I pressed my lips to hers, unable to control the anger, the need to consume the self-hatred from within her. She needed to know that she wasn't alone in her feelings. She wasn't alone in her anger. She could want them dead. But so could I. And I'd help her do it if the time ever came where I was face to face with one of her demons from her past.
“I want to burn every person that fed you lies, that made you believe you weren’t worth this, worth everything.”
She panted against my mouth, and I could see her pulse racing in her neck.
“You can hurt me anytime. So long as it’s not you, so long as you’re not hurting the person I love, you can do whatever you want to me. Scratch me, choke me, fight me, I don't care. Just don't you dare hurt yourself because your body deserves nothing but love.”
She tried to shake her head, but I grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her to look at me.
“I love you. All of you. Always.”
I waited for Shiloh to acquiesce before releasing my hold on her and giving her one last kiss.
No one was going to take her from me again.
Thirty-One
July 26, Sunday
Enoch
My leg bounced erratically as I kept my eyes trained on the exit my family would be appearing from any moment. Their flight landed thirty minutes ago, and this wasn’t a large airport. They would be coming out any minute now from the doors we told them we were waiting outside of.
I could feel Jae’s stare on me, and I turned my head to eye him.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” I asked, adjusted the collar of my hoodie. Not that it was doing much to draw the attention away from the bruises on my throat.
Jae sighed, scrunching his face. “It’s kinda bad, yeah.”
“Shit.” I groaned, leaning onto my knees to hold my head in my hands.
“She likes to go for throat, huh?”
I turned to give Jae a glare, and he put his hands up in a placating manner.
“Sorry, too soon. My bad.”
I sighed, scrubbing a hand over my jaw. I hadn’t shaved in the shower this morning because I’d forgotten to retrieve myrazor from where I’d hidden it in the garage, out of sight from Shiloh.
“For real, though, what, um, actually happened?”
“Fuck, man, I don’t…” I paused taking a deep breath. I wanted to kill that fucker. I hadn’t lied to make her feel better. I genuinely wanted to kill the motherfucker.
“Is this about her ex?”
My head whipped to face him. “She told you about him?”
“Well, I mean, not really. Just showed me that scar on her shoulder and then went on some bullshit about how he loved her too much.”
I scoffed, pressing my fingers into my eyes. “Yeah, if you call whipping your significant other with a belt until she’s covered in scars, forcing her to get pregnant seven times and making her believe it’s her fault every time she miscarried love, then, sure.”
“The fuck?” Jae muttered with what I could only guess was a face of horror, though I avoided looking over to confirm it.
“Yeah. That’s what the dream was about last night. She told me yesterday about the miscarriages and it must have triggered her to have a nightmare about him and a reality in which she did actually have a child with him,” I explained, looking up to scan the crowd huddled by the exit again.
“Holy fuck, bro. That’s…cheese and fucking rice. Please tell me that piece of shit is in prison right now.”
I shook my head, “He’s unfortunately still living too.”
