Page 157 of Taste of Addiction

He gives me a kiss to the forehead, knowing what I plan to share with her. “How did I get this lucky to have someone like you in my life?”

“Not many women could put up with yourwayslike I can.”

“I never wanted to be possessive of anyone else but you, baby. You captured my heart long before I could stop it from happening.”

I bend up to kiss his lips and then cross the hallway to knock on Penny’s door.

“Come in,” she says softly.

I peek my head in from behind the door. “It’s Angie.”

“Hey.”

I hesitantly walk in and join her at the foot of her bed.

“I’m so glad you weren’t hurt like I was,” she says sadly. “I never want anyone to endure what I think I went through.”

“Penny, Mark didn’t rape you.” I place a hand on her leg, giving her a gentle squeeze. “He told me when I was kidnapped. He had nothing to gain from lying, so I think he was telling the truth.”

Tears drip down Penny’s cheeks, turning into sobs that shake through her upper body.

“Did you hear me? You werenotraped.”

“Yes I was.” She turns her body so she can look at me straight on. “Mark might not have taken my body, but he raped my mind for months. Tortured me in my conscious and subconscious thoughts. He finds me in my nightmares and taunts me. So yeah, sure, he may not have possessed my body, but isn’t it worse that he has shattered the hope I once had that a man can care about me for more than just sex?”

“I am so sorry.” I pull her to me while she weeps, meeting her halfway with my own breakdown.

“He”—sob—“broke”—sob—“me.”

It was a little taste of happiness that caused me to become addicted to my own self-sabotage obsession. Maybe as Penny progresses through therapy and learns how to reintegrate herself back into her normal life, she won’t hold on to the pain that is keeping her from truly living her best life.

“You are so strong, and I’m grateful to know you.”

Penny’s eyes dry, and she gives me a gentle smile. “I needed to hear this tonight. I’ve been struggling, and I do want to get better. I can’t rush my therapy. And I do want to change my outlook on life.”

“You can,” I say encouragingly. “I know you can.”

She reaches over my lap and squeezes my hand. “Angie, thank you. You’ve given me hope.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned this past year, it is that hope is one of the many keys to happiness.”

I give Penny one last hug and then make my way back to Graham’s room.

“Everything okay?” he asks. “Have you been crying?” He gets up from the bed to comfort me.

“Yes,” I confirm. “But it was necessary. I just needed to have a little chat with Penny.”

“Yeah? And?”

“I think she’s going to be all right. With time, of course.”

“I love you, sweetheart. You have a gentle heart, and I promise not to take you for granted.”

Graham helps me out of my outfit and then removes his. We crash into his bed and roll around until I am underneath his weight.

We make slow, passionate love, with the only light in the room coming from the moon and the decorations outside the window. I want to soak this moment in. I want it branded into my memory forever. For so long I tried to get my brain to forget, when now, all I want is to help it remember.

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