.” He stalks closer to me. There is threat in his eyes and violence in his stance as he approaches. I back away, suddenly afraid of the man I’m locked in this room with. “Got somethin’ better to do with that mouth of yours.”

I shake my head. “Zeke… please.”

“Please, what?”

“Stop acting like this.”

“Sweet thing, you’re no novice and you definitely ain’t no shrinkin’ violet,” he drawls like we’re discussing what to watch on television. “Either start givin’ back as good as you’re gettin’ or call carnage so the guard can let you out.”

“I don’t understand.” Shrieking at him, I curl my fingers into fists and bang them on his chest. My stomach churns with an unidentifiable emotion while my heart breaks at his callous behaviour. “Why are you being like this? I don’t like it.”

“That’s the point.”

Before I can try to dig deeper into his response, I find myself pulled away from the remnants of my wedding dress and pushed onto my back on the table that takes up the centre of the room. Clad only in lace panties, I’m exposed to his narrow-eyed gaze. Although Zeke’s seen me naked hundreds of times, I have the urge to cover myself as he pins me to the cold metal and scans my body like he’s inspecting a thoroughbred horse.

“You’ve been cuttin’.” He swipes his free hand over my belly, then wedges his hips between my thighs. “Desecratin’ this perfect body when you promised me you’d stop with that bullshit.”

“I swear you’ve lost your fuckin’ mind,” I snarl at Zeke. Thrashing to free myself from his grip but failing dismally, my tone is extra vicious when I add. “We went over this a week ago. I cut after the concert, and a few times since then—I’m back in therapy and it was going okay until you returned, and everything went to shit again.”

“Good girl.” He smiles down at me with a toothy grin that wouldn’t be out of place on a shark. “Keep goin’. Lash out at me, sweet thing. Give me that rage.”

“Fuck you!” I shout. “I don’t know what stupid game you’re playing, but I don’t want any part of it.”

“Do you really mean that?” he enquires snidely. When Zeke drags his index finger down the centre of my panties, I stiffen. “Or is that what you’re tellin’ yourself to try and explain why you’re married to him but wet for me.

To my dismay, I can feel my dampness when he twists the lace tight. The material wedges against my skin. I brace for the burn, then I notice that Zeke’s attention has been captured by something on my inner thigh. In the same moment that I realise he’s looking at a love bite left by Slash, I feel Zeke’s temper reach boiling point and the crude game he’s been playing since my arrival instantly morphs into something much more dangerous.

I scramble backward on the table.

He grabs my ankle and pulls me flat.

“You’ve already fucked him.” I avert my gaze, unwilling to let him see the truth on my face. Zeke covers my mouth with his palm and his fingers bite into my cheeks when he forces me to face him. “While I was rotting away in here, you let him between these thighs.” He slaps my left leg, right next to my pussy. I jerk at the sting, then fall still as he scowls down at me. “I thought this would be difficult, but you’ve made it easy.”

Stepping away from me, Zeke flings his arm in the direction of the door. “Get the fuck out.”

“Zeke, please… it’s not how you think.” Words—excuses really—start bubbling out of my mouth as I try to explain. “I was scared. The ritual. It was too much for me. I didn’t want my first time after losing our baby to be in front of the Trinity. Not that that matters, we have to sleep together… we have to have a child within the first two years of marriage, or the union will be void and they’ll kill you. Slash thought he was helping, but even that… backfired.”

My legs shake as I slide off the table and make my way over to the door.

I can’t bring myself to look at him.

The glass in the barrier between me and safety is cold against my palms when I touch it, but it’s not as frigid as the hatred I can feel emanating from Zeke. I knew that I’d been set up to fail when Slash told me the conditions the Trinity have put on their assistance against the threats coming from the Maddisons. It never crossed my mind that things would blow up in my face so quickly.

First Slash refuses to accept that I can’t love him most, now Zeke feels like I’ve betrayed him. Caught in a no-win situation, the injustice of it all drives me to the point of madness. I press my forehead to the glass and pray for death.

“This isn’t fair.” My whispered plea is for my ears only. “I thought I had time.”

While Zeke remains at the far side of the room, with an angry cloud hanging over him that dissuades me from even glancing his way, I do my best to shut him out as I try to work out how to pull my ruined dress back on so I can leave like he’s demanded. It took three women to get me into it this morning. I don’t think I can manage by myself now.

Still, I try.

And, once again, I fail.

The bodice is destroyed.

Just like my heart.

With a whimper, I let the heavy material drop back to the floor. I return to the door and raise my fist, ready to bang on it to gain the guards attention. The indignity of walking out of here in my panties is nothing compared to the ache in my heart. Between Zeke and Slash, they’ve brought me to my knees in record time.

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