Page 77 of The Scars of Us

One hand squeezed mine as the other fingered the scar on her throat. “I fought against him, but then he pulled a knife to my throat. He touched me more before stopping to take off his shirt. I tried to get away then, but he caught me before I got to the door. He pinned me and pressed the knife into my neck.” She took a deep breath, and her lip quivered as a few more tears trickled down her face. She composed herself some before continuing, barely above a whisper, “Kamden came home early and busted through my door. He pulled Kaleb off me, but I ended up getting cut in the process. Kamden beat Kaleb unconscious, and then called 911.”

Wow.“What happened after that?”

“I had to tell the police everything, which was so much. Things had been going on for as long as I could remember, even when we were really young. I didn’t know it at the time, but he was overly affectionate and touched me inappropriately. It progressed over time, and he started becoming aggressive and possessive, touching me regularly when we started middle school. Everyone questioned me, asking me why I didn’t say anything sooner, but it was all I ever knew. I thought it was normal until high school, but even then, I was too scared of him. He always said he’d kill me if I told anyone, and I believed him. I didn’t think anyone would believe me anyway. I mean, Kaleb was my twin. Who would think that my own—” she sobbed, unable to speak anymore.

“I’m so sorry, Warrior,” I murmured as I placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

Tilting her head, she looked up at me as I cradled her in my arms, her hand covering her throat. Gazing down at the beautiful, broken woman in my arms, all I could think about was how I could save her from her darkness, the darkness created by someone who should have never been the cause of it.

Reaching my hand up, I lay it on top of hers. I wanted her to feel less self-conscious about her scar, to let go of the fear and negativity associated with it. Slowly pulling her hand away, I kept our eyes locked. She slightly stiffened but didn’t pull away or object to my actions.

I ran my fingers through her hair as I gently tipped her head back. Bringing her closer to me, I leaned down to her neck and pressed light kisses along the scar on her throat. Her body trembled as she cried beneath my lips before she grasped my face in her hands.

Moving my head away from her neck, she brought my mouth up to meet hers. Connecting our lips, she wrapped her arms around my neck and molded against me. I felt her tears on my face before she pulled away and brought our foreheads together. “Thank you,” she whispered.

I wiped the tears from her cheeks before laying us back down. Positioning our bodies together, I enveloped her in my arms as my body fit to hers. Kissing the back of her neck, I murmured, “Go back to sleep, baby. I got you.”

Moving closer to me, she relaxed in my embrace. A short while later, her breathing deepened as sleep found her again, and I hoped that I could keep her nightmares away.

The blaring of Kaiya’s alarm clock woke us. She withdrew from my arms and slid to the edge of the bed to turn the stupid thing off.

“Come back to bed. It’s still dark out,” I grumbled as I reached for her.

“I have to go to work,” she replied as she rubbed her face, her voice heavy with sleep.

“Call in sick or something. We can play doctor,” I said as I raised my eyebrows suggestively with my eyes barely open. She laughed, but still rose up off the bed.

“I’d like that, but Mondays are busy for me at the office. There’s no way I could miss.”

Throwing the sheets off me, I sat up before stretching and yawning. “I’ll drive you.”

“It’s okay, you can sleep. I’ll take the T,” she called from her closet.

I scoffed. Like I’d really let her take the transit. “You’re not taking the T. I’ll drop you off.”

We went back and forth a few times before she finally conceded. I got dressed before Kaiya made Kamden and me breakfast. Then, she went back to her room to finish getting ready, leaving us alone.

“So, about that talk,” Kamden started as he stirred his coffee.

It’s too early for this shit.

“Yeah?” My voice was gruff and irritated. I was so not in the mood to talk to him.

He turned in his seat to face me, crossing his arms over his chest. “What are your intentions with my sister?”

I laughed dryly, “None of your business.”

“Kaiya is my business!” he roared as he slammed a fist on the counter. He craned his neck to look down the hall toward Kaiya’s room before directing his attention back to me. He lowered his voice, but the anger in it was still obvious, “If you hurt her, I swear to God, I will-”

“Look, I lo-” I paused for a split second, catching myself, “care about Kaiya. I’m not going to hurt her.”

We glared daggers at each other until Kaiya walked back into the room. Tension radiated from both of us as she looked from Kamden to me. “Everything okay?” she asked.

“Everything’s fine,sorella,” Kamden answered with a forced smile, his voice still strained with lingering anger.

Kaiya met my eyes, seeking my agreement with her brother’s statement. “Yeah, everything’s great, baby.”

I could tell by the wary look on her face that she didn’t completely believe us, but she didn’t press the issue further. “Ready to go?” she asked as she came up to me.

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