This is the most powerful moment of my life. If I asked Raven to stop, he might, but I won’t. Instead, I get up and move closer. My legs are shaky, but I stand tall and stare at him, as Raven cuts along the side of his face.
“Help you?” I bite, as I tighten my fists. I’m not a violent person, but I would like to punch him in the face. It’s infuriating that he thinks I’d ever help him, after everything he has done to me. Sullivan is always the mistreated one. Even when he was pounding his fists into me, it was my fault. He never takes responsibility for anything.
“Please,” he begs again.
I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him.
“How many times did you hit me? Rape me? How many bones did you break, Sullivan? Why the hell would I help you, after everything you’ve done to me? Why was I in an asylum, when you’re clearly not even dead?”
He gags, before vomiting all over himself, causing Raven to jump back with disgust while I laugh.
“As a surgeon, I’d expect you to have a stronger stomach,” I say with a grin on my face.
“Make this stop, and I’ll tell you everything.”
Raven looks at me and I nod. Sullivan doesn’t deserve a second of reprieve, but I want to know how this happened. I know what Dr. Martin said, but that doesn’t make it the truth.
He stands back, and I look at my husband’s forehead skin hanging down, covering his eyebrows, and it’s pretty gross that this is how Raven chooses to end a life. I wonder if it stems from his childhood, but don’t ask, as he comes over to me, and wraps his arm around my waist.
“Spit it out,” he growls at Sullivan.
I stare at the helpless man tied to a tree. The strong, vicious personality I knew is gone, and replaced with a weak, sobbingpathetic mess. It’s hard to comprehend that this is the same man now. The difference is night and day.
“I’ve known Alexsander since medical school. The night we got married, he offered me one hundred thousand dollars for your virginity. I declined.”
He says those last two words like that’s his defense. An excuse. Because he kept my virginity to himself, everything that came after is absolved.
“His fascination with you never faded. He came to me the night before the fire. I didn’t want to go along with his plan, but he had everything documented, all your therapy notes, pictures of the bruises, and he was going to take everything to the medical board. I was going to lose everything I had worked for.”
Everything is always about Sullivan, so I’m not surprised to find out he had something on him.
“He said you sold me to him.”
The man called Reaper pinches Sullivan’s exposed flesh, and yells, “Get on with it. I have a wife waiting for me. I don’t have all fucking day.”
“I didn’t want to. He had me by the balls. Either I went along with his plan, and paid him a million dollars for the privilege of destroying your life, or it was mine that would end. It was either you or me. I chose myself.”
I laugh, but it’s not sincere. At this moment I question my sanity, because clearly there is nothing funny about what Sullivan has done to me.
“Of course you would choose yourself. You always do.”
Raven leans down and kisses me on the neck.
“Do you want me to continue, or are there morequestions?”
I let out a deep breath before saying, “Can I have a minute alone with Sullivan?”
Raven glances at the tree before coming back to me.
“I don’t like that idea, Bianca. Not at all.”
Placing my hand on his arm, I say, “Please. I promise I’ll be okay.”
He shakes his head, as if he’s going to refuse me.
“I don’t know how you make me want to give you anything you ask for. Ten minutes, baby. After that, he pays for everything he has ever done to you.”
He kisses me on the forehead, and turns away from me.
