Logan pushes me in roughly, then clicks my seatbelt over my lap, before settling himself next to me.
“I’m notcompletelyhelpless, you know,” I snap.
Logan whips his hand out and grabs my jaw so hard I gasp.
“I don’t want to hear your voice again today,” he growls.
Then he lets me go. His grip was hard enough that I can feel a bruise forming. I look away, smiling at Aurora reassuringly, trying hard to keep the tears that are blurring my eyesight from falling.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Damien raising another surprised brow, before Everest turns on the ignition and slowly pulls away from the Moretti villa.
16
Logan
Weak.Weak, weak, weak, weak.
“So much for moving on, huh?”
Fuck. Fuck you. Fuck you so much. Fuck me.
Goddammit, I’m spiraling. I have been for the past hour. And Damien, as he at last breaks the heavy silence that’s been making this drive intolerable, is doing nothing to help.
This is the girl who’s been hurting me my whole life. This is the girl whose cruel words led to five guys breaking twenty-seven bones in my body. This is the girl who fucked and married the first guy who wasn’t me.
This is the girl I comforted because I felt guilty for hurting her just a little.
So fucking what? It’s not my fault she’s getting laid so infrequently that it was kind of painful. What’s a little physical pain compared to everything she’s made me endure?
And yet, the wall I’d built up, the anger I’d used as a shield… all of it melted in an instant when I realized I’d crossed the line.
Did I violate her?
No, she wanted it. She wanted it rough, even. She probably manipulated me, tried to get me to feel sorry for her. And itworked.
But the angry shield is back now. And I’m dead set on keeping any other emotion buried as far down as I can.
“So much for moving on,” repeats Damien, as if I hadn’t heard his words for the first time.
“Fuck. You.”
In my peripheral vision, I notice that Lia has put up just as much of a wall as I have. Now that Aurora’s fallen asleep, she’s staring straight in front of her in stony silence.Good.I can’t handle her sharp tongue right now. I think I’d have it in me to kill her if she spoke again. Well, maybe not kill her. But hurt her. I want to hurt her so fucking bad.
Make her feel just an ounce of what she’s made me suffer over the years.
“You know, my offer still stands,” drawls Damien, settling back against his seat. “I’ll help you lock her up. You’d have the only key. Unless you want to give Igor another set. I’m sure he’d be just thrilled to beat her up if she ever tried to escape. You know, he was just chomping at the bit to come along. I guess he could just tell that girl was bound for a good beating. He’s such a sadist.”
The only sign that Lia is listening is the flattening of her lips, and the tremor in her hands as she squeezes them between her thighs.
What’s wrong with me for wanting to reassure her? The realization that I’m a moment away from going soft again enrages me.
Pushover. Fucking pushover. Guess I haven’t changed, after all. I’m just a weak fucking pushover.
I bite down on my urge to tell Damien to shut up, and instead stare moodily out the window.
“We need to come up with a solution to keep her from talking, though,” continues Damien, even though he must beable to tell how pissed off I am. “You’re not the only one who hates the sound of her voice.”
Shut up, Damien. Shut up!