“The pity look.”
“I don’t pity you, Killian,” she says softly, laying a gentle hand on my arm. “I just… Icare. I hate the thought of someone hurting you like that. I can’t wrap my head around it. Who was he?”
“His name’s Curt Naylor,” I continue, gritting my teeth as I speak his name out loud, memories flashing through my mind.
I reach across for Kaia’s hand to ground me, to remind me that’s all they are.Memories.
“A nasty son of a bitch,” I continue. “Amurderer. He was my cellmate. I’ll spare you the details. You can use your imagination on the things he did to me, things he made me do tohim.”
Just be a good boy and do as you’re told, you’ll enjoy it soon, killer…
Kaia’s hand slips from my arm as I rise from the couch. I cross the room, bracing myself against the oak mantle above the fireplace. I squeeze my eyes shut, his face flashing in my mind, memories resurfacing in my head, threatening to drag me back to that hell hole.
“It went on for months,” I say, forcing myself to continue. “I tried fighting back but it was useless. I just had to endure it. I guess being a kid made me an easy target and sharing a cell made it impossible to escape him. I wasweak.”
“You were a teenager, barely younger than I am now and he took advantage of that. If you’d fought back, he could’ve quite easily killed you.”
It’s true. I was a scrawny kid with barely any muscle and he was built like a fucking tree. He could’ve snapped my neck like a twig and wouldn’t have broken into a sweat.
“Did anyone know what he was doing to you?”
“I told the warden of the prison. Begged for a transfer to another cell or another prison entirely, but he didn’t give a shit.”
“What?”
“Told me to keep my mouth shut. Said there was no proof, said it was my word against Naylor’s and that it was no less than I deserved after I killed my mom’s boyfriend.”
“But it was an accident. You were defending your mom,” Kaia protests.
“Didn’t matter. He saw me as a murderer. A monster. Ananimal. And one day, that animal snapped. I couldn’t take the abuse anymore. Couldn’t stomach the thought of spending the rest of my sentence forced to…” I trail off, unable to say the words. “I started working out, slowly building up my strength. They had a workshop in prison, where inmates could work on mechanics, wood work, things like that. One day, I saw a jagged piece of metal sticking out of one of the shelves and I took it. If no one was gonna help me, I was sure as fuck gonna help myself, no matter the consequences.”
“What did you do?”
“When the lights went out, and he jumpedoff the top bunk, calling me over to him as he did almost every night, I hacked his rancid dick off with that shard of metal so he’d never be able to hurt me or anyone ever again. He squealed like a pig and it was the best fucking sound in the world.” A sick sense of pride swells in my chest as I recall that night. The night I took back control. The night I stopped thinking of myself as a victim. “Was worth the two extra years added onto my sentence. He swore he’d make me regret what I did, I guess this is where his revenge begins.”
“I don’t understand, if he’s the one sending those messages, how is he doing it from prison?”
I move back to the couch, dropping onto the cushion beside her, taking her hand in between both of mine. “He’s not in prison. That’s where I went earlier. I went to confront him, but they told me he was released two weeks ago.”
“So what, he’s been watching us?”
“I guess so.”
She releases a shuddering breath. “Being watched by a convicted murderer with a grudge isn’t exactly a comforting thought.”
I stroke her hair behind her ear. “He won’t come near you, I swear. You’re safe with me, butterfly.Always.”
She grips my chin, guiding my face to hers, pressing her lips to mine. “And you’re safe with me. If he comes anywhere near you I won’t be held responsible for my actions.”
I chuckle. “I have a sneaking suspicion you can be a little firecracker when you wanna be.”
“Mm-hm, I’ve been known to crack a few nuts in my time.”
I bark a laugh.
She captures my mouth again, her fingers combing through my hair as her tongue skims the seam of my lips.
I fall into the kiss, deepening it as my tongue darts out to meet hers, only something changes.
