Page 29 of True Me

“I was there and didn’t stop her, Cash. If this is on anyone, it’s on me. I was more worried about yellin’ at everyone for not doin’ their jobs instead of keepin’ an eye on our ol’ lady. We all dropped the fuckin’ ball in this situation and will have to do everythin’ in our power to make it up to Rebel when we bring her home. And we will bring her home. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that we’ll get her back and help her through everythin’ he’s currently puttin’ her through,” Eagle states, his voice strong and sure as I look over at him without lifting my head.

With a nod of my head, I lay my head down right on the bar and close my eyes. Images of Rebel fill me as I replay every second I’ve interacted with her over the years. Falling in love with her was slow and all consuming. I don’t know about Eagle, but every single time I heard her speak or saw her do anything, it made me want her more. Not sexually if I’m being honest. It made me want her in ways where she opened up and told me all of her secrets and shared everything about herself. The need to discover every single detail about her life filled me and I don’t know how the fuck I’ll go on if she decides she doesn’t want Eagle and I once we bring her back home. Neither one of us will force her to do something she doesn’t want to do, but I’ll fucking lose my mind if she decides we can’t protect her and aren’t strong enough to be in her life.

Chapter Sixteen

Rebel

WAKING UP, I’M so fuckingsore I don’t know what to focus on first. My head is pounding and it feels as if I’m dizzy. I feel as if I’m about to be sick if I’m being honest. It takes everything in me to push it back down so I don’t choke or something on it. Yes, I’m gagged with some kind of cloth. It’s disgusting and smells rancid, only making me want to get sick even more. My ribs are also on fire. It hurts to breathe deep so I try to take short as fuck breaths that lessen the pain coursing through me. This isn’t the first time Chad has beaten me, it is the first time it’s been this bad though. What hurts the most is my ankle. What I can feel of it is almost enough to cause me to black out. The pain is the worst I’ve ever felt in my entire life and I know a ton of damage has been done. I don’t even want to look down to see what’s been done to me before I blacked out. The only thing that will accomplish is making this situation even more real than it already is since I’m tied to a damn chair.

The next thing I figure out is that I’m wearing next to nothing. My body is freezing as I tremble in the metal chair pressed against my skin. I let my eyes look down enough to find my bra and panties in place but nothing more. Goosebumps cover my skin through my limited vision. My eyes are swollen and I don’t have to look in a mirror to see the evidence of that. I don’t remember Chad breaking my nose or punching me in the eyes, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I honestly have no clue what’s been done to me while I was unconscious. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn he beat the hell out of me just because something pissed him off. That’s Chad’s go to response to anything that doesn’t go his way.

Looking up, I try to take in the room but my vision is starting to go blurry. I can’t take in too many details, but I see that I’m essentially in a room the size of a closet. There’s a small bed in a corner that’s bare without any sheets or blankets of any kind. The window in the room is boarded up and I know I won’t be able to yank the wood from over the window to tell if I’m on the first floor or too high to escape through a window. With the pain flowing through me, I don’t have any strength to hardly hold my head up let alone try to escape this latest attack and being in Chad’s prison. Yes, being with him is nothing less than a prison. There aren’t any other doors in the room and I know this is the most basic setup giving me nowhere to hide or a way to escape.

My eyes land on Chad as he paces the room, mumbling to himself. His voice is so low I can’t make out what he’s saying, but his eyes are frantic as they dart around the room without seeing anything. I’ve only seen him like this once before and it scared the absolute shit out of me. That was the first time he beat the hell out of me and almost put me in the hospital. I had to hide in a motel for a few days while my injuries healed so my grandma didn’t hear me and get even more worried than she already was. My grandma couldn’t stand Chad and how he treated me after a while. In the beginning she loved him and how attentive he was. Especially when I lost my parents and he was by my side no matter how hard I pushed him away.

I really don’t want to disturb his ranting or draw his attention to me for any reason. So I remain silent and act as if I’m still knocked out. With my eyes swollen, it really doesn’t take much to make them slide closed while still keeping an eye on him. The further away from me he remains, the better I’ll feel. I’d like to say he’ll eventually get tired and go on his merry way away from me without taking anything out on me.

If I thought Chad looked like a mess when I first saw him out behind Entice, it’s nothing compared to now. While he hasn’t changed his clothing, there are now blood spatters covering the material and staining it even more than it was before. There are even spots on his face where my blood landed on him. He’s done nothing to clean himself off and it only makes him look more deranged than I thought he was earlier. Our time apart has definitely not been good to Chad and I have clue what he wants with me. Other than seeing me as his property and Pound taking me away from him.

“Fuck!” Chad finally yells out, his voice sending a tremor of fear through my body as I try to keep him in my line of sight. “Bitch, wake the fuck up!”

Chad makes his way over to me and slams his foot into the chair where my legs are separated. It almost falls back as my fingers tighten on the arms and I try to prevent myself from screaming out in fear and pain as the movement jars my already sore body. My eyes open wider, as wide as they’ll go as he yanks the fabric from my mouth and I try to hold in the vomit threatening to explode from me.

“I’ve got shit for you to sign. You’re gonna fucking sign it without question and then we’ll move on,” he demands, his voice hard and cold as he glares down at me.

“I’m not signing anything from you,” I say, my voice shaking with the pain and fear filling me.

“Yeah, you will. I don’t have my bargaining chip anymore, but I can still figure out ways to make your life a living hell until I get what I want,” he says, turning to the bed and picking up a stack of papers I didn’t notice when I was looking around the room before.

“How the fuck do you think I’ll be able to sign anything when my hands are tied to the damn chair?” I question him, my voice harsh as I look at him and try to glare but know I’m not pulling it off since my eyes are swollen.

Chad steps back and thinks for a minute before moving closer once more. “Don’t make me fucking regret this, Rebel. I’m not in the mood for your fucking games.”

He works with shaking hands on untying the ropes rubbing against my skin while letting me loose. I can see the skin rubbed raw when he releases me. It only takes a matter of seconds before the blood starts to rush back to my hands and even more pain fills me. I hate this feeling and always have. Trying to get rid of the pain faster, I shake out my hands and it does nothing but send pain shooting up my arms. It takes everything in me to hold back the whimper of pain. I don’t want to give this stupid fuck anymore of me than what he’s already taken. Chad doesn’t get to continue ruling my life and making me feel this amount of pain.

Chad hands me the papers and I start to read them. The second he realizes what I’m doing, Chad’s anger explodes.

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