Page 50 of Castle

I lay down in my old bed, which is when I heard the knock on the door.

“Millie…”

Castle was outside. “Millie, please open the door…I…I can explain…”

TWENTY

The knocks becameincessant and Castle continued to talk me into opening the door.

The knob kept turning and his soft voice called out to me from the other side, “Millie, please open the door...”

I was afraid of him.

I had never thought that Castle would try to hurt me like that.

I avoided Castle for two days straight, and I didn’t take my meals in the dining area because I didn’t want to face the other members of the family. Castle tried to talk to me when he had the chance, but whenever he was close, I felt intimidated, as if he would catch me and try to choke me again, so I fled in the other direction.

When I passed Devin in the hallways, I noticed he was wearing a smug expression on his face, like he expected this to happen.

Since Castle and I were married, I couldn’t keep fending him off. I had feelings for him, so this made it even worse. While my uncle had always been evil, I’d never seen that negativity when I was with Castle. He was shy, but smart and compassionate. Sometimes he didn’t realize what he was doing or what certain gestures meant.

On the third night, I had had enough of the cat-and-mouse game. I sat up in bed and I was going to give Castle a chance to explain his behavior.

I opened the door slowly and found him seated outside on the floor, with his legs pulled to his chest, rocking back and forth. As soon as he saw me, he climbed to his feet; there was the clear pain in his whiskey-colored eyes.

“Millie...I’m so sorry...”

I tried not to be moved by his tears. Instead, I firmly said, “Let’s go back to your room and talk about this.”

I followed him to his room but maintained my distance.

Castle stood in the center of the room, shirtless. His hair was a rumbled mess. He stared at me in confusion without making a move to touch me, so I knew I was safe.

“Did I…do something wrong?”

I closed the door. “You tried to choke me! Why did you do that?”

“I thought...I thought you would like that…” he looked at me with the most heartbroken expression.

“You were being rough. I thought you were going to kill me.” I wiped at the tears that continued to blur my vision.

“I was...I’m a rape victim, and I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but I’m not into rough sex. It’s also the reason I didn’t date anyone in the past. I had deep fear...” my heart rate sped up. “I feared it would happen to me again. You’re stronger than me and any man I’ve ever known, and I don’t wish to be treated like that. Are you understanding what I’m saying, Castle?”

He nodded, guiltily he looked up at me, “It’s just the video.”

“What video?”

He walked to the laptop sitting on the coffee table and fired it up. I watched him as he clicked on an icon on the desktop and a video popped up.

The room filled with loud moans and masculine grunts. A well-built man was choking a woman and passing crude comments while he did it. The clip was an obvious exaggeration, and the acting was bad enough, but I knew what I was looking at. She was screaming but also moaning as he squeezed his hand around her windpipe.

He shut the laptop and met my gaze, “Before the wedding…” he paused, trying to remember the words, “Devin showed me this clip…and…and…he said you’d enjoy this. He said that’s what happens on…the wedding night.”

Anger swelled my insides, and I wanted to walk into Devin’s room and kill him in his sleep.

My face burned with embarrassment. “He lied to you. Well, there are some people who might like it, but I don’t.”

“I...” He said, obviously confused, “I’m sorry, Millie.”

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