Page 87 of Mine, Forever

“Nightmare?”

“Usually,” I replied. “I remember you now… one night you were in my house talking to my dad. He saw me spying and ran me into the staircase.”

“Yeah, I remember that night. Surprised you remember it, though. He rammed your head pretty hard into the staircase.”

“I didn’t remember until now.”

“That was the night you first stood up to him, you know.”

“I wanted to kill him back then. I just never had the guts.”

“It takes a lot you know… trust me.”

I looked over at her as she looked down at her fidgeting hands. I’d never seen a grandfather around when I was younger, nor did John speak about parents.

“What happened?”

She looked up at me, smiling. “He was an asshole. Taking your own father’s life does things to you, you have to be at the end of your rope. There’s something ingrown into us to protect our family.”

“What did he do to you?”

“A lot… Johnny stopped it, though. When my father tried to get fresh with me on my sixteenth birthday, Johnny knocked him out and threatened his life. That was when Johnny was just starting out in the business. He was scary and reckless, and even my father feared him. I’d hoped that would be the end of it, and for years it was. One night, Johnny was going out of town. He asked me if I needed someone to stay with me, and stupidly I said no. My father hadn’t gone near me in years, so I figured I would be fine. I wanted him to think I was a strong woman that didn’t need a bodyguard. It was about three in the morning when I heard the footsteps outside my door. I knew I’d made a mistake not accepting Johnny’s offer, but this was before cell phones, and I had no way to reach him. It was all on me, and I knew it. The door opened, and I looked everywhere for a weapon, but I was in a bedroom so there was none, of course. He locked the door behind him, but he didn’t need to. My mother had drunken herself into a stupor and was passed out downstairs. I told him to get out, that I’d tell Johnny but he didn’t listen, just kept coming toward me. I was panicking by this time, looking around frantically for something to fend him off with.”

She paused. Her hands wringing together nervously.

“Did you hurt him?”

“Yeah, I killed him. I don’t remember how, but I ended up getting past him and running downstairs. My mother wouldn’t have done anything to help me, so I ran for the kitchen. He grabbed my ankle pulling me down. I screamed and he let go momentarily, enough for me to get to the drawer and pull out a knife. He backed away when he saw it, telling me he wouldn’t hurt me, but I didn’t believe him. I knew he would come back for me, probably kill me… he’d killed before. I stabbed him in the thigh, watching him fall down, holding onto it. Then I started to rip my clothes as if he had done it because I knew if I told Johnny, he would know the reason. But the real reason I did it was because he was planning on overthrowing my brother, he was planning on killing Johnny, leaving me alone. I couldn’t have that. This was my chance. I stabbed him in the chest, over and over. By the time I stopped, my arms hurt, his chest was a mess, and I was covered in his blood.”

“I never knew this story.”

“Johnny covered it up for me. As far as anyone knows, my father disappeared that night.”

“So why are you telling me?”

“We’re family.”

I pushed off the bed. “I better check on Ebony.”

“Once Ebony gets better, train her. You and she have just become the easiest targets. There’s a side to the city you haven’t seen yet, kid.”

I didn’t respond, but for some reason, I knew she was right. There was a whole underbelly I had no idea about, and it was all fucking connected. Ebony may be my Queen, but we had other kingdoms to conquer before we could rule in peace.

Life was just about to get interesting.

EBONY

Six Months Later

“Does it still hurt?” I heard Jett ask as I pulled my tank top off. He would have a perfect sight of my scarred back right now. I couldn’t even bear to look at it. Lucky it was on my back, and I didn’t need to.

“Sometimes when I stretch.”

“Let me call someone,” he said, coming into the room. I turned around to face him. “They can take away the pain… the scars.”

“I don’t want to,” I told him honestly. “The pain and the scars remind me of what I’ve been through, and I’m still standing. I can handle a little discomfort from time to time—it’ll keep me on my game.”

“That’s my girl,” he smiled, kissing me hard on the lips. He pulled me up onto his body, his arms around my waist, pushing me to the bed behind us. His tongue was seeking mine out in a flurry of flicks. I pushed him around and onto the bed. Pulling his pants down, I removed both his pants and underwear in one swift movement before climbing on top of him. He looked at my breasts, his eyes glazing over.

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