I can’t believe the things he is saying.
I can’t believe he would speak about me like that and use me as some kind of pawn in his war against my brother forpower.
What the hell is going on? All this time I waswrongabout him.
My hands are shaking as I lift them to cover my mouth to stop the soft sob from escaping my lips.
Anton is still threatening. Still saying horrible things.
The call ends, and I don’t dare move. He’s furious. I can hear him muttering and storming up and down the hallway. Finally, he walks away, towards his bedroom.
Standing up, I cautiously look down the hallway to make sure he’s really gone.
My first instinct is to run. To leave right now. But it won’t be that easy, and it will set off every alarm in Anton’s mind. He might go after my brother right away. I don’t know. I have no idea what to think anymore.
My legs are shaking and unsteady as I walk towards the bedroom. Pausing at the door, I hear the shower running and take a deep breath to try and calm myself.
For now, I need to play it cool and pretend I didn’t hear anything.
I’ll wait until he’s asleep, and then early in the morning, I’ll find a way to leave.
I won’t stay with a man who treats me like an object or a tool.
I won’t stay with a man who has lied and made me believe I’m something special to him, that I have a place in his heart when I’m just…nothing.
My chest wants to collapse in on itself. My heart is shattering, but I have to put a smile on my face as I hear him climbing out of the shower.
I walk into the bedroom and sit on the edge of the bed, taking my shoes off as though I’m going about my normal bedtime routine.
“Do you feel better after a hot shower?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder at him with a smile.
He smiles at me and nods. “A little,” he sighs.
My heart breaks all over again as I look at the man I was falling so deeply for. Is this really how it ends? The truth is finally revealed, and here I thought my brother was the one trying to steal my happy life away from me…but it was a happy life that was never real to begin with.
“I’m…” I try to speak, but my throat closes over the words. I clear my throat quickly, pretending like I just needed to cough. “I’m going to hop in the shower too now,” I say.
“You okay? Are you getting sick?”
I laugh, hoping I sound lighthearted. “No, I just swallowed wrong and ended up half-choking on my own spit. Embarrassing, I know,” I giggle, walking past him. I stand on my tiptoes and plant a very quick kiss on his cheek, something Ialways do when he’s passing me. Something I have to keep doing until I can escape this charade that I thought was real.
“I’m climbing straight into bed. Don’t be too long,” he calls after me as I step into the bathroom.
Relief floods me when I get out of the shower and find him asleep in our bed. I was panicking, wondering how I would make excuses to not be intimate with him without causing suspicion.
But he’s breathing deeply, his hand resting on his chest as he lies on his back.
In sleep, he is beautiful. The shape of his face. The outline of his jaw silhouetted by my bedside light.
I tear my eyes off him as tears spill from them.
He is beautiful.
But I can’t unhear his words. I can’t unsee the truth of what I really am to him.
A pawn in his game.
I hardly sleep at all, and it’s still dark outside at four a.m. when I crawl out from beneath the covers and grab a backpack from the closet.
