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She laughed in reply, and there was no mirth in her laughter.
“It was my mother,” she announced.
There was a loud buzzing in my ears as her words sank in. Tasha had been hurt by her mother?MyTasha?
“Your mother burned you?”
“With cigarettes,” she replied. “With agarbattis. She used to slap me around, beat me with a stick, lash me with a whip, and once she even threatened to take a lighter to my hair. All within the so-called protective walls of Nagaur House, right under my grandmother’s nose.”
She pushed my arm away and swam away. I followed her and dragged her back to the edge of the pool.
“Let go of me, DV,” she demanded, but it was a half-hearted protest, for she didn’t push me away when I crowded her against the wall of the pool again.
“Did you tell anyone?”
Tasha shook her head.
“She threatened to kill Nani Ma if I told anyone, and I was just a kid. I believed her because I thought my mother was capable of hurting whoever got in her way. It’s okay, DV. It’s over now,” she said sweetly, reaching out a finger to smoothen out the frown on my brow.
“She only did it when I was a child. I was taller than her by the time I was fourteen, and one day when she raised her hand to slap me, I grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her. I told her I’d break it in three places if she touched me again. And that I’d share photographs of all my bruises and scars on social media. I had started documenting my injuries by then, and she knew that a mean bitch like me wouldn’t be afraid of a little publicity if that was the price I had to pay for taking her down.”
“You’re not a mean bitch. You’re a fighter. A glorious one, at that,” I said raggedly, the words torn from me.
I had known Tasha all my life, and I’d had no idea she was being physically abused in her own home. I had let her down. Failed to protect her. Fuck, she’d had bruises and marks on her body, and I hadn’t seen them.
Not again, I swore. No one would ever hurt her again. I didn’t care if the dead chicken was just a prank. I’d do whatever it took to protect this woman from any further pain.
Tasha moved away from me and went over to the lounger to fiddle with her phone again, and the soulful sound of Santana’s acoustic guitar filled the air.
I swam up to her and reached a hand out to push her wet hair over one shoulder. She froze as I ran a finger gently over her scars.
“Does it still hurt?” I asked softly.
She shook her head, still not looking at me.
Slowly, giving her the chance to move away if she wanted to, I moved closer and fenced her within the circle of my arms again.
CHAPTER7
TASHA
My skin burned where DV ran a finger over the scars on my back. One fleeting touch. That’s all it took to reduce me to an aching, seething mass of desire.
I felt him against my back - big, warm, comforting, and yet threatening at the same time. His hands came around me to grip the side of the pool, and I was cradled within the warmth of his body. It was where I had always wanted to be. And yet, he was only doing this to comfort me.
I craved DV with every fibre of my body, but all he had to offer me was pity. If I turned in his arms, he’d probably hug me tightly like the big bear of a man that he was. He would try his best to hug the pain right out of me, and it would feel wonderful. Only temporarily, though. Because at some point, he would let go, and then I would come apart. The absence of his arms around me would shatter my heart to bits. And that would hurt far worse than anything my mother ever did to me.
So, for once in my miserable life, I did the sensible thing. Instead of giving in to every cell in my body that told me to turn around in DV’s arms, I stood still, holding on to the edge of the pool with a white-knuckled grip.
And then, DV made a move that broke my resolve.
He dropped a soft, feather-light kiss on the spot where the nape of my neck met my back. A shudder wracked my body at the touch of his lips, and I let out a sharp breath. But he didn’t stop. He kept going, not stopping until he had kissed each little puckered scar. And with each kiss, he melted the hard shell of misery that encased my heart just a little more.
“What are you doing?” I asked shakily.
“I can’t make the pain each of these scars has left any better, but I’m letting you know that I’ve seen them. Each one of these little marks dotting your skin. And I’m going to avenge them all. Every scar, mark and bruise that your mother gave you. The visible and the invisible. And I’m going to avenge them all. That woman is already spending the rest of her days in jail. And I’m going to make each of those days miserable. By the time I’m done with her, she will wish she was never born,” he promised in a low growl that resonated through my whole body.
I whirled around and almost lost my balance. DV steadied me before I could fall on my ass and pulled me into his arms. I stared into his eyes, not knowing what to make of his words. He had always been protective, but right now, he sounded… well…possessive. As if it was his right to avenge any pain inflicted on me.
