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“Panties, too.” My father growls at me as he unbuckles his belt and snarls at me.
Gulping, I take them off. He hasn’t had me like this in a long time. When he married Lucinda’s mom, the nightly visits stopped. Now that she’s passed away, he’s become increasingly horrible toward me again.
“Face the wall, breasts touching the paint, chin up, and your hands above your head.”
His tone means business. It has a harsh bite. I only ever heard him use it with my mother. Father treated her like shit, too. I don’t blame her for finding a way out of here. The belt hits my thighs first, and I yelp.
“Keep quiet and still. Or I’ll tie your ass up.” He doesn’t say anything else. I don’t want him to. Sucking in a breath as the belt punishes my skin, I vow not to make another sound.
“Twenty-three years, and you still haven’t learned your place.” The belt hits my head, and tears fill my eyes. Another hit on the back of my neck has me cowering into the wall as if it could keep me from being hurt.
“Your sister has earned this, and all you could do was be selfish. I can’t believe how you can only think about yourself.” He continues, blasting my skin with a torrent of hits. It burns, stinging with each lashing. Hot, thick liquid flows down my skin, drying on me.
“For fuck’s sake, turn around since you seem to even fail at receiving your punishment. I’ll continue on the front side. Your better side anyway.”
He wants me to ask him to stop. To beg him for his forgiveness. I refuse to show him weakness. My mother never did, and neither will I. The pain wants to win out, but I swallow the sickening vomit down. He won’t get a word out of me. No, I’d rather die than admit defeat and ask him to stop.
Whoosh. The belt sings through the air and finds its target against my face. The scream that leaves me is otherworldly as I tumble to my knees.
“Goddamn it, Crucinda.” My father grabs my hair and forces me to look at him. “You just had to turn slowly, didn’t you?” He spits at me and yanks my hair hard and unforgiving. “Well, now your face will be as ugly as your clothes. Go wash up.”
Tears, snot, and blood drip onto the gray carpet. “Don’t even think about getting help. Your punishment isn’t over with.”
For once, I obey quickly and make my way into the bathroom. Trembling and shivering, I look at myself in the mirror. My right eye is swollen and getting worse by the second.
That’s not what worries me.
No, it’s the gash from the top of my eyebrow down my eye and cheek. Father split my face open with the belt buckle.
“Hurry the fuck up, girl.” A loud thud comes from my bedroom, and I hate to think what one of the staff just brought him. The door opens, and there stands Jasper.
I’m not shy about my body, but I’ve never been naked in front of anyone but my father. He doesn’t look at me. Instead, he thrusts a robe at me. “Here, put this on.”
Hesitantly, I take the article of clothing, but I do as he asks and wrap it around me. “We have to move now,” he whispers to me urgently.
Two
Ten Years Later
Cold sweat poursdown my back as I jerk out of bed. It’s been ten years since I ran away and never looked back. Jasper saved me that night. He will never know how much he helped. Getting out of bed, I angrily grab my robe and walk into the bathroom. I’m fucking tired of the same dream haunting my sleep every night.
Jasper may have saved me that night, but unfortunately, he did not save my mind. My father already had his way with that. I’ll never forget the look on his face when we got in the car and drove away.
“How long, Crucinda?” His whispered question embarrassed me, but I answered.
“Since before he married Lucinda’s mother.”
“Son of a bitch!” He bangs his hand on the steering wheel and looks at me as we reach a red light. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I try to catch my breath as I come back to the present. Jasper’s the only one that’s given a damn about me. Shaking it off, I resolve to let it go.
Yeah, right?
After washing up and doing my business in the bathroom, I head to the kitchen and find Jasper already there.
“Right on time, Cru-Cru.” His Russian accent washes over me, and peace settles within me.
He walks over to me and hands me my favorite drink of black and white tea. “Thank you, Jasper.” I don’t bother smiling or making small talk. He knows when I get up, I want my tea in the bay window and to be left alone.
