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“I’m sure she’s fine, just a little food down the wrong pipe.”
The look in his eyes told me I needed to pull myself together, and he was right. I needed this meal over so I could get as far away from Miles Carter as possible. Taking a couple of deep breaths, I cleared my throat and gave him a small nod. When Leo stepped back, it left me with nothing other than Miles’ eyes on me and it only made biting my tongue and keeping my shit together that much harder.
“I’m sorry,” I croaked out as I reached for my water.
“It’s fine,” Miles said, shoving the rest of the food on his plate into his mouth and standing. He threw his napkin down and walked around the table. “I have a meeting. Your meds will be here shortly. Take them and make yourself scarce until Saturday. I’ll have you brought to me if I need you.”
His men followed him out of the room and I collapsed back into my seat as the tears I had been holding back fell. The side door opened and in walked one of the girls from the kitchen with my meds and a cup of water. In it were the two little pills that helped me pretend I wasn’t living a nightmare, and for the first time since I arrived, I was thankful for them.
Leo stepped in front of her. “I’ll take that. When she’s done eating, I’ll make sure she takes them.”
“But Mr. Carter said -”
“Mr. Carter said she is to eat first, then take her medications. She isn’t done eating. Leave them with me.”
The girl held out a shaking hand, and Leo reached for the bowl. “She has water. You can take that back to the kitchen.”
“Yes, sir.”
By the time the woman left, I was exhausted. The emotional turmoil of just being in the same room as a man who was hellbent on torturing me was enough to make me want to crawl into a hole and die. I watched Leo as he took the pills out of the cup and put them into his pocket, then reached for a banana and motioned for me to stand.
“Come on, we are going for a walk.”
“But I need those.”
“No you don’t.”
“Leo, I -”
“Talia, you don’t need them. You need food, and once you’ve calmed down, you will eat this. Until then, we are heading outside for some air.”
I let him reach for my arm and direct me out the back of the house. We walked all the way out to the tree line where he had taken me the day he called Raven and then took off the button-down shirt he had on and put it on the ground in front of me.
“Here, sit down.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you want to tell me what was going on in there?”
“It’s nothing. I just lost control for a minute.”
“You could say that again. Miles Carter is a dick, Talia, but he’s not a stupid man. He needs to believe that you are going to behave while you are in public with him. At least for now.”
“And how am I supposed to do that? You say things like they are just so easy and all I see when I look at him is the pig that nearly raped me.”
“Wait, what?”
I got to my feet and looked up at Leo, all the anger I had at Miles coming to a head once more. “You heard me. He had those fucking goons of his tear my clothes off and hold me down while he fucked me with a damn piece of home decor. Now I’m supposed to put on a fucking happy face when I see him and do what he says. It’s nearly impossible and for you to even ask me to do it is just shitty.”
Blood
Leo
Toxicangerwascloudingmy judgment, and I saw red. I had to step back from Talia for fear she would see the killer that lurks under my skin. The one who only comes out to play when there was no other choice. I wasn’t like my brother. Noah killed for the fun of it. I only did what was needed. I punished those who hurt others, people like Miles Carter. The vision of Talia restrained by strange men wasn’t one that I had ever wanted, but now my mind was flooded. The look on her face made it clear it wasn’t something she ever wanted to tell me, either. Her anger was evident, and now I understood her fear. In my eyes, she always had a reason to be afraid. She was a young girl who had made a risky decision that would change the trajectory of her life. At the time, she likely thought it was a good decision, only to find out it was the worst thing that could have happened to her. Carter’s women all held a purpose in his life. Rumors spread quickly about the women he hired and I was sure it was getting harder and harder to get them to come back. Now he had purchased the perfect wife, or so he thought. But Talia wasn’t perfect, not for him, anyway. She was strong willed and ready to fight, so he did what he could to destroy that part of her. The entire situation made me sick.
When I calmed myself down enough to look back, she had turned away from me and was facing the house.
“I want to go back to my room, but I don’t want to get shot crossing the courtyard without my guard.”
