Page 13 of Cardinal

"It's not going to get to that point, and I can easily avoid her at all costs." Once she got back on her feet and groove, it wouldn't be hard to learn her routine, so finding out what hotspots to avoid and what times would be child's play to me. Also, I could shut myself in my office and live out of it if I wanted to.

"You better hope it doesn't get to that point, or else I'll help her cut your balls off and feed it to you." Yeah, the mental image of that made me instinctively close my legs tightly and cover my private area with my hands. Unfortunately, I have no doubt she would make good on that promise either knowing her. "Now, go check up on her and make her less scared of you."

"Well, I'm not exactly a lovable person," I grumbled with a roll of my eyes, not that I intended to because I didn't give a shit about if people found me approachable or easy.

"Well, dial it down a notch for her sake, please?" Leah pleaded with a pout.

Unbelievable. "Fine, I'll fucking try." How the fuck was I supposed to dial something back I was unaware about? Not like I tried to be an asshole to her, and not that I was.

"Even the devil disguises himself as an angel of light," Leah remarked with a chuckle before packing her things into her bag.

Sighing, I slumped in my chair for a bit to ponder how I'd go about this thing with Juliet. Honestly, avoiding her seemed like the best course of action, but there was no way Leah would let me do that. So, after a long while in my own mind, I reluctantly pushed myself out of the chair and carried myself down to Juliet's room, which I stupidly placed right across from mine.

Knocking softly against the door, I leaned against the doorframe. "Juliet, are you ready?" I asked with a wince when I realized how loud my terse words came out.

"I don't know." Her muffled reply came back after a moment.

Sighing softly, I wrapped my hand around the doorknob. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah…" Her shaky response returned, making me sigh again because it made me wonder if this was a bad idea after all.

Upon entering the room, I couldn't help but frown a bit at the sight of her curled up on the small lounge chair in her room. She looked so vulnerable and scared, and if I weren't in a time crunch, I'd cancel the plan of going to her parents today. "I know it's not something you want to do this soon, or ever, but it's better for you to remove yourself from their life completely sooner than later." Cautiously, I took a few tentative steps toward her to test the waters. "And like I said, you don't have to see them, let alone interact with them, at all during the whole time unless you want to." I continued to approach her slowly with my soft voice until I could kneel before her. "I will make my conversation with them as quick as possible, promise."

"Promise I won't see them?" It was fleeting, but a blip of anger darkened her soft, chocolate-brown eyes for a millisecond before her fear chilled them when she returned to her shell.

Confidently, I assured her with a nod and smile. Then, slowly, I reached an open hand out towards her, "Is it alright if I touch you?" She looked ready to bolt with how her eyes nervously darted around the room. "You have every right to say no as well. It's all on your terms."

Seconds passed before her erratic breathing evened out when she realized I would make no move until I got an answer from her. Too bad a simple nod wouldn't suffice for me. "Juliet, I need to hear it. It's simple to mistake a motion of your head, so I need to hear it, please."

Breathing deeply, she gingerly reached her hand out towards me, just a little. "It's okay to touch me." She spoke up in a small, shaky voice.

I needed her confidence to build again if I was to help her recover, and having her full autonomy is a major part of rebuilding it all. The sooner she realizes that she has full control of everything regarding her body and decisions, the easier it will be for her to gain her footing.

Smiling gratefully, I took her delicate hand into my own rough one and pulled her up as I stood. "You can do this, and I'll be right there with you if you need any help." She may be a scared little thing, but I sensed more underneath her turbulent waves.

"That's a lot more faith than I have in myself." She grumbled as she let me drag her out of the house and into the garage. "Holy shiiii… Are these all yours? Wait, never mind, stupid question, of course, they are, but god damn… Oh my God, is that a Bugatti Mistral?!"

I couldn't bring myself to stop her from darting off toward the car; her excitement was too rich to kill. Also, I don't think she's gotten this peppy since I rescued her, so I'd take what I could get. "I am not going to let you drive, so don't bother asking." I cracked a somewhat awkward smile with my joke as I approached her while she ogled the luxury car.

"I can't even legally drive anyway, so you don't have to worry about that. Besides, I don't feel worthy of driving such a beauty. Hell, I'm too afraid to touch it." It was kind of adorable at how awe-struck she was as she bounced happily on the balls of her feet.

"What do you mean?" Did she just not have her license? It's kind of strange for someone her age not to have one, I think. I wouldn't know; I drove way before the legal age.

Frowning, she let her gaze drop to her shuffling foot. "I don't have a permit or anything like that… My parents won't let me have one or let me learn to drive or anything like that. They say there's no need or point in me learning because I don't need it. The closest I've ever gotten to driving anything is through a video game, and the few times I hacked the family car." A heavy sigh deflated out of her before her mood fully dampened.

Well, this turned awkward fast.

Sighing softly to myself, I nodded to my housekeeper with a lopsided smile and thanked her when she approached me with the keys to the car. "We'll talk more on the drive." Or maybe we shouldn't for the sake of keeping things relatively fine between us. The last thing I wanted to do was have some awkward, half-assed conversation for the sake of it.

The air in the car instantly became suffocating when we buckled in, and I pulled out into the street. "What else did your parents not let you do?" I strained out a bit because the awkward tension killed me a little with how uncomfortable she seemed. Seriously, she was almost as stiff as a statue in her seat, even though she'd been ecstatic about the car just a few moments ago.

"No driving, no parties unless approved by them or it was one of their parties, no going to friends' houses or places with them unless it was the library, no friends could come over unless their parents were acquainted with mine, no more than three meals a day, no sweets, no coffee…" Juliet pouted sadly in her seat as her words trailed off. "There's more, but it's just all a blur to me right now… It was basically school and home, and obey my parents." Great, think I just made her sadder with how she slumped in her seat. "I'm sorry for sounding so pathetic… I didn't really ever think…" She seemed to trail off into her head with a deepening frown.

Maybe I should have dragged Leah along. Being nice and shit was her thing, not mine. I mean, it was too late now because we were on the road. Hesitantly, I reached over and patted her shoulder—yeah, fucking awkward. "Get out of your head. Don't drown in your own darkness. You're still young and learning, so don't take it hard on yourself. Stop me if I'm wrong, but I'm gonna assume you had a sheltered life, or at least forced to have one by your parents. They controlled and manipulated you, and you wouldn't have known any better."

Well, she didn't stop me, but her long silence didn't bode well for me either. I opened my mouth to continue but promptly shut it when her soft voice filled the air. "I feel dumb for letting them pull the hood over my eyes like that, though. I just… I never thought I'd be one of those girls. I mean, I've read about them in books, articles, and whatnot, and it just feels foolish because I always thought, 'Oh, I'd never let myself be played like that' or 'I'd never let someone control my life like that' when in reality that's what happened. Just so fucking stupid." And the tears came—fuck.

Huffing out a sigh, I quickly pulled over and threw the car into park before turning in my seat to face her fully. Reaching out, I gently cupped her face and lifted her gaze to me. "Stop that," I commanded sternly yet softly, making her shudder in response. "Look at me," I demanded when her eyes drifted away, making her snap them back to me. "Don't do that to yourself. I was young and stupid once, and yes, it's embarrassing to think back on those moments now, but I grew from those experiences. As long as you learn from it all, that's all that matters." Smiling at her proudly, I brushed my thumb gently across her cheek. "At least you came far enough to recognize and accept that your parents are idiotic bastards for what they did to you, and I really hope that you don't fall back into the cycle as you have before. This is your one chance to have a life of your own, Juliet, so take it. You made your mistake. You recognized it. Now learn from it and move forward."

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