Page 46 of A Kingpin's Weakness
He laughed like I’d just told a joke. “Them motherfuckers in there so high, you think they’ll care? You think Jo gonna come save you? That woman can’t save herself.”
He was right. Jo was probably strung out on the couch or passed out in her room. My screams would echo through the hallway and fall dead on the floor.
“I know you gonna be amazing,” he whispered, voice turning sick. “Pure. Untouched. I should call you Mary.”
My stomach turned. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. My body went still; not because I gave up, but because I was too afraid of what he might do if I moved the wrong way.
Is this it? Is this how I lose my virginity? Under this man’s control, like I’m some object to take? My chest tightened againnot from his hands this time, but from a full-blown panic attack. The air in the room felt thin. I was trapped.
“Ronnie, please,” I whispered, my voice small, cracked. “Please don’t do this.”
He stared at me for a beat, then finally released my wrists.
“You got 24 hours to let that nigga Seth know who you belong to,” he said coldly.
I belong to nobody. I wanted to scream. But right now, survival came first. He stood up like he’d just kissed me goodnight.
“Sweet dreams, Stormi.” He leaned in to kiss my lips. I jerked away at the last second, and he caught my neck instead. I felt his lips on my skin and swallowed the bile rising in my throat.
When he finally walked out, I didn’t even cry. I was too stunned. I launched out of bed, ran to the door, slammed it shut, and locked it. This time dragging the dresser in front like I should’ve done in the first place.
My body was trembling so bad I could barely hold my phone as I dialed RJ. He answered instantly.
“Hey, Stormi what’s wrong?”
“Ronnie, he just left my room.”
“Stormi, are you okay?”
“No. He choked me while I was asleep. I couldn’t even fucking breathe. He didn’t stop until he saw the tears.”
“Where is he now?”
“He left. I locked the door. The dresser’s in front of it now.”
“I’m on my way.”
I pressed the phone to my forehead, breathing hard. “How the fuck did I forget to lock the door? And slide the dresser?”
“You didn’t,” RJ said. “We were on the phone when you did it. That means he found another way in.”
I turned toward the open window, the curtain fluttering like a ghost. The window. Or someone else let him in. That made my skin crawl even worse.
“Stormi,” RJ said carefully, “maybe it’s time to go home. Noah’s doing better. You don’t need to stay in this chaos.”
“I want Noah to come back with me,” I whispered.
“Stormi, he’s not.”
I didn’t respond.
Maybe he was right. Maybe I was holding on to someone that didn’t want to be saved. I glanced at the clock. 2:06 a.m. This was my life right now. Trapped in a house with a predator, surrounded by people too broken to protect me. I was done taking Ronnie’s threats lightly. Next time, I might not be lucky enough to get out with just a bruised neck and a sick feeling in my gut.
“You can always talk to Seth,” RJ offered.
“I’m not dragging him into my mess.”
“He’d end it. You know that.”
