“He’s very proud of that fact,” she admits. “He’s forty-two, but that doesn’t really matter. He’s a very greedy man. Money is all he cares about, and—” She pauses, taking yet another deep breath and when she starts talking, my skin fucking crawls.
She tells me about the work she’s been doing for years, about the men she had to flirt with, about those who touched her, and I’m reeling. With every word, my blood boils further. She tells me about every threat her father used to keep her in line, every time she watched her mother hallucinate because the fucker confiscated her meds, every time she surrendered to his orders.
She’s not crying, but her voice breaks like eggshells when she gets to yesterday.
“You know what the worst part is?” she asks quietly, still sitting in the middle of the bed.
I’ve tried to pull her into my arms countless times, but she keeps saying she won’t get the words out if I touch her.
“Everything about this is the fuckingworst, B. Jesus...” I get up, too jittery to stay still. “You should’ve told someone, baby. You should’ve toldmewhen I asked, I—”
“I did this to myself,” she whispers, avoiding my gaze. “He called when I was waiting for you in the departure lounge. The things he said... he fleshed out my every insecurity.”
She relays their conversation word for word, then proceeds to tell me about the banquet and Archibald fucking Duke pushing his fingers up her dress.
“He’s a dead man walking, B,” I seethe, shaking all over. “Him and your sorry excuse for a father.” Ignoring her protests, I climb onto the bed, and pull her in, cradling the back of her head, caging her in my arms. “You’re safe with me. I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.”
“Cody—”
“No, don’t even start telling me you deserved any of it!”
“It’s not that,” she whispers, moving away. “You made me realize I couldn’t keep punishing myself. I don’t want to dig over the past. I want to look forward, and that means letting go of everything I’ve done, and everything those men did to me.”
“They should all rot in fucking jail, Blair.”
“Maybe, but neither they nor my father are worth our time. I told him I’m done. I told him I don’t care about money, and...” she pauses again, the first tear sliding down her cheek. “He said the condo and car are mine. He folded so fast I realized he’s used me all this time only because Ilethim. I didn’t fight hard enough.”
It absolutely guts me to know what nightmare she willingly put herself through, thinking she deserved nothing but pain. I didn’t think I could love her more than I already did, but I do, and my new life mission’s just become making her happy. Making her believe she’s worthy and making her realize what an incredible woman she is.
“Next time I see your father—”
“You’ll do nothing,” B interrupts, darting away from me. “Please, Cody. He’s spiteful, he’ll do something to get back at you or me, maybe mess with Nico’s business or worse. Leave it, okay? All I want is for him to disappear from my life.”
“He wouldn’t dare start a war with Nico, believe me. He’d feel the repercussions for years to come.” I kiss her head, trying to soothe her agitated mind. “You love me, B. And that means you trust me.”
She falls silent, the weight of her confession dawning on us both. I replay every word she spoke, and the knowledge rips me to shreds.
She really never did have a voice. Couldn’t sayno, couldn’t ask her parents for help, couldn’t tell her friends...
I hold her even closer, my lips almost permanently glued to her head as I stroke her hair, waiting for her to drift off, but instead, she moves away just far enough to kiss my lips.
And that kiss is as far from a simple peck as it can be. She wants me, needs me inside her.
My first instinct, after everything Ijustlearned, is to push her away. My mind screams that she needs time, until I remember she’s already had years of dealing with this, months of therapy, and weeks in my bed.
“Promise me something,” I say, dragging her onto my lap.
“Anything.”
“Promise that you’ll never lie to me no matter what you think the truth will do. Not even a tiny white lie.”
She narrows her eyes, contemplating my face while her fingers skim up and down my pecs. “You’re worried about my head,” she muses, a small smile curving her lips. “You think I’m traumatized, correct?”
“In a way, yes. If you need time, we have plenty.”
“I don’t need time. I dealt with the mental damage before we happened, and you helped me get over the physical constraints.” She leans in, kissing the tip of my nose. “I loveyou, and I love our sex life. I’m not coming on to you because I’m trying to forget. I’m coming on to you because I need to remember what it feels like to be truly happy, calm, and safe.”
So I remind her, flipping her over, I quicklyhook my thumbs over the elastic of her panties and slide them down her legs. I don’t bother with the night dress. There’s something devastatingly arousing about her wearing clothes when we fuck. My t-shirt works best, but the night dress will do. I grip her thighs, watching her blue eyes hood over, the wanton look on her something to behold.
