Page 6 of Ruined

“Please stop,” I whisper, causing him to blink as he seemingly comes back to himself.

“Sorry,” he grumbles, pinching the bridge of his nose and giving his head a little shake. “Anyway, we’re not the reason I’m here. I have zero interest in mending our little fucked up family. The reason I’m here is Angelica. I need to know more about the men that are looking for you.”

Goosebumps break out along my arms and ice water fills my veins. I know who’s looking for me, so he doesn’t need to say it, but he doesn’t know that.

“Virgil, your father, and Vincent, your fiancé.”

Their names ring through my ears and echo around inside my mind like they were spoken in a never-ending tunnel. My stomach twists painfully and bile burns its way up the back of my throat.

No. They hold zero control over you, Eden. You’re free of them. You’re safe.

“They are not my family. Virgil may have been my father’s brother and murderer. And he may have married my mother after and pretended to be my father. But that man has never been my family. He’s my abuser, my captor. And Vincent … Well, he’s nothing more than a rapist and a thug, nipping at Virgil’s heel for power.” The words drip like venom from my lips.

Daemon’s head tilts to the side, his lips twitching back and forth as he mulls over what I said. “So, I’m guessing you weren’t kidnapped from your home in Cambridge, nor from a family friend that you were staying with when you got free?”

A sarcastic bark of laughter rips through me at the absurdity of the lies he’s been told. “Not a chance in hell. After years of Vincent taking what he wanted from me, even if I wasn’t willing to give it. And suffering under Virgil’s punishments in the name of unjust penance, I was done being the sacrificial lamb. I ran, unwilling to remain bound to them anymore.”

Lucifer’s hand tightens where it rests on my hip, pulling my body closer to his. His other hand continues to rub soothing circles up and down my spine. His grounding touch infuses me with a sense of security I haven’t felt in a long time. Like nothing and no one will ever hurt me again, so long as this man is here. Thank god today is one of my good days because without his touch, I don’t think I could get through this.

Across from me, a low growling noise of distress tears through Kain. His hands curl into fists on his lap, clenching and unclenching with each heavy inhale.

“Kain—” I start. The flames of unchecked fury burning in his hazel eyes cut off anything else I might say. A memory flits through my mind, to the moment when Kain first heard my story and something he said, a promise he made.

I will seek vengeance on every single person that dared touch you. And together, we’ll burn this place to the ground.

At the time, I thought he was talking about the club, but seeing him now—the anger coiling through his muscles—I finally understand his full meaning. He’ll cut down anyone and everyone who has ever hurt me or ever tries to hurt me.

I pat Lucifer’s hand on my hip, silently asking him to let me go. He relinquishes his hold and I stand, draping the blanket around my shoulders, and walk slowly around the table to stand in front of Kain.

Tentatively, I reach out and lightly run a knuckle down the side of Kain’s face. He flinches at my touch but quickly settles. I nudge at his knees with my leg, and he parts them, allowing me to take a step closer until our bodies touch and I can wrap my arms around his shoulders.

I lean into him, placing my chin on his shoulder, my lips beside his ear, and whisper, “I’m okay, Kain.”

His hands meet my hips, and he pushes me back until he can look me directly in the eyes. His searching gaze bores into me. I hold that stare, hoping he can see the truth lingering just under the surface. I cup his face in my cold hands, this time, he doesn’t flinch at the contact.

“You gave me strength when I had none left. You gave me hope when I thought all was lost. You saved my life, Kain. I’m here. I’m alive. And I’m going to be okay because of you.”

Kain doesn’t say anything in response, just pulls me down to sit in his lap and wraps his strong arms around me. Gentle yet firm in his embrace.

“So how did you end up here?” Daemon asks after everything falls silent.

“I can answer that one,” Edward chimes in, that gentle smile lighting up his face.

I nod and he jumps in, explaining how we ended up on the same bus and about Virgil and Vincent showing up just as we were about to leave the bus depot.

He saw that?I had no idea.

He continues to regale them with the tales of our travel while I sit in Kain’s lap, my fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. Every now and then I hop into the story to explain something in more detail, such as the texts I got from Virgil that ended up with my phone being destroyed and flushed.

I can hear the wheels in Daemon’s mind turning with each new piece of the story he’s told.

“Lucifer told me that they rescued you from a party that Donovan was catering. How did you end up there? Do you work for him?”

My body stiffens and my stomach clenches with his questions. “Work? No. I thought I did in the beginning. He was so kind, talking about how much he cared for his girls and the lengths he’s willing to go to in order to protect them. But that first night made it very clear that I was nothing more than an object to him. Something to pimp out and make money with. Sure, I got paid something in the end, but I had no say in what happened to me, to my own body. It was basically slavery.”

“No basically about it. You were a fucking slave,” Kain growls, his hold around me almost bruising with his anger.

I close my eyes and force the memories of everything that happened to me while under Donovan’s control back behind the shield I’ve erected.

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