Katya swallowed, her throat aching from the days spent pleading for her life. She wanted nothing more than to say yes, but first he deserved to know how tainted she really was.
“Matias, I…” She was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.
“I see the patient has finally awakened.” Catarina’s voice filled the room. “Let’s see how you're doing.”
Matias moved to give Catarina space to work. He watched as she checked over Katya, ensuring her vitals were where they needed to be. Antonio slipped in and left a plate of foodon the table, smiling at her before leaving the room again.
“I’m glad to see some swelling has gone down. Your three days of rest seem to have done your body good. Now that you’re awake I need to ask you a couple of questions. Matias, can you step out?”
“What? No, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Look. What I need to ask her is going to be hard enough without you in here.”
“He can stay,” Katya whispered. “He needs to know why I can’t go back with him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Matias sat by the bed and listened as Katya recounted every gory detail of her imprisonment. With each horror she told, his anger grew. It got so bad that he jumped up abruptly, knocking his chair to the floor.
“I need to go.”
Katya watched as he fled from the room. Her tears fell unabashedly down her face.
“See. I told you he would leave. Why would anyone want me after that?”
“Stop. That man was beside himself for the three days you laid unconscious. He left, I suspect, to find and kill Jorge. That man deservesfar worse than death, and if my brothers have anything to do with it, he’ll get it. Now,” she said, picking up the plate of food Antonio had dropped off. “Let’s see If you can hold this down.”
Red.
That’s all he could see as he burst out the front door and into the yard. Katya had endured torture at the hands of Jorge Peru. Hands Matias intended to remove one at a time.
“Matty, what’s going on?” Bastian and Antonio emerged from the house. “Is something wrong with Katya?”
“Bastian.” Tears threatened to spill as Matias turned to look at his brother.
“What the fuck?” Bastian tugged his brother into his arms.
“Katya… she was—Jorge told her he would ruin her for anyone and that I wouldn’t want her anymore.”
“And your response when you heard this was to run out on her? Matias, I know it was hard to hear, but we knew it happened. Catarina told you what she found, and now…” he turned toward the house, “you’ve run out on her, confirming what that bastard filled her head with.”
“Fuck.” Matias breathed in a massive breath and blew it out. “It’s not what I meant. Theanger was just too much. I didn’t want to scare her.”
“You need to go back up there and tell her you didn’t leave because of what you heard, or you may lose her forever. Let us work on forcing Jorge out of hiding. Then you can have your revenge. That woman up there needs you, Matty.”
Matias hugged his brother and headed back inside. Catarina was coming down the steps as he was heading up them.
“How is she?”
“Broken. And I don’t mean just her body. What happened to her was beyond anything we can comprehend. That monster took something from her that will take time to get back, but when you walked out that door, she crumbled into a thousand tiny pieces. She may tell you to leave with her words, but her heart needs you, Matias.”
“I know. I just needed a moment to control the anger.”
“Go to her. Tell her that, Matias. If you love her, you're going to have to break down the walls she has erected to protect herself. She had to go to a dark place to withstand the abuse. If anyone can help her, it’s you.”
“Thank you, Catarina. You’re a remarkable woman.”
