Page 19 of Silent Betrayal

“Where—where is she?” I ask the question that’s been bugging me since I woke up. They told me nobody has seen her, but I have to ask again, worried she’ll come to finish the job.

“We don’t know. She left after attacking you and hasn’t returned since. Jeff was arrested because he was in your home when we found you. But the police need to confirm he’s innocent of anything before they release him. Are you saying he hasn’t harmed you at all?” Gideon asks gently.

I turn to the phone and type my answer.“I wouldn’t say that, but he wasn’t in the basement when this happened.” I gesture to my body.

“What did he do?” Atlas growls.

I glance at Jasper, remembering the morning he found me sitting outside, crying. It was the day I met the rest of these guys.

“The day I met you.”The app speaks as I point to Atlas, Ben, and Dom.

Jasper speaks, filling in the next part. “Max and I found you sitting against the fence, crying. What did he do, Angel?”

“He cornered me and tried to touch me. My mother came in and stopped him, and I ran out of the house. That’s when you found me.”

“Malishka.” I look at Atlas again.

“Your arm?” he asks, looking both angry and scared of the answer.

I bite my lip and look down. Dom places his fingers under my chin and lifts my gaze back to Atlas as he whispers, “be a good girl and answer him.”

I swallow the lump in my throat, then type my response.“I was a few minutes late getting home from school. She was mad. She had Jeff hold me down on the counter, in my underwear, while she used a…”I hit the speak button, feeling queasy about typing the last word.

“Used what, Malishka? Tell me,” Atlas says, his voice almost a whisper.

A wine bottle opener. One of those corkscrew ones.Dom sucks in a sharp breath behind me before I press speak, obviously reading over my shoulder.

“What? What did she type?” Tucker asks anxiously. I can’t do it, it feels like too much, so I appreciate when Dom raises his finger to pressspeakhimself.

I watch Atlas as he listens, his eyes grow comically wide, simmering with anger.

“She… She twisted it in?” he asks, grinding his teeth.

I nod right before Max groans, “I’m gonna be sick.” I watch him run into the bathroom and shut the door.

Atlas grips my foot more firmly as he stares at me. “We’re going to protect you now, Malishka. Nothing like that will ever happen to you again. Do you understand?”

I nod, giving him a sad smile.

Wanting to change the subject, I ask a new question.“When can you take me home?”

“I like that you’re already referring to it as your home,” Dom whispers in my ear before placing a kiss right below it, making my breath hitch at the tingly sensation that runs through my body. Luckily, Tucker distracts me from embarrassing myself by answering my question.

“As soon as the doctor releases you. Your hand and stomach are the parts he’s the most worried about. He should be in soon to check on you, and finally tell us all what’s going on,” Tucker tells me, rubbing my arm gently.

I move my hands to my stomach. “S-she did it on purpose,” I whisper.

“Did what?” Dom asks in my ear.

I use my right hand to point to my left ring finger, then my stomach.

“Can I—”

“We don’t know anything yet,” Jasper answers my unspoken question.

“The doctor did x-rays and ultrasounds two days ago. He’s going to give you the update as soon as he comes in,” Gideon tells me, and I nod in understanding.

Dom kisses my head before speaking. “Mina, tell me something. Has Jeff been moving around with you and your mom? How long have you known him?”

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