Chapter 38
I’ve always had trust issues. I’ve been betrayed too many times, and now it’s hard for me to let my guard down and fully trust people.
It’s like I’m always waiting for them to show their true colors.
And then I’d tell myself, “See, I knew I couldn’t trust them.
” Because I’m just like you, I lie to everybody.
The adrenaline was rushing to my head, screaming that I had to run. That my life was in danger. I needed to defend myself, not sit there like a life model waiting for her next pose.
The sofa was too soft, I kept watching Hector pour us some wine. My eyes fell on the table Eric and I had sex on moments ago, sending a wave of pleasure across my body.
Loud music was playing, reminding me of the party still going on in the hall. Of the people outside the door. I couldn’t convince myself of this, because all I could hear was my pulse thumping in my ears and a wail of panic inside.
Hector silently handed me a glass, and I drank it down, ignoring his attempt to toast.
After taking a couple of sips, he put his glass on the table and sat down next to me.
He leaned in to kiss me, but I moved away from him hastily.
He cringed.
“You’re not gonna play coy, are you?”
I lifted my gaze to look at the door behind him.
“You called me here yourself, so spare me your games. ”
He threw his body at me, groping and trying to kiss me.
I pushed him off with my hands and he fell back onto the coffee table.
I heard the sound of broken glass.
“So you like it rough, huh? Fine.”
I got up to run, but he grabbed my hair, dragging me down to the floor.
I was screaming and scratching him, trying to break free from his clammy mitts. But it was no use. My kicks were too weak, my screams too quiet.
I was spread on the cold floor when he was about to sit on me.
I tried to kick him in the balls, and I almost did, but he grabbed my head and hit it on the wooden floor full-force.
My vision went dark. I was on the verge of blacking out.
As I was trying to come around, slowly crawling to the door, he turned me over and began pulling my underwear down.
I tried to hold it, but he slapped me across the face with all his might. I cried out in searing pain spreading all over my face like an electric charge.
It’s a shame I didn’t pass out when he hit me on the floor.
I looked at the alabaster fretwork on the ceiling. It was marvelous. The only beautiful thing surviving this place for so long.
Pristine. Stunning. Untainted.
My body turned to stone when I heard his belt unclasping. My head felt hollow. All I could hear was my heart’s feverish beating.
Before he could get on top of me, the front door slammed closed, tearing me out of my trance.
“What the?”
He got to his feet but, unfortunately for him, fell back to the floor straight away.
Eric punched him in the face hard enough to knock him down, his head meeting the floor much harder than mine did .
He took hold of his shirt and began beating him so bad I turned away, unwilling to watch it any more.
Hector was moaning, begging him for mercy.
For the first time ever, I didn’t feel sorry for a person being beaten so savagely. It’s like he wanted to make a human patty out of the guy.
I had an awful feeling blooming deep inside. I didn’t want to deny it. It was the feeling of relish and triumph.
I wanted him to feel pain verging on death throes. The sadist in me wished he would suffer as long as possible.
“Please, I beg you. Stop. I didn’t know.”
Eric’s eyes went wide with rage.
“Didn’t know what? That you can’t rape women? Or that she’s mine and no one gets to touch her? She’s a God-damn painting in a museum, you can look, but never put your dirty hands on it.”
He punched him into something now barely resembling a face. Hector was now talking with a lisp. His front teeth were gone. His whole face was now a bloody mess.
“It was her. She came up to me and called me here,” he lisped, choking on blood.
“And you immediately thought she would want to sleep with you? Are you stupid?”
He punched him again and the man moaned in pain.
Letting him go and kicking the guy in the balls for good measure, Eric glanced at me. His eyes began looking me over quickly.
He came up and helped me get up.
“I think I have a concussion.”
“Hush now.”
He carefully lifted my chin, turning my head to the right.
I thought I saw his pupils cover his entire irises, making his eyes look jet-black. The color of wrath.
He bent over and pulled my panties back up .
Why was he like this? Why would he show me the side of himself I’d fall for even harder than before?
He picked up my shoe and carefully slid it on my foot.
After he slowly sat me down on the sofa, he grabbed still whimpering Hector, throwing his ass in an armchair across from us.
I felt uneasy sitting opposite him. I wanted to cover my body, to hide, leave the room.
I crossed my legs and arms. Eric put his hand on my exposed leg and began to stroke it slowly.
I thought it’d be right for me to remove his hand, but it gave me the feeling of safety I needed so badly.
“You’re gonna work for me now. I want you to...”
His laugh interrupted Eric.
I was surprised he could talk, much less laugh.
“Do you really think I’m gonna betray Mortimer, Roncalli? No way in hell. I don’t have a death wish,” he spat, acting like Eric’s words offended him.
Eric smiled and held a phone up to him.
So Eric’s surname was Roncalli? He owns my university? Why would he attack the students of his own university? What if he wasn’t involved after all? Who was it then? And why would August lie to me? What did he say it for?
Damn. I was dumb to trust him like that. Really dumb.
Wait, what about Mortimer? Why did he need Mortimer all of a sudden? Was he... trying to help me?
Hector’s bloodied, swollen face turned into a pale blob. I could see genuine fear in his eyes, and I loved it.
I liked the power Eric had over him.
I always wondered what people like him were scared of? What was their worst fear?
Eric put the phone away and placed a USB drive on the table. He continued to stroke my leg, making me relax and crave his touch even more. He was like a steel cocoon that shielded me from the outside world.
“I need access to all the cameras in his house, the warehouses, anywhere he stays or where he keeps people. As well as access to his phone and computer.”
“What if he picks up on it?”
“Make sure he doesn’t.”
“Is that it?”
Hector was about to get up.
“No. Apologize to her.”
I felt naked. All attention was on me. I was no longer invisible.
Hector gave me a hate-filled look and spat:
“She’s a whore. I’m not apologizing to her.”
“She’s not some whore. She’s my whore. She belongs to me. And I really don’t like it when someone touches what’s mine.”
The man’s bored glance fell back on me.
“Sorry.”
“Sorry what?” Eric said.
“I’m sorry for trying to rape you.”
“Lovely.”
Eric got up and offered him a hand.
Hector took the flash drive, slowly got to his feet and shook Eric’s hand.
When the man was about to pull his hand away, Eric twisted it hard enough for me to hear a disgusting crunch that made my stomach turn. That ghoulish sound got imprinted in my memory like a brand mark on flesh.
He broke his wrist.
The man was screaming at the top of his lungs, making my ears ring.
“Apologies accepted now.”
I didn’t notice when Norman came into the room. He grabbed Hector and got him out the door.