Page 54 of Red Velvet

I don't know why, but his words hit me with surprising force. It's a balmy summer night, but I suddenly feel so cold, a shiver running down my spine.

"What’s become of me? Jim, I left you. I left you because I wasn't happy. That’s all there is to it. Nothingbecameof me."

"Then what the fuck is this?" he snaps, reaching for my collar again. "What is he doing to you? Why do you wear a fucking collar like this? Did he force you to?"

"Jim, you don't understand. This isn’t—"

"No, I don't understand! And I don't have to. This is sick, Lila. Fucking sick! He treats you like a fucking dog. I saw the way he was with you. I know what kind of man he is!"

"You don't know anything! You don't underst—"

"Yes, I know! Elene told me, Lila. She's worried about you. We all are!"

My irritation is instantly replaced by horrific shock. I stare at him, my eyes as wide as my mouth as I try to make sense of what he just said.

I haven't spoken to Elene in weeks. There's no way she knows about Kade or the things we've done together.

Unless he told her. But why would Kade do that? And why would he lie about it?

And who does Jim mean when he says "we all are"?

"What did my sister tell you?" I ask him, my voice hoarse and thin.

There’s the triumphant smile I was expecting earlier. He regards me with an ugly smirk while he makes me wait for a response.

"She saw you," he says. "She saw you disappear with that guy. At her wedding. The wedding we thought we'd attend together—"

"So what, Jim!" I'm so tired of this, of him.

"And her husband, he knows the guy—"

"I know that!" I bark. "They work together!"

"That's not all they have in common," Jim says, huffing in disgust. "I know what kind of man your sister married. We both know it. And you know where she met him."

I glare at him through narrowed eyes, quietly urging him not to proceed. He ignores the unspoken warning.

"We both know what kind of sick bastards they are, and what kind of disgusting place they like to visit—"

"It's not disgusting!" I blurt out. "And he's not a sick bastard!"

The look on Jim's face tells me I should’ve kept that to myself. Up until know, he was basing his judgmental assessment on nothing but suspicion. But I just proved him right.

"Ah, so you do know," he says, a condescending smile appearing on his face. "Is that where he took you tonight? To show you off with that silly collar around your neck while degrading you, treating you like a goddamn animal—"

"Shut up!" I yell at him, surprising myself with the volume of my voice.

I'm so sick of this, so sick of him. I don't want to hear whatever shitty accusation he'll level next. I don't want to hear it. I want him to go away.

So I push him. Or at least try to. I place my hands on his chest and give him a good shove to put some much-needed distance between us.

But he doesn't let me. He bounces back to me right away, this time crowding me even more than he did before. I manage to slip beneath his arm when he reaches out for me, storming up the stairs to my door while rummaging in my purse for my keys.

He reaches the top of the stairs at the same time I pull the keys out of my purse, fingers closing around the metal in my hand as he pushes me against the door with the weight of his body.

"Jim, please! You’re scaring me!" I cry out. "I'm gonna scream for help if you don't leave right this second!"

"Isn't that how you like it now?" he spits in my face. "Isn't that how you want to be treated? Like a dumb little—"

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