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“It’s just spaghetti.” Shrugging, she puts the fork in her mouth, a noodle dangling.
“Yeah, but it’s the shit.” I grin and point my fork at her. “You did good, Lily. Don’t discredit it by saying it’s just spaghetti.”
Lily nods, drops her fork, and lifts a paper towel to her lips to wipe her mouth. I take this action in along with the way she sits, the way she holds the utensils, and realize something else that Perrin instilled into her. She eats too stiffly. Her shoulders are back, and she always wipes her mouth. She’d done that part when we’d eaten pizza in bed while watching movies.
“You know you can relax while eating, don’t you?” I find myself murmuring.
Lily’s gaze jerks to mine, and she pales. “What?”
“You’re stiff as a board while eating.” I motion in her direction with my fork. “You can loosen up, babycakes, no one is going to judge you for getting sauce on your chin. Hell, I’d probably lick it off you.” I grin, giving her a wink.
Lily nods, lips parted, and she drops her gaze. “I wasn’t allowed to sit at a table during meals.”
The fuck? Where did that come from? Then it hits me. Fuck me.
“Lily . . .”
But she doesn’t let me finish, because she’s opening up to me. “The only time I was to be at a table is if Perrin wanted me there. At those times I needed to be proper about it, or he’d make me regret it.”
“Where did you eat meals at then?”
I have a feeling I know, but still, I hope I’m wrong.
Lily slowly meets my gaze once more and answers, “I sat at his feet like the good pet I was supposed to be.”
“You’re not a fuckin’ pet,” I growl, anger vibrating in my chest at the fact she referenced herself as such a thing.
“That’s what I was to him,” she whispers. “He treated me that way, and he didn’t care who saw. The men who came around knew what I was to Perrin. They enjoyed watching what Perrin would make me do while they sat at his table.” Tears well in her eyes and spill down her cheeks, breath hitching. “Do you know the humiliation of being wrenched up by your hair to suck cock, up to straddle him while he fucks me? Or to have another cock shoved in your mouth while he does what he wants? That was my life.”
Sliding the plate away from me, I get to my feet, close in on her, wrap one arm around her waist, and the other slides into her hair. “It might have been your life,” I state harshly, not missing the way she winces, “but it ain’t your life now. I’ll make Perrin suffer for what he did to you. Mark my words on that, Lily. He’ll suffer.”
“It’s not me he needs to suffer for hurting,” she whispers.
“And why’s that?”
Both Lily and I turn at the gruff sound of Chains’s voice. We were supposed to have church this morning, but he’d sent a mass text out saying it would wait until tomorrow. Tiny had still been suffering from the effects of the drug she’d been given.
“Is Tiny okay?” I ask.
“She’s feeling better now,” Chains grunts in answer, eyes narrowing on Lily. “Why did you say it’s not you he needs to suffer for?” he demands suspiciously.
“Tiny was drugged?” Lily breathes, eyes wide and looking ready to run.
“Yeah, both hers and your drinks were doses,” Chains snarls. “Now answer my question.”
“Because I’m a nobody,” she answers, pissing me off at the same time.
“You’re not a fuckin’ nobody.” The words come out harsh even to my own ears, but I don’t care. Lily isn’t a fucking nobody. She’s mine. I get she’s got issues, and she’s going to have to overcome them, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit back and let her shame herself because of a life she didn’t choose.
In fact, I intend to talk to Fuse, get ahold of Lily’s birth records, find the pieces of shits who gave her away, and kill them for their part in all of this. They need to pay for selling their daughter at the age of five to a man who spent the rest of her life tormenting her.
“Lily, what Speed is trying to get at is to us you’re not a nobody,” Chains grumbles, shaking his head in denial. “I’m not trying to be a dick toward you. I’m just over the bullshit and want to find the motherfucker so I can take him out.”
“I can understand that.” Lily nods. “But Perrin is twisted. He plays games.Says it’s fun playing cat and mouse with those he wants to destroy. He’s been waiting for a long time to be able to do just that with you all.” Sucking in a breath, she lowers her gaze. “He won’t stop. Not until he gets what he came for.”
“That’s why you’re gonna help us take his ass out,” Chains says far too calmly.
“I told you I’d help in any way I can.”
