Page 80 of Twisted Redemption

Dressing like a teenager.

No one else would ever want you.

“Is that why you never talked about him?”

I roll my eyes. “He didn’t abuse me, Blaze.”

“Is that why you started hanging out with us less? Why you cut me off completely? Because he made you? What actually happened, Brooke?”

Inwardly, I groan. I knew he’d ask me this eventually, but that doesn’t mean I’m any more prepared for it. “Blaze...”

“No. Tell me the truth, Brooke. Right fucking now.”

I swallow hard. I don’t want to have this conversation. The blame for all of this lies squarely on my shoulders—I’m the one who made the decision to leave Blaze behind. I’m the one who didn’t fight for him.

“Did he make you choose?”

“I made my own choice.”

“But he made you choose?”

I nod.

“And why did you choose him? Why did you choose him over me when you told me last night that I’ve always meant more to you than he has?”

The hurt in his voice is so palpable, I feel like I could reach out and touch it. But the truth—I hate the truth. I hate myself for letting David get in my head. For making me doubt myself and believe the lies that fell so easily from his tongue.

“I’m not weak,” I say softly.

He shrugs. “I don’t know why you’re trying to convince me of something I already know. Now spill, Daisy.”

I sink down in my seat. “No chance of you letting this go?”

“No chance.”

Ignoring the way my stomach churns whenever I think back on my relationship with David, I turn to face Blaze. “He told me some similar things to what Francis said. I was too emotional, I was a burden, stuff like that.”

Blaze’s eyes slide shut and he takes quiet, deep breaths.

“I think he was jealous of how close I was to you. And scared I would leave him. At first he’d just say little things, almost jokingly, about how no one else would put up with me. But it escalated over time. He told me I was damaged. That no one would want me since I’d been with a man now. And I—I started to believe him. I don’t know why or how. He just... he made it all sound so real.”

Blaze leans his head back on the headrest, eyes still closed. I can see the anger on his face, thinly veiled as he tries to keep calm.

Please don’t snap at me. Please, please don’t.

“He made me feel unwanted,” I continue, watching him carefully. “And I was afraid that he was right—that if I left him, I’d end up alone. I knew I’d always have you, but not in the way I wanted. I didn’t think you felt the same way I did about you. But looking back, it doesn’t matter. I’d rather have you some than not at all. I’m sorry, Blaze. I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time, and it was stup-”

“Stop apologizing.” His voice is surprisingly gentle.

“But—”

“Get out of the car.”

“What?” I say, but Blaze is already out and moving swiftly to my side.

He yanks open my door, undoes my seatbelt, and pulls me to my feet. When his arms encircle me, my head settles against his chest almost automatically.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs into my hair. “For not seeing what he was doing to you. For not putting the pieces together. For not protecting you.”

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