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I grind my molars together and lock eyes with him. “That’s not your choice to make. It should be up to her. She’s a part of this, whether either of us likes it or not.”
His sigh is shaky as he runs his hands through his hair. Lifting his arm over his head, he rests his forearm on the window frame, his head dropping and his eyes closing. This shit isn’t easy on either of us.
“I didn’t want this for her,” he says grimly, his voice low. “When she came here, I wanted to protect her from everything. I wanted the past to stay in the past so hopefully she could move on from it.”
I grip his shoulder and give it a hard squeeze. “I didn’t want any of this for her either, but none of us had a choice. This might be what she needs to jump that last hurdle. Whether she wants to be a part of it or not is her choice to make.”
“Fuck,” he hisses, pushing off from the window frame. His green eyes level me with a look that would make just about any other man shrink away. “I want to be there. This shit affects me too. You’ll be too absorbed with what you’ll be doing, so if it goes sour for her, I want to be there.”
I jerk my chin up in an affirmative. I had already planned for him to be there. He’s a part of this too.
“You watch her, Emo, and you watch her closely. Pull her out of there if it’s too much for her.”
“You know I will.”
He nods, stuffing his hands back into his pockets and rocking on his heels.
Rella comes into the room a few minutes later. Trouble walks over to her, cups her cheek, and kisses her forehead. He says something to her I can’t hear before walking out of the room. Her eyes follow him, then turn toward me, worry lines forming between them.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Everything’s fine.” I walk over and grab her hand. “There’s something important I need to show you.”
“Umm… okay. What is it?”
“We have to go to my house.”
Her lips curve up. “Is it another surprise tattoo?”
“No. What I’m going to show you, you aren’t going to enjoy.”
Her brows knit together. “Okay, now you’re worrying me.”
I squeeze her hand tighter. “Everything will be okay, but it’s something you need to see.”
After blowing out a long breath, she nods.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, I’m standing in front of the basement door in my house. Rella’s beside me, holding my hand. I’ve had to consciously make the effort to not crush her fingers.
Since she came to Malus, I don’t go to the basement as much as I used to—only when it’s absolutely necessary. It used to be my favorite thing to do when I needed to release some of the anger burning inside me, but lately, that anger hasn’t been as strong. And that’s because of Rella. She calms me.
I pull the key from my pocket and unlock the door. This door isn’t the only one the key unlocks. It’s not the one that carries evil behind it and sends a blind rage through me every time I think of it.
I take the first step before I’m tugged to a stop.
“Wait.” I turn and face a distraught Rella. “I-I can’t go down there.” She shakes her head emphatically, tears clinging to her bottom lashes. “I can’t hurt you again,” she croaks out.
I close the distance between us, cupping her cheek until her eyes are on me. I lean down and place a soft kiss against her lips.
“I will never, ever make you do that again.” Remembering the devastated look on her face after I forced her to hit me with that belt will haunt me for the rest of my life. “I am so sorry I asked that of you. It fucking kills me that I hurt you that way. I never should have put that on you.”
She sniffs and blinks, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. I brush it away with my thumb.
“Then why are we going down there?”
“What I need to show you is down there. But I swear, it has nothing to do with a belt.”
After a moment, she nods. I press another kiss against her lips before grabbing her hand and leading her downstairs.
