“Julia,” he says carefully, “ you shouldn’t be up. Go back to bed.”
“No.” My voice shakes, but I don't back down from him. “I heard you. Both of you. Just… tell me the truth… please.”
Mikey’s jaw clenches as he sits back down on the edge of the tub. “Julia,” he tires again, his voice raw and vulnerable. “Please…”
“Is it my father?” I choke out the last words. “Did he do thisto you?”
They don't answer, and the silence slices through me.
I grip the door frame, keeping myself upright when my legs want to collapse in on themselves. “This is because of me,” I whisper. “He hurt you because of me, didn’t he?”
Mikey shakes his head violently, as tears threaten to fall. “No. No, Julia… he didn't hurt me because of you.”
Kai touches my shoulder, and I look over my shoulder at him. “He wants you back.” He doesn't hide the truth from me. He never has. “And he’s willing to hurt anyone who stands in his way.”
The room starts to spin, my throat starts to burn, and my eyes start prickling.
Because of course he is… Of course, this is happening again… I’m dragging destruction behind me everywhere I go. I can never just have a life that is mine.
Mikey reaches for me with a trembling hand. “Princess, please come here.”
I walk to him on autopilot. When I get close enough, I can see more bruises forming and the blood drying his skin... But something shatters me when I see his split lip.
“Mikey…” I crouch down in front of him and touch his cheek gently. “Why would you let him do this to you?
His eyes soften, full of pain, and it makes my chest ache.
“I didn’t let him,” he tries to say, but his throat is raspy. “But I also didn’t fight back. Because if I did… if I escalated it… It would have come straight back to you. But in all reality, when he told me he was going to take you regardless, I swung on him first; this was the backlash and warning from him.”
A tear slips down my cheek. “You got hurt because you were protecting me.”
He looks at me with so much love in his eyes. “I’d do it a thousand times.”
I hear Kai take a sharp inhale. I can tell he hates hearing it out loud, but we all know it’s true; these men wouldn’t hesitate.
I wipe my face with the back of my hand and then get the courage to ask the question I know I will regret. “What does he want with me?”
Mikey hesitates to speak, but Kai doesn’t.
“He arranged a marriage for you. Years ago.”
My blood runs Ice-cold. Arranged marriage? I knew my father was cruel. But this is something I didn’t think he would do.
Mikey whispers, “He said it’s been planned since you were born, and he is ready to get it back on track.”
Stars burst behind my eyes as my heart drops into my stomach.
Not again.
Not again.
Not again.
He wants to marry me off to a family he can still control me with; he always wants to have a leash on me, even with my new husband.
I stumble backwards, but Mikey grabs my wrist. He is being so gentle, like I’m made of glass.
“Julia,” he says, voice breaking, “look at me.”
