Page 25 of Bells

But I knew what would happen.

I wanted to revere Dante Church and smash Sinclair Priest beneath my heel for making me feel so fucking trapped. Dante would never trap me. I knew he wouldn’t. All the men in my life had trapped me. Tied me up. Hurt me. Beat me. Fucked me.

“You have a really shitty outlook,” Seth said, breaking through my thoughts. “It would be a shame if Sin ever found out.”

“He will,” I said with a shrug. “Someday. All our skeletons tumble out of the closet eventually.”

We continued to walk in silence for a moment before I asked the question that was burning on the tip of my tongue.

“How do you do that? Get inside my head and know what I’m thinking?”

We stopped and faced one another.

He cocked his head at me, his dark hair falling across his forehead.

“Why do you think I know what you’re thinking?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Because you do. Don’t play stupid, Seth.”

“Asylum,” he corrected softly. “My name isn’t Seth. It’s Asylum.”

“Whatever,” I muttered. “How do you get inside my head like that,Asylum?”

“The wicked are always easy to figure out. It’s not a parlor trick. You’re just. . . simple and vengeful.”

“You think you know,” I muttered, hugging myself and frowning. Ugly memories attempted to invade my mind, but I shoved them away and locked the door.

“But I do,” he said, blinking innocently at me. “The only man who was ever kind to you touched you when he shouldn’t have. He made you believe it was real.”

I swallowed thickly, tears springing to my eyes.

“It was real.”

“It wasn’t or he wouldn’t have left. Besides, you were a child, Isabella. You didn’t know. I’ve been there too. So has. . . Seth.”

I scoffed at him and quickly wiped at my eyes. “You’re nuts.”

“Says the nut.”

I shook my head and looked away from his piercing stare. “How did you know any of that? My records are sealed.”

“They’re sealed because Everett Church made them that way.”

I winced at the use of the name of the man I loved.

“He doesn’t love you.”

“He does,” I snapped at him. “He just. . . can’t right now. He told me his son would love me in his place. That’s my job. To love him. To make Everett happy. To get Church to join and then Everett will take me back. I’d have both him and Church—”

“He never saved you,” he continued, ignoring me. “You know that, right? His touch. His kiss.His cock. None of it was to save you. It was because he’s fucked in the head and you were a plaything to him.”

“Shut up,” I snarled at him, balling my hands into fists.

“I’m right and you know it. That’s why you want Church so badly. You think you can have with him what you once had with his sick, twisted father. That you can reunite with a monster and create a monsterdom with the two biggest ones on the planet. Church doesn’t even know his father owns you. It’s a dirty secret you never told him. He has no clue you’re his adopted sister who was kept in a cage to be taken out and played with whenever Everett let his demons out to feast. You were a fucking child, Isabella. A CHILD. It wasn’t right!” His chest heaved as he stared down at me. “It’s not fucking right.”

I swallowed. “It was all I knew. It was the only time I was ever happy.”

“You were seven.”

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