Page 88 of Teach Me to Fly

“No,” I growl. “You don’t get to look away now.”

Alec’s eyes flutter. He’s dazed, dizzy, somewhere between pain and panic, but not far enough gone.

“You think I’m just going to beat the shit out of you and walk away?” I whisper, low and lethal. “No. You’re going to confess to what you did. You’re going to say it out loud, or I swear to God, I’ll rip your fucking face off.”

His throat works under my arm, and I ease the pressure just enough for him to speak. He coughs, wheezing, blood bubbling at the edge of his mouth.

“I—I don’t know what you want?—”

I slam him back down against the gravel and his head cracks hard against the stone.

“Wrong answer.”

“Reign—” Angelique’s voice breaks behind me. I can hear her fear, feel her pain.

I grit my teeth and lean close to Alec’s ear. “Tell the camera what you did to her, and I’ll make sure your death is quick.”

His lip trembles. “I—I didn’t?—”

I jab my fist into his ribs, hard and sharp, causing him to gasp.

“What did you do to her?” I shout.

I slam my hand down on his chest, hard enough to make his eyes roll. His breath comes out in broken bursts.

“The bitch deserved it,” he spits, voice wet and raspy. “She wanted to act like she was running shit, like she was runningme.”

“Keep going,” I snarl, shoving him again. “Say it. All of it.”

“I took her right there on the studio floor.” Alec laughs, the sound wet and breathy. “I didn’t know she was a fucking virgin, though, but I guess that made it even better.”

Wendy sucks in a breath. “You raped her?” she asks, voice shaking.

His eyes dart toward Angelique as his mouth twitches into a sick, bloody grin. “She said no, and I didn’t stop. Call it what you want.”

My blood runs cold as rage detonates inside me. Blinding rage. And in a split second, blood smears across his cheekbone, dripping into the gravel, and I hear Wendy gasp, shifting her angle but never stopping the recording.

Good. Let the world see what I do to men who touch what’s mine.

My knuckles are raw now, but I only stop when I feel her hand—small, shaking—on my shoulder.

“Reign,” she whispers, and suddenly I’m breathing again.

The red fades just enough for me to look back at her. She’s kneeling in the gravel, mascara streaked down her cheeks, hair wild, her dress torn at the shoulder, and her lips are trembling. I rise off Alec slowly and go to her, my body still tense with fury. I reach for the arm he grabbed, and when I see the bruises already forming, my throat closes.

“He’ll never hurt you again,” I whisper. “I swear to you.”

Angelique nods, a tear sliding down her cheek as she lifts my raw knuckles up between us, placing a gentle kiss on them, getting blood on her lips.

“What the fuck is going on here?” I hear the familiar sound of my father’s voice behind me.

He storms toward us, eyes wild. His gaze jumps from Alec’s limp body to my split knuckles before finally landing on Angelique and taking in her dishevelled state. He looks back at me, furious.

“Reign,” he says, voice raised. “What did you do?”

“He deserved everything,” I say, chuckling through my rage. “And more.”

His jaw ticks and he turns toward Angelique, eyes narrowing like he’s trying to piece something together. “What happened?”

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