Page 54 of Tormented in Silence: Part One

I nod. What he just said means more to me than he’ll ever know, but I don’t need to voice that. “Not too well. She started panicking at first, and then she kept repeating it was not her fault. She was frantically scanning the room until she saw the vase of roses on the counter and walked over and threw them across the room with a scream before also throwing every kitchen chair into the wall, too. She definitely let some aggression out.”

“She let something out, that’s for sure. You might want to soundproof your room at the club, brother.” Blade smirks.

Sugar smacks him upside the head. “Sometimes I wonder why we keep you around.”

“Hey!” he says while rubbing the back of his head. “I only speak the truth.”

I shake my head and go back inside to check on Presley. When I push open her bedroom door, she is standing there naked, staring at her closet with her hands on her hips. I can’t help but let my eyes roam up and down her body. She’s so fucking gorgeous.

“Angel?”

Her head whips in my direction, and she is fuming mad. My first reaction is to want to take a step back. But I can’t help but also be turned on by her anger…Bad timing. Knock it off.“What’s wrong?”

“He destroyed my clothes! He’s destroyed so much of my life! When does it stop? I didn’t do anything wrong!” she yells as she turns and walks to her dresser, ripping the drawer open, pulling it all the way out before throwing it across the room.

My eyes widen as I watch her continue to do it with every drawer… Fuck me, she has some strength in her tiny ass body.

I hear someone coming up behind me from where I’m standing at the door and turn my head to see all three of them wide eyed at the end of the hall. I hold up my hand so they don’t come down the hall, considering she’s naked.

When I turn back towards Presley, she is standing in the middle of the room, her chest heaving,Don’t look down… don’t look down.I look down. Goddamn, I’m a lucky bastard.

I look back at her face to see tears in her eyes. Before I can say anything or step forward to comfort her, she lets it out.

“How does that fucking cunt think he can get away with this shit? I’m so tired of being weak. God! I can’t even fucking stop crying for one full day!” She angrily wipes at her face. “He’s taken so much from me!” She finally looks right at me. “When does it stop?”

I gently shake my head, “I wish I knew, angel. But what I can promise you is we won’t give up. We won’t stop hunting for him until he’s six feet under.”

She gives me a wicked smile. “No.”

I stand there, stunned. Did I hear her right? “No? What do you mean? You want the police to handle him? Because unfortunately, they won’t. They’ve already covered up what happened to you,” I say as softly as I can.

She shakes her head, her eyes turning cold. “Not that. I know that. I want you to handle him. But not six feet under. No, Benjamin has a fear. A terrible fear that he has had to get help for but refused to ever tell anyone about it.”

I tilt my head. “What’s that?”

Her grin is pure evil. “Fire. He’s terrified of fire. He fears burning alive, of being too close to it. We had this huge, beautiful fireplace in our home, and I wasn’t allowed to use it because he was scared of it. He’d freak out at other people’s homes if they had a fire going. He wouldn’t even go to bonfires in high school.”

I give her a matching grin, loving this new side to her as much as the other sides of her. Plus, how could I say no to her when she’s standing there naked? “We can work with that.”

She laughs; it’s so beautiful. “I think I’m losing it. Because you saying that gives me butterflies in my stomach.”

“You also cussed! You said fuck! And cunt! I’m so proud of our baby Presley,” Blade says from behind me. I realize too late he walked down the hall because he gives a low whistle, and Presley looks down as her entire body before flushing beet red.

She squeals and tries to cover herself. “Oh, my god I’m naked!” she yells.

Blade cackles. “Fuck yeah you are, babe.”

I turn and block his view. “Get the fuck out of the apartment before I shoot you.”

He laughs even harder before sobering up when Presley speaks next. “Hey, Jackson?”

“Yes angel?”

“If I decided he should lose his eyes for seeing me naked, would you take them?”

I smile at Blade, and he pales. “Oh, of course I would.”

She giggles. “Good to know.”

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