I let out a cry, my vision blurring as I frantically push her away from me, my hands shoving against her shoulders until she stumbles backward onto the floor. I reach up to touch my scalp, and when I pull them away, they are completely drenched in blood. It’s pouring down my forehead, blinding my right eye.
The bedroom door is violently kicked open, slamming against the wall. Graham rushes in.
Valeria’s demeanor flips instantly. The manic demon vanishes. She drops to her knees, letting out a sob as she reaches her hands out toward him.
“Graham! Oh my god, Graham, thank God you’re here,” she wails. “She attacked me! I was just trying to protect myself, she’s insane, Graham, she’s—”
But Graham doesn’t even glance at her. He steps right over her outstretched hands as if she is nothing more than garbage on the floor.
“Maya,” he growls as he lunges toward the bed. His fingers slick with my own blood as he cups my cheeks. “Look at me, Maya.” He commands. His pitch-black eyes are wide. “Sasha! Get the fucking car keys now!” he roars toward the open door.
He grabs a corner of the white duvet and presses it against my head. The pressure makes a whimpering cry slip past my lips.
“I know, sweetheart. I know it hurts. Press down, hold it right here,” he mutters. He doesn't just look worried; he looks insane.
Something dangerous happens in my chest. It’s warm. It’s an intoxicating, golden heat. For twenty-five years, I’ve been invisible, untouchable, ignored—nothing. But watching this man completely lose his mind over me makes me feel… visible. I equal parts loathe myself for it, and crave it so deeply it frightens me.
Through the blur of red in my right eye, I look past his shoulder. Valeria is still on the floor, tears spilling over herlashes. She is watching her husband, the man who won't even touch her skin in the dark, press his mouth against her little sister’s bloody forehead in the light for everybody to see.
Despite the fact that she just tried to split my head open, a sickening wave of pity hits me. But beneath the pity, a dark sense of validation settles in my gut.You were wrong, Valeria. I’m not ugly. I’m not nothingness.
Slowly, she forces herself to stand. Her voice shakes as she attempts one last dig to save face.
“Graham, you’re completely overreacting,” she mumbles as she wipes her face. “Look at her, she’s fine. It’s just a scratch. She probably tripped and hit the nightstand herself just to get attention. She’s always been dramatic like—”
“Shut your fucking mouth!” Graham bellows, spinning his head around so fast a stray drop of my blood flings onto the wall. “If you speak one more word, I will confiscate every single piece of diamond you have, and all your credit cards. Do you understand me?”
I hold my breath at the standoff. My mind races, wondering what she will choose. Will she choose her pride? Will she choose to walk out of this mansion with her dignity? Or will she choose the Porsche, the money, and the man who clearly doesn’t give a shit about her?
Her eyes drop to the diamonds on her fingers. Her choice is clear in that instant.
“You’re right,” Valeria whispers, fluttering her lashes. The cunning demon is back. She takes a step backward, raising her hands. “You’re right, Graham. I’m sorry. It’s just… it was a sister fight that went way too far. We both got heated.”
She forces her gaze to slide down to me, a terrifyingly cold look hidden beneath her fake smile. “Just… update me while you’re at the hospital, okay? Let me know what the doctor says,sweetheart. I’ll have the staff clean up the glass while you’re gone.”
Graham scoffs before turning back to the bed. He slides his arms beneath me, lifting me against his chest.
As he carries me past her and out into the hallway, I look over his shoulder one last time. Valeria is smoothing down her hair, staring at me with pure hate.
And I know she will make me pay for every single ounce of pride she just had to swallow.
7
Graham
The bandage wrapped around her head almost makes me lose my entire fucking mind.
Her head is resting against the car window, and I can’t stop looking at her out of the corner of my eye. A dangerous mix of good and bad is tangling inside me. It’s because a new emotion has just been added to the limited roster of things I’m actually capable of feeling: fear.
It's one of the few things I truly never wanted to experience. I walked in tonight—for the second time, may I add—to find Valeria almost killing my fixation. The only thing that is currently adding color to my grey life. What happened to my gut in that bedroom was like swallowing pure acid. It felt like chemicals burning a hole straight through my intestines, and out of the tear leaked a horde of demons that tore apart the empty cavity in my chest.
I guess that’s what fear is.
Smart men admit their faults, and I underestimated Valeria. I know she’s the one who set the fire in Maya’s room, just like I know she attacked her tonight. She wants her dead. My wife is completely mentally unstable. But what she failed to realize is that there are cameras everywhere in this house—especially hidden inside my obsession’s bedroom. There is more than enough proof of her insanity. And every bit of it is in my favor.
But every time Valeria hurts Maya, the rage overflows in me so much that I can’t contain it. Alongside fear, this protectiveness is yet another primitive thing forced into the roster of things I’m capable of feeling—and I can't even say I hate it. No one in this godforsaken world is allowed to break Maya but me. She belongs to my cruelty, and my cruelty alone. I know that very soon, my little siren won’t have to feel a single drop of pain that doesn't come directly from my hands. And Valeria will get what’s coming for her.
Very soon, Maya will have my ring on her finger, her soul bound to my hands, and the colors of her life bleeding onto my taste buds. It’s closer than it has ever been.
