Page 28 of Make You Mine

Frustration nearly chokes me as I stare at him incredulously, my arms flying wide. “WHO, Trent? Who would I have told…and better yet, what would they have done?”

“You could have told Micah, at least?” he says in a low voice.

“What purpose would that serve? I did all of this to protect my family!” My voice rises once again as the emotions inside me grow and morph and overwhelm me. There’s no pinpointing which one is taking the reins right now. I'm beyond frustrated, I'm sad, and most of all, I’m angry. “If I went to Micah with this, he would have gotten himself killed.”

“If I know your brother as well as I think I do, he would have stopped at nothing to make sure you were safe,” Trent says, reaching for me, but I shift farther away from him.

“Exactly my point! Why endanger him like that? I had already lost you. My relationship with my parents was nonexistent… I couldn’t afford to lose anyone else,” I say shakily, eyes blurring as my hopelessness rises to the surface.

The pain in Trent’s face is blatant, along with the unshed tears in his eyes. “You should have never had to deal with any ofthis. I haven’t been able to think about anything else since I saw you yesterday.”

Neither have I.I hated the thought of him imagining what those bruises meant.

“Just so you know, I was planning to come to you last Friday. But since he’s been so paranoid about the shooting, he held his meeting at the house. I didn’t get the chance to escape before it ended.”

I stand up, needing to create some distance to have this conversation. With my head bowed, I say, “He hasn’t ra—raped me again since that night.” Just hearing the words out of my mouth sends an unwanted chill over my body, but I want to call it what it is, and he may be my husband, but what he has done to me over the past several years has been unwanted, painful, and abusive.

My chin tips up and my gaze meets Trent’s. His previous unshed tears are now leaking from the sides of his beautiful green eyes. He remains quiet, still knowing my cues and understanding that I need to get this off my chest. “At first, he acted like he understood that I needed some time to adjust. I never told him, but I was so in love with you; every time I tried to work up the courage to even kiss him, it felt like cheating, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. After a while, it became evident he was getting his needs met somewhere else and, honestly, I couldn’t have cared less. But then his father died a few months into our marriage, and he became Don Santini. His broody behavior turned into full-blown rage, and I was the easiest target. I had heard of people who were given a little power taking it too far and, well, Junior took it to a whole other level.” I'll never forget the first time he forced himself on me, calling me a slut for having sex before marriage. Information I told my father in hopes it would deter Junior fromwanting to marry me. Instead, he just stored it away and used it as verbal abuse while he raped me.

I pause, catching my breath and trying to maintain my composure. “At first, I think he started because he liked controlling me, and then it became about creating an heir to take over after him one day. It’s why he tracks my period, and why I’m expected to be in his room the first and fourth day of my ovulation cycle.”

Trent watches me intently as I return to my seat beside him.

“The other night, he found the birth control I have been hiding from him. He was so angry. I knew it would happen eventually, so it didn’t come as a shock to me. The only blessing is that since he knew I wasn’t ovulating, he hasn’t tried anything else since then. I’m sure the strippers at Sinners are much more fun.” I give him a tight smile and shrug my shoulders.

This time when he reaches for my hand, I let him take it in his. “Ashley, I have no words. My world feels like it's been flipped on its axis just hearing what you have gone through. I wish I could take away all the pain. All the awful memories.”

Him being the first person I have felt comfortable enough to discuss all this with has me word vomiting exactly how depressed and alone I’ve felt since he’s been gone. “I have been nothing but a trophy wife these past three years. Always showing me off, acting like the dutiful husband in front of everyone, including my brother and father. But behind closed doors, I wasn’t stored nicely away in my gated mansion. I was a trophy that was never polished. And I started to tarnish from the inside out. Ever since my father died, he’s been caring less and less about keeping his showpiece intact for others to see. Hence the bruises.”

With every day that passes, I feel another piece of what makes memebeing stripped. Soon, there will be nothing left. I’ve given up too much at this point to see it all be for nothing.

Before I realize what’s happening, I'm being pulled onto Trent’s lap. I’m trembling from the inside out, tears welling in my eyes. His hand cups the back of my neck as he holds me tighter, trying to soothe me.

“Shh…it’s okay. It’s all going to be okay,” Trent whispers.

“Will it, though?” I sniffle while the tears finally break free and fall down my cheeks. As I cling to him for dear life, his thumb gently wipes away my tears. His strong, protective arms wrapped around me has my body sagging in relief. He’s the lifeline I’ve so desperately been waiting for.

“I promise you. You will make it out of this,” he says with such conviction that the lack of the wordweis almost lost on me. I tense up at the realization and pull back, staring into his eyes.

“We, Trent. We will make it out of this,” I confirm. After everything we’ve been through, I’ll be damned if we don’t make it through this together. No matter what’s coming.

His hands encase my cheeks, and he brings his forehead to mine. I relish the connection as our arms wrap around each other, holding on for dear life. I don’t dare to open my eyes in fear that this will all be a dream, but I can feel his lips hovering just above mine. This moment right here feels so good, so right. Our closeness almost makes me forget the life waiting for me outside of these four walls.

An alarm rings out, and with it, he releases a deep sigh. “Time’s up,” he whispers, leaving our foreheads pressed together as we breathe each other in one more time. His lips lightly brush across my forehead before he pulls away.

“Okay, one last question,” I say before continuing. “Nori? Was that your doing?”

His sly smile is all the confirmation I need.

“But why… How?” The shock from this revelation has me fumbling over my words.

“You needed someone who could protect you.”

I stare at him in disbelief. All this time… A part of him was with me all this time. My eyes well with tears yet again. Even from afar, he was always looking out for me.

Everything I’ve done is for you.

“I’ll see you soon, baby,” he says as he helps me to my feet, and we step toward the door, hand in hand.

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