Chapter 42
IVY
B rooks walks up to me, grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking me up to stand. I reach out to grab his wrist in a failed attempt to loosen his hold.
“Should I just fuck you now? Erase every memory you have of someone else touching you? Does that cunt miss me?” His breath is hot on my neck as he whispers in my ear, rubbing his cheek across my own. He’s going to rape me, this evil bastard is going to try to rape me. That one terrifying thought consumes me as I feel his powerful grip on my hair tighten. My stomach churns with acid, and my heart feels like it’s about to bust out of my chest.
I can’t move.
I can’t speak.
All I can do is stare into his cold, dead eyes.
“Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll fuck you into submission.” I see the gun move in the direction between my legs and I break free of the fear holding me hostage.
“Don’t fucking touch me! You’ll never touch me again, Brooks. Fuck you! Let me go!” I scream. I know it’s stupid to piss off your attacker, especially one with a gun, but I refuse to allow this to happen. I have to fight my way out of this somehow. He pulls my hair hard, forcing me to arch my back.
“How could you let someone else touch you? HOW? After everything I’ve done to make you mine! You’re MINE!” he screams, spittle spraying across my face. He smacks his head twice with the hand that’s holding the gun. He’s completely deranged. I never would have imagined him behaving this way.
“Because I love him! Let me go, Brooks. You can walk away from this. Just let me go and you can leave.”
I watch as his face transforms, melting from rage to eerily calm. His voice softens when he speaks again.
“Darling. You really should stop trying to make me mad. I can’t be responsible for what happens if you push me too far. Now. Where were we? Ah. Yes.”
He drags me by my hair, my body tripping after him. I grip his wrist and arm tightly, but he’s relentless in his hold on me, until we reach the kitchen bar where he bends me over it. This can’t be happening. Every part of my body shakes as fear spirals through me, my mind wars with fighting him off and taking the chance that he’ll kill me, or giving in and letting him take a piece of me and hope like hell someone comes looking for me. I need to survive.
I start to dissociate as my body goes lax against the cold counter. I think of my mom. Being locked in this house with a man who didn’t love her and only wanted to control her. Who died being tied to a man who didn’t make her happy and too depressed to do it herself. “Fight, Ivy. Don’t let any man steal your life from you. Make your own path.” Her voice rings in my head. I think of Sawyer. “You’re so strong. Are you kidding me? Look at you, you’re a goddamn queen, Ivy. You’ve been handling so much on your own for so long . . . Just breathe. You’re so strong.”
I take a deep breath and hold it.
“I’ll leave with you. We can go back now. I’ll go. Let’s go. Take me home, Brooks.” I say as resolutely as possible, trying like hell to hide the tremors in my voice and doing my very best to listen to those voices inside my head. I need to survive by any means possible.
I just need to buy some time.