“Getting me pregnant against my will? Forcing my body to do something it doesn’t wanna do? That’s rape. And I would know. I’m the expert on it, right?”
Fuck. I can’t argue with that, and even if I could, I wouldn’t.
I honestly don’t know how that never occurred to me. She’s been through so much, probably more than I even know about. This has to feel pretty fucking bad for her in light of her past. Damn. I missed that completely.
But what’s done is done.
“Raya. Baby, I love you. And we wanted this eventually, right? So it happened a little sooner. We’ll just make the best of it.”
Something about that sets her off. She stands abruptly and walks over to me, standing directly over my body with the knife pointed down at my chest.
“It didn’t just happen, Ace. And you know that. So what you’re gonna do is tell me the truth, and then I’ll let you go.”
I stare at the blade, then up at her face. “You wouldn’t hurt me.”
Her eyebrows lift. “I wouldn’t?”
“Baby. Stop playing and untie me. We both know you won’t hurt me.”
The words are barely out of my mouth before she brings the knife down and slashes it across my bare stomach. It happens fast as hell, stunning me to complete silence.
I stare down at the cut, at the blood seeping out of it. It’s not deep, but it hurts, and now the mental safety net I thought I had is gone. Apparently, shewillhurt me.
“I think you think I’m playing,” she grits. “I’m not fuckingplayingwith you, Ace. Tell me what the fuck you did, or the next one will be on your wrist.”
“Raya—“
“I’ll tell people you killed yourself. I might even get away with it.” She points the knife at my neck this time. “Tell me. Now.”
“Fine. Yeah. I fucked with your pills.”
I’m so busy staring at her face, I miss the fact that she switched the knife from her right hand to her left. She hauls off and slaps the everloving shit out of me. She hits me so hard, my head snaps to the left. The whole side of my face throbs, and all I can do is lay here and take it.
I’m bracing myself for another hit when she walks to the end of the bed and sits, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
“Why would you do this to me?” she says, but it doesn’t feel like she’s talking to me anymore.
“What kind of man would do this to his wife?”
“Raya—“
“Ace, you know I’m gonna kill it, right? Do you realize that?”
The thought of that makes my stomach twist, but I say nothing.
“I don’t know how far along I am, but I think Georgia goes up to six weeks. If I’m past that, I’ll go to another state if I have to. Or I could just kill myself.”
“Come on, Raya.”
“Fuck you. Fuck youandyour fucking baby.” She sets the knife on the bed next to her and turns to face me. “Do you not understand how bad this is? You betrayed me. You basically raped me. This is…this is really the worst thing you could ever do to me. And you say you love me?”
“Hold up. Honestly, right now, I don’t feel that much sympathy for you.”
Her eyes go wide. “Excuse me?”
“It lowkey feels like you’re gaslighting me. Because for you to be some innocent victim, we’d have to pretend like you didn’t fucking stalk me for two years, blow up my sister’s car, send my father a sex tape, and shoot my goddamn coworker.”
She frowns at that. “Sex tape? What sex tape?”
