Page 58 of Giving In

“I do.” My brows are so close together at this point they could be touching. Where is he going with this?

He walks so close to me that I try to take a step back to try and look up at his eyes. Of course, I can’t because of the chair right behind me so I just tilt my head up.

“Tell me, Angel, how much did you and your mom steal from them?”

This time, my brows shoot up, probably all the way to my hairline, and I feel my eyes go so wide, cold air stings my pupils. I freeze.

“W–what did you–” I swallow the rock stuck in my throat and almost choke on it. “What did you say?”

His smirk has turned ice cold. He’s bluffing. How could he possibly know?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say with a throat drier than a desert. I feel like I’ve swallowed a box of crackers. Like I haven’t drank in days. Like someone forced a bucket of sand down my throat.

“Shit. You can barely keep it together when I ask you about it. Imagine when the cops will interrogate you about all the missing money.”

“You’re making things up now?” I spit in an attempt to throw him off. But he’s got me. He’s got me and the smirk on his face proves that he knows it.

“When I look into someone, I do it properly. And you and your mom have been sloppy.”Sloppy?“Do you remember what I said when I caught you spying on me in the parking lot, Angel?”

Yes.Everything. Every single word. It was the first time he showed his true self. The first time I got a glimpse of the brute.

Memories of that afternoon come back in flashes.

‘If you talk to anyone about what you’ve just seen, I’m going to turn your life into your own personal living hell.’

I shake my head trying to push them back, but I can feel myself starting to shake.

‘You won’t be able to go to work, school, or a party without having me on your back ruining your life. Hell, I’ll even terrorize you in your own house if I have to.’

“Do you?” he insists.

I nod my trembling head slowly. Tears are building and putting pressure on the back of my eyes. I force myself to fight them back.

My head falls forward as I give up looking up at him.

And then, it hits me.

That dreadful feeling of being backed into a wall. No way out. No safe word. No one to come for help.

I fall back on the chair and my back hits the hard desk. My spine protests but I don’t move and don’t make a noise.

“You didn’t want to play by the rules and now I’m afraid I’m going to have to stay true to my word.”

“Jake–”

He cuts me off by grabbing my jaw in his right hand and forcing my head back. I’m forced to meet his gaze and I’m hit with full force by the eyes of the real Jake. The eyes resembling the deepest marina of the ocean. The darkest one, hiding the cruelest monsters. A horrible shiver makes my spine tremble, and his smirk widens on his lips.

“I want to make myself perfectly clear. I know what you and your mom did and if you put your nose in my shit again, not only your mom will end up in jail, but you can kiss goodbye to lacrosse, a scholarship, to Stoneview Prep, to everything you’ve worked so hard for.”

My hands are holding the chair so tight my knuckles feel like they’re going to break.

I try to jerk my head away from his grip in a pathetic attempt to hide the tears that have started falling onto my cheeks. Jake’s hand tightens around my jaw. He squats in front of me, leveling his head with mine.

“Look at me, baby. From now on, you’re going to listen to everything I say. Here, at school, at your house. I want your attention, your commitment, your fucking everything. If I tell you to jump, I want to hear you ask how high, if I order something, you follow without question. I want you so fucking obedient that I’ll get bored of you by the end of the month. I control your life from now on. I. Fucking. Own. You”

As he talks, I feel like I’m disconnecting from my body and floating above the scene. I don’t think I’ve had an enemy before. I’ve had arguments with girls. I’ve gained and lost friends over time. I’ve never been particularly liked at school, but I’ve also never really cared. The other students have always left me alone. I was ignored but never hated.

This. This is different. As I watch the scene unfold, I feel deeply sorry for this girl trying to hold back sobs while Jake unleashes the kind of hellish hate that will only leave one of them standing.

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