Page 52 of Changing Rules

“Exactly. You. Opened. The. Door.” He punctuates every word through gritted teeth, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “No one asked you to come in here. You should’ve stayed in the dining room.”

“So you could take the opportunity to force yourself on her? Again?” Xander growls.

Kevin steps forward, making me press myself closer to Xander’s chest. “Don’t talk about shit you know nothing about.”

I’m not afraid of him. I’m mortified. More than once, being around him has made me physically ill. But he doesn’t scare me anymore. I could’ve handled him myself—I’ve been doing it for several years already. I’m in control of this situation, even if it doesn’t look like it from the outside.

Kevin would do anything for me. All I need to do is ask.

I just don’t want to.

“I know everything.” Xander circles an arm around my waist, keeping me close.

The move catches Kevin’s attention, his gaze drifting to my abdomen. His nostrils flare in anger, and maybe jealousy.

“Bella told me everything,” Xander says, his breath causing the hair at my temple to flutter.

“Really?” Kevin smirks. “What did my girl say to you?” He spits blood onto the floor before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. His face is like one big, swollen bruise, but by the sound of his voice, he finds this little interaction entertaining.

Shit. We need to leave. He’s going to spill all my secrets, and I’m not ready for that.

“You raped her when she was seventeen,” Xander growls, “and continued doing so until she left for college.”

My knees give out, but Xander’s hold on me is strong. It’s the only reason I don’t collapse into a heap.

Now he’ll know the truth…

Didn’t I tell him every story has two sides? Didn’t I warn him that Kevin’s version of events is very, very different from mine?

And now it’s his turn to tell his side.

“Isabella, love, tell me: Did I really rape you for months?Months?” Kevin takes a step closer, his eyes finding mine.

He will know the truth.

It takes all I have to continue breathing, to keep from giving in to the dizziness threatening to overtake me.

“Nothing? Not a word?”

“She doesn’t need to say anything,” Xander chides. “I know enough.”

“You don’t.” Kevin shakes his head. “And you don’t want to know, because you’re afraid of the truth. My girl isn’t who you think she is.” His smug smile makes me sick to my stomach.

He will know the truth.

“I heard the truth,” Xander argues. “You took advantage of a teenage girl, a girl you should have treated like a daughter. It’s called grooming. It’s assault.”

“It’s called love!” Kevin bellows, losing his composure. “Do you really think I could’ve raped her formonths?” He stalks closer, the tendons in his neck straining as he leans in. “That I could’ve had sex with her over and over for several months without her consent? She slept with me, boy. Willingly. When Samantha went to visit her mother, we spent an entire weekend in bed. Does that sound like rape to you? She was in love with me!”

As Xander stiffens behind me, the remnants of my heart crumble to dust and drift away.

Now he knows Kevin’s side.

The room spins, my vision blurring. I’m back in hell, in a chamber designed just for me. The walls are covered in my regrets, my tears, and my stupid decisions. It’s a place I hoped to never see again. Engulfed in a kind of shame I never wanted to feel again. Suffocating. Desperate. Flooded with pain.

I spent years convincing myself that my truth was different. And it worked…until now.

Kevin’s words are enough to lock the door to my cell, to condemn me to a sentence that should last for eternity.

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