Page 77 of The Burnt Heart

“No!” I cried, falling to my knees in front of my father. His head hung limply, grayed hair askew. I pressed my hand to his chest, sickened by the warmth that spread over my skin. My ears were still ringing, ringing, ringing. Logan babbled in my ear, pushing me aside to place his hands on my father. His face twisted at the contact, his hands staining red but he didn't relent. He pushed through his aversion to try and save my father, whose skin had turned ashen. I turned to Harold and grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket.

“You’re a dead man,” I snapped, throat raw. Pain wrenched through me as fingers wrapped around my hair and yanked me backwards. Alessandro clicked his tongue in my ear.

“Now, now. Let’s not make promises you can’t keep.”

A sharp reply hit my teeth as he shook me like a doll.

“I think it’s time we had a little chat.” He fisted his hand in my hair and jerked his gun at Briar. “Let’s go Bry.” Jesse and Logan tried to follow, but he waved them back with an excited pant.

“Now isn’t the time,” Harold complained, but Alessandro rolled his shoulders, the words coasting over them. His unrelenting grip dragged me to the door, and I was too shell-shocked to fight. My father, bleeding steadily, seemed unreal.

“Look after him,” I begged Logan and Jesse as Alessandro hauled me out of the room.

"I love you, my girl." My father's voice followed us, and I stumbled.

The world bubbled, blistered and tore as Alessandro prodded us up the stairs. My father. The blood on his jacket. I had to believe it wasn’t fatal. I stumbled over my feet twice, the second time punctuated by a hard slap of his hand. My body sought Briar’s warmth, but Alessandro kept his thick body between us, as if knowing the comfort it would give me. My mind buckled under the pressure.

Walls dripping red. My father’s echo of pain.

His nails scratched half off as he clawed them on the ground.

The vision was so thick I didn’t recognize where Alessandro had taken us until he spun in a circle, the whites of his teeth glistening. The pastel pink walls were deceiving, as was the faux white fur throw on the bed. Alessandro fingered it with a barely restrained glee. My childhood bedroom looked innocent, but I was far from it. He pointed at my study chair, white with gold accents.

“Sit,” he ordered, waggling the zip tie he pulled from his pocket. I grunted as he yanked my arms behind me, the plastic cutting into the tender skin of my wrist. He stroked my cheek, giving Briar a sidelong look.

“I bet you lost your virginity here, didn’t you?” He pursed his lips, like we were sharing a secret. My vision blackened on the edges as Briar’s knees wobbled, his hand shooting out to grasp the soft duvet.

“Don’t tell him anything,” Briar’s voice was sharp, even as he folded onto the bed like jelly. Alessandro’s smile didn’t budge as he turned to Briar. The soft click of his tongue filled the room, chased by the hard slap he doled out to Briar’s colorless cheek. Briar rocked to the side with a soft cry, restrained, like he hoarded the sound to deny Alessandro. The brute’s jaw ticked, but he managed a soft smile. A congenial monster, he tiltedhis head toward me in silent apology. Briar whimpered when Alessandro’s hand shot out, circling his throat. His thick fingers squeezed, red flaring in Briar’s cheeks immediately.

“God, I missed this,” Alessandro muttered, fixated on the flush on Briar’s tanned skin. My pulse hammered as I twisted my wrists. I wanted his head on a plate, a macabre trophy. My blood sung to spill his. Retribution earned a thousand times over. But I needed out of these binds first. So, I gave him what he wanted, spilled words he would gorge himself on.

He didn’t need to know they were lies.

“Yes. It was here.” I dropped my gaze down, feigning shame at having shared such a tender truth. Alessandro straightened in the edges of my gaze, sucking in a wet, excited breath.

“Was he sweet? I’m sure he would have been sweet, kissing every inch of your body.”

How little he knew of Briar, to believe him sweet in the bedroom. I couldn’t help the defiance. My eyes seared like a brand as I shook my head, curling my lip.

“He wasn’t.” My tone was brutal, but my gaze was only for Briar. A droplet of blood sank from his down turned lip.Don’t give up, my love.What I gave this monster was nothing. Our first time together was untouchable, pristine in a preserved glass box. Nobody could taint the memory of his finger’s first path over my skin. In Calder Place, under a slivered crescent moon. His lips tattooed endearments into my skin, coaxing my pleasure into a wildfire. His touch had made me complete. There was nothing this man could say to take that away from us. Briar’s tongue flickered out, collecting the blood. I hope he tasted vengeance in it. We’d both taste Alessandro’s blood before the night was finished. All these promises he stole, tucked away in the secret parts of him. Alessandro observed our unspoken communication jealously, grinding his teeth.

“Perhaps we need a demonstration?” Too bright a voice. I’d cut his vocal cords out. I’d bleed him like a stuck pig. His back looked ripe for a thousand silver blades. Alessandro twisted the knob to my bedroom door and opened it.

“Come, come.” He ushered in the last person I expected to see. Briar cried out loud, unable to contain his despair.

Nicole. Her dark hair was in loose ringlets around her shoulders. Her smooth, bare legs poked out of a sea blue silk robe embroidered with orchids.My robe.Horror etched itself through my features, digging into my tender skin as I struggled to free myself. My lungs seized as she floated toward Briar. Her soft doe eyes drifted between Alessandro and Briar, awed into silence. She nibbled at her thumbnail, glistening with jittery excitement. Alessandro swept his hands out wide. Magnanimous as Briar and I shattered into pieces.

“Touch her like you touched Adelaide,” Alessandro prodded. Briar met his gaze for the first time, stark horror unhinging his jaw. It hung slack with disbelief. Nicole let out a soft laugh, a whisper of amusement, eyes still bright. Her fingers stroked down the edge of my silk robe, waiting for someone’s command. She was a vessel. There was no agency in her gaze. She waited with mounting anticipation.

“H-how long?” Briar asked, wincing like the words were bitter. His shoulders rolled over, like he already knew the answer. Alessandro took great pleasure in answering, rubbing a thumb over Nicole’s shoulder. Her cheeks like ripe strawberries.

“You didn’t think I’d leave you untended, did you?” Conciliatory, his teeth looked like fangs. Nicole folded her body close to Briar, unseeing of the way he cringed away. Her eyes were full of him, but not the real Briar. The one that lived in her mind, the one she believed loved her back.

“I told you no one else could love you like I do. Alessandro always trusted me to look after you. This is the way it alwaysshould have been. Us, together. Beforeshestole you from us.” Nicole shot me a glare laced with poison.

I felt it in my heart, the pinch, the numb that spread. Stealing all my emotions. Because Briar folded at her admission, crumpling in on himself. Marked and torn like paper, irrevocably changed by marks he didn’t ask for. Alessandro watched on, gluttonous with victory. I shattered in silence, letting each part of my fall slice deep. I would avenge every scar. My feverish promise to myself. Briar’s hand lifted slowly, his fingers toying with the button of his shirt before unhooking it. Our eyes met, a tidal wave of pain that clashed in between soft pink furnishings. Alessandro’s sick breath caught in his thick throat, a hiss of pleasure at the sliver of skin Briar parceled out. I shook my head, the base of my neck prickling, sharp nausea rising. I wanted to look away. But he needed me. Like magnets, our gaze melded together. My sight wavered, wobbly with unshed tears. His throat bobbed. Another button released. Sharp collar bones, so beautiful. Coveted by everyone in this room. But Briar’s gaze begged me. Every patch of skin he unveiled with shaking fingers was mine. Only mine. Always mine. Nicole made a soft noise, looking at Alessandro again. His hand strayed to the straining lump in his pants, palming it with unrestrained heat. My stomach cramped so hard a gasp escaped me.

“I’ve waited a long time for this.” His lips barely moved, trembling with excitement. Briar refused to look away from me. A tear glistened as it tumbled from the corner of his hazel eyes. I drowned in the silver of his agony, frozen by the misery in that one escaped tear. My own cheeks were wet, and I swallowed the sobs in my throat.I am with you.I could feel his soul inside of me, safe in my hold. Always. His lashes fluttered closed, as if he felt it too.

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