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CHAPTER ONE
IVY
The scent of blood surrounds me, my own blood. The coppery odor burns my nostrils. I can’t open my eyes, my lids are heavy, but my hearing is intact.
“Say goodnight, Princess.”
I’m dizzy and my breath is short. I can’t fight anymore. Any strength I had is long gone. How could she do this to me? Why wouldn’t she warn me of the danger I was in? My last thoughts are of him. I try to hold on for one more look into those gray eyes, but I can’t. If I had known that the last time, he held me would be our final time, I never would’ve let go. I’ve always believed I was on borrowed time, but right now, I’d sell my soul to the devil for a few minutes more. To say everything, I should have but didn’t.
That’s the funny thing about time. You think you have tons, but you don’t. Only when it’s almost run out do you realize you should’ve made better use of it. By then it’s a little too late.
Another slice, more blood.
Lights out.
CHAPTER TWO
IVY
Today is my three-hundred-and-twelfth therapy session. I hate this asshole. Dr. Milton, king of the nerds, should have given up on me long ago. Most times, I don’t even talk to him, we sit in silence. It’s not that I don’t have things I wish I could talk about, but not to this guy, I don’t trust him. My dad, Dr. Liam Lexington, won’t throw in the towel and let me see someone else, or better yet no one at all. I bet you’re wondering why, right?Because he is the best Princess.So, Dr. Lexington keeps wasting money. Whatever. I turn eighteen in five days and will never see this dipshit again.
He sits with one leg crossed over the other while he taps his pen repeatedly on the yellow legal pad on his lap.
I’m dangerously close to getting up and jabbing that pen in his fucking eye when he pisses me off even further.
“Liam says your brother is getting out of prison in a few days. How do you feel about that?”
I raise an eyebrow at him and give him a menacing glare, “He is not my brother. I’ve never even met him.”
He leans back in his chair, and it almost flips back, tossing him to the floor, but unfortunately, he catches himself before that happens, “She talks,” he says, furthering my need to punch him in the face.
I glance at the time, feeling relieved that this will be over in twelve minutes.
“Are you looking forward to meeting him?”
A chuckle escapes me, “Do you know why he’s in prison? He tried to rape Mercy. No, I’m not looking forward to it. The only thing I’m looking forward to is turning eighteen so I can get the hell out of that house and never see any of them again.”
None of them get what sweet little Ivy is so angry about. I’m pissed about a lot of things. When they adopted me after my second bout with cancer, I was the only thing that mattered to them. But then they got their happily ever after that didn’t include me. They didn’t throw me out or anything dramatic like that. Mercy and Liam had biological children. Their kids look like them, and I do not. It’s a constant reminder that I don’t belong. Another thing that pissed me off was when I had the opportunity of a lifetime to have a painting in an exhibit at a gallery in New York City—big deal for a twelve-year-old. I couldn’t go because Liam had to work. Mercy was too busy being the doting mom to my precious siblings. Just because I’m older, I always come last. Or is it because I’m adopted? Is that why they don’t love me? Or is it me? Perhaps I’m simply unlovable. My bio mom is the only one that has time for me, and she has her reasons. It’s not love. I definitely can’t tell Dr. Nerd about that because if Mercy knew, she’d flip. And again, I don’t trust him.
We continue to sit in silence when the clock strikes five o’clock. I rise out of my chair and walk out without a word. Stepping down the long hallway to the front door, I make my escape. For a few minutes, I simply stand outside the building, my head tipped toward the sky, the sun shines on my face heating my skin while I inhale the fresh air. The scent of pine surrounds me as I take deep breaths. My therapy with Dr Milton always causes anxiety to roll through my chest.I know the point of these sessions is to talk about my pain. I can’t. Somehow, I always end up feeling worse when I leave than when I entered.
My phone buzzes in the back pocket of my jeans, so I grab it to see who it is. It’s her. Gina Bianchi, my first kiss. She’s also the one girl my parents have forbidden me to hang out with, which only makes me like her more. No, I'm not a lesbian. It’s just what we do when we party. I still like dick. Well, I think I do. I’ve never actually had one. I’ve been kissed but nothing more. My dad does everything he can to spook any boy that comes near me. He’s got a big surprise coming when I turn eighteen, and he can’t control me anymore. My phone chimes with a text message from Gina so I open it to see her message.
Parental Units are out of town. Party tonight. My place.
I’ll be there, but I might have to sneak out, so it’ll be later.
Alright, babe.
I will wait until my parents go to bed and do what I always do. Slide the window open and crawl out to the tree in the yard and climb down. I’ll climb back up to get back in, and they’ll never know I was gone. Unfortunately, I have to wait until Liam and Mercy have gone to bed.
Why do I call them Liam and Mercy instead of Mom and Dad? It’s simple, really. I was a poor chemo kid abandoned by her mom. Mercy stepped in and took over. She was everything to me. I didn’t want to talk to anyone else at the hospital. My world revolved around her, and hers around me. She was my reason for existing. Mercy showed me love like I had never known. Do you know what’s worse than never being loved? Someone loving you unconditionally and then having it taken away. Anybody would say, of course, she still loves you. Maybe she does, but it hasn’t felt like it since their birth. Everything was perfect until Riley and Ryder, the miracle twins, came home. That’s when everything changed. It was all about their schedules, “Riley’s too fussy today, I can’t take you anywhere.” After months of experiencing this, I realized the truth. I was a fill-in child. Once they had their biological kids, I no longer mattered. I shut down completely. Now, they have no idea what’s wrong with me. Add to that a third fucking bout with cancer. Are you kidding me? At this point, I know how I’ll die. There’s no doubt. It’ll be cancer or chemo. The only thing I can hope for is for it to be sooner rather than later.
CHAPTER THREE
NASH
Istand outside, beyond the prison walls, for the first time in fifteen years. My original release date came and passed eight years ago. Imagine my surprise when the drunk driver who killed my grandparents ended up not only in the same prison as me but the same cell block. I tried hard to ignore him, do my time, become a better man, and get out early. That’s not what happened, though. The fucker taunted me about it, so I only had one thing left to do. Retaliate. I was charged and sentenced with assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, which earned me another eight years at Laurel State Prison located in Laurel, Pennsylvania.
