Knot Their Darling (Knotting-verse #1)

I don’t have much to unpack, obviously. It’s just the clothes I’d stuffed into my bag, my combat boots, and the old dress Raeka didn’t let me wear, along with the flats. I don’t put anything in the closet; I keep it all in the bag, but I do manage to change out of the dress. It takes me a while to shimmy out of it without anyone’s help with the zipper, but I make do.

I change in the bathroom, with the lights on and the door locked, and once I’m out of the dress, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My makeup is still perfect, but now that I wear nothing but a bra and panties, I can see the blemish on my body. The scar that refuses to heal and disappear.

Jay always made sure anything he did to me no one else would see. He never left bruises on my face or my neck, but he did leave marks everywhere else—and it’s one of these marks I stare at in the mirror while I slowly bring a hand to it. The moment I trace the round, uneven scar on my hip, I wince.

It doesn’t hurt now, but the memory still does.