Page 105 of Clinch'd

“The thing is, Minnie…I couldn’t get rid of you because of your fucking sister. She likes being Castinetti’s little toy….”

Black dots dance before me and I buck against him but it’s no use because he’s got me pinned down.

“Well, you should know. He’s a little pissed with your sister right now because she lied. And you? You’re my present for being such a loyal friend.”

With a moan, I close my eyes because I don’t want the last thing, I see to be his fanatical fucking eyes.

Now though, I’m falling backward, and everything spins, images flashing before me.

Lorri when she was a tiny little thing and I held her close. She was a hell raiser even then; her blood curdling screams enough to bring the world back into her orbit. For the longest time, I was convinced she was mine and how I loved to hum lullabies when she was at her most fretful, knowing it was me she needed to soothe her.

Mom stops before me, her pretty face clear of the crazy I grew to loathe. She’s holding a cup of hot chocolate, her lips stretched in a wide smile.

From the corner of my eye, Dad approaches. He picks me up and swings me around before carrying me over to the window facing the backyard. I squeal with delight, and he laughs, the deep baritone warming my chest. Behind him is my brother, my only friend on this long and lonely road before I rejected him.

His vibrant blue eyes gaze at me with a mixture of exasperation and fear while I wave my arms and scream my rage to the world.

“Fuck, just die already,” Jordan grunts and I pull back to the light, blinking briefly before I fade into the abyss, this time with Cooper, his eyes molten fire, pumping inside of me.

With a whimper, I touch his skin but it’s flat and lifeless because it’s just a dream. I’ll never feel his beautiful skin against mine again.

A wash of cold flows through me and I shiver. The blue hue of Mom’s lips as I pressed my mouth to hers sucks me further into the void. Lorri’s sitting in the corner, sucking her thumb.

“Look away, Lor,” I say. “Close your eyes.”

She nods and closes her eyes and I turn back to Mom, breathing air into her lifeless body. It’s no use. I can’t save her. I can’t save me. Maybe this is what I deserve. Maybe…

Collapsing against the floor, my hands fall away.

“Unh,” I grunt, suddenly weightless.

My lungs contract and expand, creating a new series of aches but fuck me, I can breathe.

Popping my eyes open, I glance around, expecting the hard linoleum floor I sat on for what felt like hours while Mom died.

But no, I’m on a bed, in a hotel room and Cooper’s pounding on Jordan with an intensity that should scare me but it’s all I can do to concentrate on the air I’m pulling back into my lungs.

My chest fucking hurts though and rolling over, I curl into a ball, coughing despite the burn.

Above me, I think I hear Beast grunt, as he unlocks the cuff around my wrist, and says, “If you’re not planning to kill him, you should stop now.”

There’s no response from Cooper beyond the sound of fists meeting flesh and I rub my aching wrist before his words penetrate and I pop my head up, staring at Cooper.

“Coop?” I croak.

He swivels his head around with eyes so black, I don’t recognize him. I think I whimper but I’m not sure until he flinches.

“Min?” he says, stepping over Jordan and approaching the bed.

“Coop,” I whisper, wiping my eyes. I almost fucking died. Holy shit.

“Sh,” he says, gathering me in his arms.

I shudder in his embrace while he rocks me gently. It soothes the weird feeling clawing at my throat but I’m still shivering when Cooper’s phone rings.

I don’t want to leave his embrace, but I have no energy to form words when he sets me aside and picks it up from the floor.

He glances at me with a furrowed brow, and I stare at him blankly until his unease registers. Even after all of this, there’s still the shit between us to process. It shouldn’t matter now but, in some ways, his betrayal hurts far worse than Jordan’s attack.

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