I’m not the one trying to sneak peeks at Marcus and his lady friend.
Gideon
It shouldn’t need saying, but I obviously did NOT peek at Evelina.
Gideon
But she should have that shiner on her jaw looked at.
Evelina's gray eyes glint in the dark.
“They used to call it multiple personality disorder.”
Her brows knit. “How long have you…ishad itthe right expression?”
I nod. “Since I was a kid. It typically stems from severe childhood trauma.”
She shifts closer to me and kisses my chest. “I’m so sorry,” she says quietly, looking up at me. “That makes me so fucking angry at your dad. I mean,Jesus.”
She’s potentially going to be alot madderat Morgan if some of the things I’ve been looking into over the last few weeks unfold the way I suspect they might.
But it’s that “I’m so sorry” that just…
Fuck.
I haven’t told many people about my disorder. Gideon knows. So does Sabine, as did Stellan. They share the same anger that I have at the childhood and the parents that led to the condition.
But Evelina is the first person who’s seen the flawed human I am and voicedsorrow, not anger, at the scars of my past.
“Do you…” Her brows furrow. “Never mind.”
“You can literally ask me anything, baby,” I murmur.
Her lips twist before her eyes drag back to mine. “I mean… In the movies, there are differentvoicesand whole separate personalities…”
I smile. “It’s not quite that dramatic—well, not usually.”
She nods. “But you do have different…”she frowns. “Wouldyou call them personalities?”
I nod. “Sort of. Some people call them ‘alters’. I’ve always referred to mine as ‘others’. For the most part, it’s like highly focused, compartmentalized emotive states that will occasionally be extra vocal in my head. Like I’ll get angry, but it's because the 'other' who controls anger is currently steering the ship. Or sadness. Or vengeance. Things like that.”
She smiles and leans down to kiss my chest again. “That’s actually fascinating.”
Where did you come from, Evelina Nikitin…
Even as I’m smiling at her, I see her expression falter.
“Last night,” she says quietly. “When I found you with…him…” Her eyes snap to mine. “We don’t have to talk about it if?—”
“I’d actually like to talk aboutallof it with you,” I murmur.
She smiles.
“When I walked in, you were telling me that he wasn’t real. Like,youcould see him, but you thought he was a manifestation or anotheror analteror whatever.”
Yeah.
I’ve been thinking about that pretty much nonstop since I realized down in that basement thatshecould see him, too.
