Page 64 of The Masks She Wore

?I smiled as I slid a hand over her waist and leaned in until my lips grazed the shell of her ear. “I’d get used to that last name if I were you, Princess because soon it’ll be yours.”

15

Rae

November 2nd, 2019

Iwish he would have fucked me.

?I wish he would have fucked my mouth, my cunt, my ass. Bit me, cut me,slappedme until I couldn’t remember anything but the way he felt.

?But I suppose the ‘J’ he carved into my chest was enough for now.

?Something was wrong with me, it had to be. I didn’t care about what he said, whatIvowed, and all I could think about was the fact that he would erase that piece of shit from this world.

?It’s all I wanted now. It’s the only thing I could really truly think about other than his fingers inside of me, wasthe fact that right now, somewhere in this city, Max was breathing his last breath of free air.

?This was the thrill I wanted, right? Living every day unsure if my heart would continue beating the next? It was perfect. Perfect for a self-destructive, thrill seeker. Perfect for the slut who got off on her half-brother finger-fucking her—

?I sank my nails into my thigh.Shit. I shuddered violently and shook the thoughts away, trying to erase his touch from my skin.

?I felt relieved and angry at the same time. Angry at the world, at mom, at Max. Relieved because some sick part of me loved the fact that Jack had claimed me.

?Whatever their ‘laws’ were, I was now his.

?Butfuck, I couldn’t let go of the anger or the shame.

?“It’s a natural reaction.”

?Was it? Was that what it was? Because if getting off on something I swear to God I didn’t want didn’t seem fucking natural to me.

?“Rae?”

?I looked up, wincing as the pain shot up my spine and across my shoulders.

?Malachi was watching me with clear blue eyes, calm, patient. I couldn’t get a read on the guy. He seemed good, genuinely nice, but then there were glimpses of him that scared the holy Hell out of me. My gut kept twisting and untwisting and I didn’t know if it was trying to tell me something about him or it was trying to get rid ofthe bullshit living within me now that Max got what he wanted.

?Jack worked for him. Malachiproduceda man like him, so wouldn’t that mean that Malachi had to be worse?

?Maybe it was just easier for him to hide it. Hide whatever darkness he had injected his sons with. Hide behind shining eyes and a loving smile. What better way to get what you wanted than convincing people you were good?

?“Did you hear me?”

?Guilt filled me. “No, I’m sorry.” I pulled my nails from my leg and smoothed out my jeans. I wondered if I would have accidentally made myself bleed from that. I was glad I didn’t. I needed to get over it, I was stronger than this.

?He smiled, leaning back in his chair. “You’ve had a long day.”

?He hadn’t yet mentioned the bloody ‘J’ that left trails of red cutting across my chest. I suppose he must be used to things like that. And while part of me wanted to hide it, the other part of me wanted to flaunt it. I was owned by a group of incredibly dangerous people. People who could make people disappear, and while I didn’t understand the depth of the danger I had just subjected myself to, I did understand that nobody could touch me now.

?If they did, they were at Jack Ashrin’s mercy.

?I nodded, turning to the window. It was cloudy today, winter was closing in. All I wanted was for Fall to last forever. “What is her name?” I asked quietly. Focus, it was the only thing that would keepmy mind from lingering.

?They knew her. They had to have known her if Abernath sent them.

?“Marla Alascer.”

?Obviously, they would know her by that name. Alascer. Her real name. It made me feel embarrassed to be sitting here. Bennett was the fake name.Myfake name. A name she had made up to do whatever it was she needed to do and then leave to go live her real life.

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