Page 71 of Haunted

“With Mom and Dad. Why in the fuck are you so goddamninterested in Aria all the time? She’smyfucking daughter, not yours, Luca. Now, tell me where the fuck Jules is!” he finishes on a roar.

The words have barely left his mouth before Luca slams his fist against Theo’s jaw. I squeak out a cry. It’s as if all Luca was waiting for was to make sure Aria wouldn’t see what he planned to do. Theo stumbles back and hits the wall by the door. Luca steps forward and delivers another brutal punch to his cheek. Blood trickles from the corner of Theo’s mouth. Using the back of his hand, he wipes it away, then looks down at the bloody streak. My hand shakes as I bring it up to cover my mouth.

Theo’s eyes flicker to me, and so much hate reflects in them thatIstumble back a step.

Luca steps in front of him, blocking his view of me.

“You don’t get to fucking look at her anymore,” Luca snarls.

“She’s my goddamn wife. I can do whatever the fuck I want,” Theo retaliates.

“Including raping her?” The question comes out on a guttural growl.

Theo doesn’t say anything for a moment, but I can hear both men’s heavy breathing.

“I wasn’t going to fucking rape her,” he grates out.

“You should have stopped the minute she told you to.”

“Fuck you, Luca. You don’t know what happened. You weren’t there.”

When Theo tries to step around Luca, he pushes him back with a hand on his chest. He thumps back against the wall.

“I didn’t need to be there to know she’s fucking scared out of her mind to be near you.”

From the tense way Luca’s holding his body and the hostility in his tone, I know he’s barely refraining from hurting Theo even more. I hate violence and try to avoid it at all costs. As much as I don’t want to face Theo, I know I need to, to gethim to leave. I walk further into the living room, purposely putting myself in Theo’s line of sight. His eyes move to me, and a whole slew of emotions pass over his face.

“Please leave, Theo,” I say, putting some strength in my tone.

“I’m not leaving here without you,” he says harshly.

“She’s not going anywhere with you.”

Theo’s eyes slide from mine back to his twin’s. His laugh is vicious as he regards Luca with contempt.

“You’ve wanted this all along, haven’t you? You’ve just been waiting on the perfect time to snatch her from me, just like you did all those years ago. Because you want her all for yourself.”

I suck in a sharp breath. Luca reaches out, grabs Theo by the collar of his shirt, and yanks him forward. He tries to hide it, but I can see the pain those words cause. I have no idea what feelings Luca holds for me or what prompted him to take me all those years ago, but I know he holds an insurmountable amount of guilt over it. I saw it in his eyes when I opened to door the day he came to check on me.

“You’re a motherfucking bastard, Theo, for trying to turn this shit around on me. Do I want her? Fuck yes, I do. But I damn sure wouldn’t lay a hand on her.”

“But you fucking did,” Theo roars.

“Not the way you did.”

Something sinister enters Theo’s eyes. They flip to me then back to Luca. “But you fucking did,” he repeats, his tone low and holding a sick sense of satisfaction.

Shock slams into me, and a pain so sharp it sucks away all the breath in my lungs has tears rushing to my eyes. I reach out to the wall beside me, fearing my legs will give out at any minute.

My eyes slice to Luca to see the hand still gripping Theo’s shirt collar shake. His face is ghost white. He releases Theo andtakes a step back, his eyes never leaving the man in front of him. Disbelief and agony cross his face.

“You’re fucking lying.” Utter devastation laces Luca’s tone.

Theo straightens his shirt, then lifts his lip in a sneer. “Am I? You think you’re better than me? But guess what? You’re worse. I had her years ago because she wantedme, notyou. You can’t say the fucking same. The only time you had her was when you took what wasn’t yours to have. At least she wanted me to fuck her at one point in her life. She’s never wanted that from you.”

A burning sensation starts in my lower stomach. The more Theo talks, the hotter it gets and the higher it travels up my chest until it feels like my torso is engulfed in flames.

What he’s saying can’t be true. I would have remembered being so gruesomely violated. Bile rises in my throat when something flashes in my head. A remembered pain. A feeling of something being stolen from me.

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