Page 108 of Sinful Desires
“Maybe we can—” I didn’t even finish the sentence.
His hand slammed into my face. My head whipped sideways, a burst of white light detonating behind my eyes. For a second, I didn’t even know where I was. Stars exploded across my vision. I staggered. The pain came fast and blinding. I winced and brought my hand to my cheek, fingers trembling.
“Get up,” he barked. “I’m fucking done with you.”
I shook my head, my crying turning to sobs. Not because I wanted sympathy. Because I was scared.Reallyscared.
He didn’t wait. He grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. His grip was tight enough to bruise. And for the first time in a long time, I felt like a child again.
Small. Stupid. Powerless.
I struggled in his arms, but it didn’t matter. My body moved, but there was no fight left in it. The two men at the tabledidn’t look up. Their fingers stayed busy on their keyboards, pretending I wasn’t there. Pretending this wasn’t happening.
My father didn’t let go.
“You’ll thank me later,” he said calmly, like none of it mattered. “Right now, I have to do what I can to save this family.”
I wiped at my face, my breath catching between sobs. “Save us from what?”
He looked at me without a flicker of doubt. “From you.”
I saw the front door of my condo swing open, and two of his men walked in. They grabbed me by the arms and dragged me out. Ten minutes later, I was sitting in his helicopter, the rotors screaming overhead, the roof of my building blurring beneath us.
I begged. I cried. I said I’d get better. That I hadn’t done anything. That I was stillme.
No one answered. They shoved me in like I was nothing.
Still in Théo’s shirt. Yoga pants. No shoes. No clue what was coming.
Thirteen years of hell just to find heaven in you.
He had held me all night, then left me for the wolves.
He said I’d be safe. He’d told me nothing would happen to me. And I had believed him.
But maybe he’d lied.
Maybe he knew they were coming. Maybe he let it happen. Maybe he helped.
Maybe that was why he’d left this morning. He’d gotten what he wanted. He’d fucked me, kissed me, and walked out, knowing my father would come.
Maybe that had been the plan all along.
I didn’t know what was worse—the thought that he’d betrayed me, or that he hadn’t cared at all.
I guess monsters didn’t always wear masks. Sometimes they said your name like it meant something, then disappeared when it started to hurt.
No goodbye. No voice left to scream. No choice. Only one destination.
Jasper Rehabilitation Hospital, Minnesota.
The sky outside looked endless. But the doors of the helicopter locked.
This wasn’t help.
It was exile.
Part Two
