The want in his eyes burns out, and malevolent storm clouds roll in. This is always the way with him. He reels me in and tosses me away.
I can’t figure out what he wants from one minute to the next. Everything is a minefield, and I don’t have the strength left to navigate.
I’m shaking my head already. Begging him not to do this. But my pleas fall on deaf ears. He drags me from the room. I dig my heels into the floor. I fight back this time. But it’s futile.
He takes me to another part of the house. Cold and isolated. And in this room, there is nothing more than a wire cage.
I cling to his sweatshirt when he tries to push me away.
“Please, Javi. Please no. I will do anything. Anything you want. Please don’t do this.”
He smiles beneath the shadow of the hood, and his lips are cruel.
“Good, sweet Bella. Because this is what I want.”
He shoves me into the cage- big enough for a dog- and engages the lock on the door before I can resist any further.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask through my tears. “Why? My father loved you! He did everything for you.”
This is the wrong thing to say.And I never could have known the impact of this statement. I never could have known what it would provoke in him.
His fist shoots through the wire slot and wraps around my throat without warning. And this time, it is not a game.
He is choking me. Watching the light dim from my eyes as I scratch at his hands. I think this is really it. This is how I will die. I never saw it coming. My hands fall limp at my sides, and I lose the will to fight. Only then does he release me. Rattling the cage with his fists and growling into my face.
I scamper back into the corner and curl into myself, unexpectedly grateful for the lock that separates us.
“He did everything for me?” he roars. “And this is why you are here, beauty. Because you are blind to the real monsters. The ones you’ve lived with all your life.”
Tears track down my face as I shake my head in refusal. Denial.
“My father is a good man.”
“Is?” Javi mocks. “How hopeful of you to believe his heart still beats.”
“Was it you?” I accuse. “Did you kill him?”
He laughs, and it is callous.
“If I had killed him, Bella, you would know. For I would have delivered him back to you in pieces.”
Now it is me who is unhinged. I grip the wire of the cage and rattle it as I scream into his face.
“I hate you!”
“Good,” he replies. “That hatred will serve you well, my sweet. That hatred will be the only thing you have left when I am finished with you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Luke is looking for her.Making problems that I don't have the patience to deal with.So when I go to her today, it is with this simple request in mind.
I hand her the pen and paper and wait while she looks up at me. Half-timid, half curious. She should be afraid of me.
She should be terrified.So long as she fears me... so long as she knows I am a monster, then we will be alright. I won’t lose control.
I won’t forget.
"What is this?" she asks.