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“Let’s get this over with,” I said.
“What?” Luisca whipped around, her mouth open as if my words had stolen the rest of hers.“Wait,” she said. “I need to talk to Billie in private for one moment. I deserve that.”
No one said boo as she pulled me over to the other side.
“Why are you doing this? Have you lost your mind?”
I tipped my head toward the two groups. It was a picture that looked as if it could’ve been plucked out ofWest Side Story. “Look at them. I’m on the brink of causing a civil war.” I wasn’t going to have any more blood on my hands but my own—and Herrick’s.
“You think there isn’t going to be a problem if you let Mason do this?” She grabbed my arms as if she wanted to rattle some sense into me. “Kaden is going to come back here and kill every man that touched you.”
“He’ll understand. I’m doing what I have to do.” If he was here, he’d probably think of a way out of this, but he wasn’t. I was here, by myself, and Luisca was throwing herself in the middle of this fight trying to save me.
Her daughters watched on, the little one’s lip trembling.
“Nothing about this feels right,” Luisca said.
“It’s a little pain. It’s not like I’ll even scar. It’s the easiest way to calm the situation down and end this.”
I walked back toward Mason. “Where are we doing this?”
“Let’s go to the field,” he said.
“I’ll be there in five minutes.” I walked over to Marina and Chelsie, hating the trembling lips and watery eyes. What I’d hate more was for them to see what was about to happen. “This isn’t that bad. I’ll be fine. I probably won’t even feel it that much.”
Marina nodded, looking as if she might believe me. The older one wasn’t so easy.
“Why don’t you two go put some water on the stove. As soon as I’m done, we’ll all have tea, okay?”
Marina nodded, and then Chelsie took her hand. Luisca gave them both a pat on the head as they walked on. They started to walk toward the house and then stopped, looking back at me.
“I promise, I’ll be fine.”
“You’re not going to be in any shape to sit and have tea after this,” Luisca whispered. “You know that, right? He’s going to go at you with every ounce of strength he has.”
“I’ll be able to.”
She shook her head at me, mentally calling me all sorts of stupid.
Mason was standing in the field, holding on to a whip with a wicked light in his eyes. The sick bastard was going to enjoy this, but there wasn’t anything to do but get it over with.
Luisca walked beside me. “You don’t have to do this.”
“It won’t be that bad.”
Please, don’t let it be too bad. Don’t let me pass out.If I could just stand there, take it without yelling or crying, that would be something of a salve to my pride.Don’t let me break down in front of all these people.
Mason stood next to a dead tree. Looked like I’d at least have something to lean on, so that would help with the standing part.
“I don’t want to rip my shirt,” I said to Luisca. I didn’t have that many to begin with.
“I’ll stand in front of you. Just pull it over your head.”
I nodded at the simple answer that my stress-addled brain had overlooked. I moved and gripped the tree, tense as I waited for the first lash to hit my flesh. It wouldn’t be as bad as I imagined. It couldn’t be, because my imagination was vivid.
When it came, it felt worse than I’d thought it would. The air gushed out of me in a wave, but I managed to keep the cry silent. I barely gasped in a breath before the second came. It was worse, crossing over the initial wound. By the third, it was obvious he was aiming for the same spot, trying to inflict as much damage as possible.
I gripped the tree so hard my nails chipped and broke, as I counted down. Seven, six, five…
