Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Xavier
In the cast, Bella is now asleep while he stands over her.
I watch as he peels the blankets back and strokes her hair before he pulls a flip phone out of his pocket.
He takes a few pictures of her barely clothed body before running his hands up her leg, which makes her wake.
She jumps and peers up at him. Latham growls, and I know he is watching the same thing.
We watch as they talk for a second. He continues rubbing her tied-down legs, and she continues to struggle in her restraints.
Bella turns away when he tries to grab her face, only for him to slap her, and the sight causes me to jump.
The defiance in her eyes is evident when he shows her something on his phone, and she hangs her head and her shoulders slump. They talk some more. Well, Brian does. However, we can't hear words. Although I can tell she doesn't like whatever he is saying to her when he suddenly removes the cuffs.
Her brother continues to take photos of her in different states of undress until she is completely naked.
When he finishes, he restrains her again before pulling a torch from his pocket and handing it to her.
He turns it on and places it in her hand before walking out, leaving her in the dark with just a torch.
"Why?" I hear Latham ask her, and she untucks her face from my chest.
"Why what?" she asks as she peers over at him.
"What did he show you on the phone?" Latham asks her, and I feel her go rigid in my arms.
"Pictures of my mother."
"Why?"
"To allow him to take the photos. He said Dad's empire was falling, that he owed some bad people money, that if I didn't give him the photos, the man would hurt mum again. He used to give me the torch as payment," she answers, and I feel shame course through the air.
"So you did as he asked?" Latham asks, and I smell her shame seep into my nostrils.
"I found out later the pictures were sent to the man who supposedly bought me to clear the debt."
Latham nods. Her skin heats, and I glance down at her and tip her chin up to meet my gaze.
"What is it?"
Bella shakes her head, and Latham growls at me.
"Leave it be," Latham says to me, feeling her sudden discomfort before turning his gaze back to Bella.
"And you believed him," Latham says.
Bella nods. "Yes, because my mum was kidnapped when my dad snitched on everyone.
The photos were from when she was taken before she was dumped outside our house naked and bloody.
Apparently, the man had her raped and beaten before we went into witness protection as payment for what my dad did and punishment.
Brian organized with whoever it was that I would be sold to clear any debt owed and to make up for his disloyalty.
I found out Brian had planned to kill my father and take over his empire.
I didn't know that until Brian got out of prison and he told me. "
"Did you ever meet the man?"
Bella shakes her head. "No, I killed them when I discovered I was being sold. My sister knew all along, and those photos were sent to whoever it was that I was supposed to be sent to."
"So, you do not even have a name?" I stare at Latham, trying to figure out what he is getting at.
"No, why does it matter?" she asks.
"Because the man that would have accepted you as payment, I believe, is the demon that tainted you," Latham explains.
But are we even sure there is a demon? I can't sense an actual presence.
"You believe he masked himself?" Blaine asks; his eyes go to Bella for a second.
"I know he did."
"How so?" Blaine asks.
"Probably because his symbol is etched on the inside of her thigh. That isn't a birthmark, Bella. It's a demonic taint. I noticed in the first cast, he kept touching that one spot, strengthening it."
"No, I was born with it," Bella says, and Latham shakes his head.
"Then you’ve been tainted since you were born."
I am startled by that thought. Is it possible that he’s always been there, always watching her, and she just didn't know it?
"He has been imprinting a mark on you for years."
"What interest would he have in a baby? And why do you want to know of the man who was accepting her as payment?" I ask, confused.
"There is no way if he marked her like I know he did. Would he allow her to be sold off to anyone but him? Would you allow your tainted to be sold?" Latham asks.
There is no way in hell I would sell Latham, Blaine, or Bella. I haven’t even tainted her to me yet, but that much I am positive of. If anyone dared try to take her from me, I would kill for her, for all of them, without hesitation.
"But if she was marked from birth, how come she couldn't see him then?" Blaine asks Latham.
"Because he was already around her. He must have been biding his time. Now it is a matter of whom he possessed or who was close enough to the family that could be him."
"Possessed?" Bella asks.
I can hear her heart rate spike even more than the rapid pumping state it has been in since we stepped into the house.
"Yes, and only one sort of demon can do that. An incubus or possessor as we now call them."
"Great, so could be any number of demons then, and you're sure?"
I stop my words before they leave my lips. Yet Latham understands what I am getting at. Are we sure she isn't actually crazy?
"Yes, I am sure. Now we need to figure out who it is," he says while Bella glances between us.