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Eight pairs of eyes landed on me.

And then all hell broke loose.

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Chapter Thirty-Nine

Hope

Growing up in home filled with multiple dominant and loudly vocal men, I was accustomed to the hustle and noise that occurred whenever the family were all together in one place.

This, however, was so much different.

My brothers and Derek were on their feet.

My mother was wailing.

Teagan was shouting – I guess she felt the need to join into the chaos.

As for my father?

He was in front of me with his hands cupping my face, looking at it like his entire world had just been crushed to pieces.

In the madness, I could see Noah still sitting at the table, rubbing his temples, and I made a mental note to thank him later for keeping his mouth shut.

"What happened to you?" Dad choked out, his blue eyes locked on my cheek. "What the hell happened to you, angel?"

"I'm okay," I replied, not feeling the emotions required to fall apart right now.

I'd done enough of that in the past few months.

I'd done enough of thattoday.

I was all cried out.

"Okay?" Dad snarled, tone one of pure outrage. "How the fuck are youokay?"

To be honest, I had grown so used to looking at the jagged, hook-shaped scar on my face these past few months that it hadn't even occurred to me that my family would be horrified.

Obviously, I had known in the back of my mind they would freak the hell out, but I had been so consumed in my own pain and grief that I just…forced it from my head.

Besides, I didn’t look as bad now.

Sure, the left side of my face was still disgusting and gross, but the bruises on the rest of my body had healed up and disappeared completely.

I was no longer sporting that ugly black eye, and the pain was almost nonexistent.

With the exception of a little tenderness and some stinging, I wascoping.

I was surviving.

"Seriously, Dad," I countered, ducking under his arms to get some much-needed space and gather my racing thoughts. "I'm fine."

The moment I broke free from my father's grasp, my mother was right there waiting to take over.

"Hope," Mom sobbed, hand covering her mouth, as she looked at me with horror bouncing in her gray eyes.

I couldn’t deal with this right now.

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