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I press my hands to his chest to keep distance between us. He must see that I’m afraid. I’m afraid of him right now. Because he is also a man, and his control is hanging by a very thin thread.
He forces himself to step backward and scrubs his face with his hands, eyes still so dark when they meet mine again. That’s the physical manifestation of his rage. He turns to go to the door. He’s almost gone when I leap off the bed.
“My father!” I cry out. “Not Odin. He would never… Odin would never hurt me.” He’ll take my father’s punishments in my place. He has.
He stops, back stiffening. He doesn’t turn back to me. I watch his hands clench and unclench.
“The cuts?” he asks without looking at me. And thank God for that.
“That’s… Nothing.”
He glances back at me and I don’t know if he understands. I stand wringing my hands, sweat pooling under my arms as my body begins to tremble.
His eyebrows come together. His jaw is tight. But I can’t talk about the cuts … I’d rather take a hundred beatings than talk about that.
It takes him a full moment to move and when he does, I charge after him.
“Wait!”
“Val!” he calls out, and the hulk guarding the entrance to the apartment enters. “She stays in the bedroom. No one goes in. She does not come out.”
“Yes, sir,” Val says. I open my mouth, but Val turns his attention to me, standing between me and Santos, blocking my path.
“Wait! What are you going to do?” I call out. He keeps moving. “If you hurt him, he’ll hurt Odin!”
At that, he stops. He glances backward, his eyes slits.
“When I’m done with him, he won’t be able to hurt anyone.”
I feel my mouth drop open and before I can say another word, he’s gone. Santos is gone.
Val, the incredible fucking hulk, stalks toward me, and for all my bluster, I find myself backing away. I turn on my heel and scurry back into the bedroom where, before I’m two steps in, the door is closed and locked.
I’m left staring at it, wondering what the fuck just happened. Wondering what he will do to my father. How he will punish him. Because he will punish him. But will he stop at that?
