Page 56 of Pit

My mum tips her head, smiling my way as she scrunches her curls into a bounce. And then I hear him, and her smile fades. She shoves her brush into the drawer and stands quickly, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the wardrobe. I frown as she shoves me inside, throwing clothes over me to bury me and slamming the door.

I hear my breaths coming in rapid spurts and my heart hammering loudly in my chest. My ears get that whooshing sound until I can just about make out yelling. I jump in fright at the sound of flesh hitting flesh and my mum crying as he lays into her.

“Tessa? Tessa?” My hands are being pulled from my ears, and I open my eyes, staring directly into Pit’s concerned ones. “Shit, are you okay?”

I take a steadying breath and pull my wrists free from his grip. “The dark,” I mutter, frowning. “She used to hide me in the dark.” And then my tears fall as large sobs wrack my body.

Pit pulls me to him, wrapping his arms around me. “You’re okay,” he soothes, “I’m here.”

His words bring me back to reality, and I disentangle myself from him, wiping my eyes with my hands. I shuffle to the edge of the bed and push to stand. “I want to leave.”

Pit looks alarmed. “And go where?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper. “Away from here.”

“Tessa, it’s late. Sleep on it.”

“Sleep?” I scoff. “You think I can sleep?”

“No,” he says, shaking his head. “Probably not. So, just sit. I’ll sit with you. And when the sun comes up, we’ll talk about it.”

I lower back onto the bed and twist my fingers together. “How did you find me?”

“I remembered his name,” he tells me. “Steven’s. And when Axel mentioned him, I realised what might be going on. We paid his wife a visit, and she shared his location.”

“You remembered,” I whisper. I’d only mentioned his name briefly, but Pit had remembered.

“I’d committed it to memory,” he says bitterly.

“Why?”

He fixes me with serious eyes. “Cos I was always gonna make him pay, Te.”

More bloodshed. I want to be mad at his threat. But how can I be? He would have taken Steven out for me. “What if I’m pregnant?” I whisper, the fear of that thought gripping me. “What if I’m pregnant with his kid?”

Pit stands abruptly, his fists clenched by his sides. “I’ll get the doctor.” And he storms out.

Minutes later, Luna comes in. She’s holding a vase with some bright flowers in. “Gemma chose them,” she mutters, placing them on the side. “Pit asked me to keep you company.” My heart sinks. He’s probably disgusted being near me, knowing I let them do what they did to me. “I think he just needs a minute to cool off,” she adds.

“He hates me,” I mutter, wiping my wet cheeks. “I don’t blame him.”

“He doesn’t hate you,” she rushes to reassure me. “You confirmed his worst fears, and now, he wants to kill the bastard all over again.”

I bury my face in my hands. “They didn’t use protection,” I whisper, “and all I can think about is what if I’m pregnant, or what if they’ve given me some fucking disease. All those years of being careful and protecting myself to end up like this.”

She gently rubs my back. “I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, Tessa, but the memories will fade a little and their scent will go. You’ll stop feeling their hands on you and things will just feel less . . . bad.”

I glance at her, and there’s a faraway look in her eyes. “It happened to you?”

She blinks, shaking her head like she’s clearing her thoughts, and she forces a smile. “Like I said, it gets easier. Just take one day at a time.”

“I’ll never be able to trust a man again,” I mumble.

She takes my hand and squeezes it. “You will. I promise.”

“How long did it take you?” I ask.

“To trust?” She thinks over my question. “A while,” she admits. “Grizz wasn’t easy to trust at first, but he stuck around and that’s what counts. Pit will too,” she says, smiling. “He’ll get you through this.”

---