Page 114 of The Bastard Prince

God, it was like no other pain I'd ever experienced in my life.

Worse than that night in his father's lair.

Worse than how it felt when my father died.

That night was the night I realized that the human heart didn’t house the human emotions because it could have never continued to beat if it truly endured what I had in that moment. Our feelings were tucked away somewhere much deeper. Somewhere where no physical element or force could touch them.

I guess that was why they were so hard to heal.

Shivering, I pushed past the revulsion, terror, and heartache, and forced myself to remember that night – or at least, what I dared to remember...

Naked as the day I was born, Trigger dragged me from the room by my hair.

I was so frightened by his outburst that I didn’t dare try to stop him.

For the first time in my life, I genuinely feared the man I loved more than life itself.

On my hands and knees, I scrambled after him, hissing out in pain when he yanked on my hair with ruthless force.

"Trig, please! You're hurting me –"

"Do not speak to me," he sneered, marching me through the entryway of the estate and across the cobbled courtyard until he reached his car.

Releasing my hair, he yanked the passenger door open and pointed a trembling finger at the seat. "Get the fuck in before I change my mind and kill you now!"

Terrified, I forced my limbs to unlock from their submissive position and crawled into the seat, body racking with violent tremors.

"Trig, I swear, I didn’t do anything –"

"Shut the fuck up!" he roared, climbing into the driver's seat beside me. "Just –" A pained snarl tore from his throat and he lunged for me, gripping my jaw painfully tight. "Puta," he spat, glaring into my eyes with such hatred that I wilted away from him. "Puta traidora!"

"I'm not a whore," I whimpered, flinching in pain. "I didn't –"

"Do not speak," he snarled, roughly shoving my face away and starting the engine. "You make me sick."

"I've been framed –"

My words broke off when the back of his hand smacked me hard across the face.

"Speak again and I will cut your tongue off!" he roared, visibly shaking with unrestrained fury. "Crellid whore!"

Stunned, I sagged against my door and cupped my cheek.

My eyes filled with tears as the reality of what had happened sunk in.

Trig hit me.

He fuckinghitme.

It wasn't a game.

It wasn't a joke.

He honest to god lashed out with force, intending to inflict physical pain on me.

As awareness swept through me, I felt something inside of me float away.

My faith.

---