AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A guy named Barney at the tattoo studio in my hometown,” I reply, knowing that’s not what she’s asking.
When her caress disappears, I turn around and face her. Her eyes are shiny with tears, and a lone salty drop is sliding down her cheek.
“Apple, I’m not a good man by any stretch of the imagination. All you’ll get with me is heartache and pain.” I chuckle, but there’s no humor in it. “I was caused pain so now I cause pain. It’s inevitable.”
“Who caused you pain, Malice?” she asks, not the least bit thrown off by my warning. “Who made you into the man you are?”
Tired of hiding, exhausted from years of disguising the anguish caused by people I should’ve been able to trust, I break.
“A priest and deacon started molesting me when I was eight, and it continued for ten years,” I snap. “There, are ya happy? You know my dirty secret.”
The look of utter horror on her face is the reason I don’t talk about it, but the fierce protectiveness that flares to life within seconds reminds me that maybe, just maybe, there’s someone out there who can help carry the weight I’ve been crumbling under almost my entire life.
“Malice.”
He stares at me a second longer before striding to the door, completely ignoring my pleas for him to talk to me. Frustration slithers through me at the thought that he’s going to just walk away.
Fuck that… not after dropping that bomb on me.
“Don’t just leave,” I beg. “Please.”
Standing at the door with his head bowed, Malice glances over his shoulder and pins me with his gaze. “I got to get the fuck outta here. I’m no good for you. Go back to Mark.”
The door slides shut behind him, leaving me to replay our conversation over and over again. My heart breaks when I try to imagine what it must’ve been like for him as a child always having to look over his shoulder. Experiencing something that horrific at the hands of adults you’re supposed to be able to trust is unfathomable and makes me sick.
My muscles tense as a thought penetrates through the haze of horror.
Mark.
Is this why he was running all those years ago?
Needing answers, I decide to head back to my room. My best friend might be the only person who can give them to me. My stomach churns at the thought of asking him such personal questions, but what if something happened to him too? I need him to know he’s not alone.
As soon as the motion sensors detect me, Malice’s door slides open. I rush through it and directly into a brick wall.
“Ouch!” I scrunch my nose to see if it is broken. Calloused fingers lift up my chin, and even though my eyes are misty, I can make out Abyss’s face. “Is it broken?”
He gently presses my nose and chuckles when I wince. “Nope. You’ll be fine.”
“Thank God for that.” I wiggle my nose again. “The last thing I need is a broken nose.”
“Where are you off to in such a hurry, gorgeous?” Abyss wags his brows. “And leaving Malice’s room… naughty girl!”
“It’s not what you think.” I wave him off. “We fell asleep watching a movie. When we woke up, we talked, and then he rushed out saying he needed some air.”
That’s an understatement.
“Is he okay?” Abyss pulls his cell out of his cut. “Maybe I should call Soul.”
I touch his arm. “I think he needs to be alone.”
Abyss sighs but puts the phone away. “Malice is a complicated man… a good man, but complicated.”
“I’m beginning to realize that,” I mumble, more to myself than to Abyss. He nods but doesn’t say anything. “I’m sorry to rush off, but I need to shower and find Mark.”
“If I see him, do you want me to send him to your room?”
“Yes, please. I’d appreciate it.” I rise to my tiptoes and kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
