"NO! No, I don't want to leave! Please, Ilay, please!"
"Then say it again. Convince me."
"I'll stay with you!" I'm sobbing so hard I can barely get the words out. "I won't try to leave again, I promise, just pull me back!"
He pulls. My body jerks upward and I'm tumbling back into the room, hitting the floor hard. My knees slam against the wood and the impact knocks the air from my lungs. I'm gasping, sobbing, my whole body shaking.
He closes the window with a quiet click, turns the lock, and draws the curtains.
Then he turns back to me and crouches down.
"I just showed you how easily I could let you go." His voice is soft. "Don't push your luck, angel."
I can't speak. My hands are trembling, and my throat aches with every shallow breath. He reaches out and brushes a strand of hair from my face.
I slap him. The crack echoes through the room. His head turns slightly from the impact. When he looks back at me, his expression is unreadable.
"I'm letting that slide because you're upset about me shooting your friend. But so help me God, slap me again, angel, and I'll find better uses for those hands."
I scramble to my feet and stagger to the bed. I sit on the edge and turn my back to him.
"I hateyou," I whisper, my voice shaking.
"I know." He stands, moving toward the chair by the door. "You'll get over it." He pauses.
"Want me to get you water? Your throat's probably sore."
The audacity makes me want to scream.
I don't answer. I curl up on the bed, facing the wall, my body still shaking, and the tears won't stop coming.
And neither will the memory of that drop.
Chapter 18
?
IRIS
By the time morning bleeds into the sky, I have already washed, dressed, and armored myself for the day. I’d slipped out early, padding down the corridor to look for Tessa…
I find her already at the breakfast table practically inhaling scrambled eggs while doom-scrolling on her phone.
"Morning, sunshine," she drawls without looking up, a smirk playing on her lips. "Sleep well?"
I shoot her a warning glare. "Can you not?"
"I'm just saying," she continues, finally looking up with a grin.
Ilay slides into the seat across from her, looking completely unbothered as he says to her. "Single people shouldn't meddle in couple's affairs."
"Meddle," Tessa repeats, rolling the word around her tongue mockingly. "Oh, don't worry, I’ll keep my mouth shut"
I grab a slice of toast to silence my own thoughts. Breakfast passes in a heavy silence. Ilay barely touches his food, his dark eyes scanning the room, while I try not to check my phone for the hundredth time. Tessa takes a few pointed looks between us but wisely chooses to preserve her own life by staying quiet.
I’m wrapping up my breakfast when he speaks up again looking at his phone, “We should get going now. I have other business to attend to later in the day.”
He pockets his phone then looks at my plate, “Good, you’re done.”
