Chapter 13 #2
I don’t prep her. Don’t warn her. This isn’t for her. This isn’t about pleasure. This is my goodbye to the boy she buried years ago. To the girl I used to love. And to the woman who made me fall in love again only to kill me once more.
There will be nothing left after this. Not of me, not of her.
I thrust into her. Rough. Sudden. She gasps, a small sound of protest, then settles. She thinks it’s a morning fuck.
“Dominic…” she breathes, a sleepy tease. “You’re eager today, aren’t you?”
“Shhh…” I murmur against her shoulder.
My lips brush her skin. It’s a goodbye kiss.
I wrap her hair around my hand, the motion familiar and routine, something I’ve done hundreds of times before.
But this is the last.
I move, hard and unforgiving, chasing my own release. Because she doesn’t matter. Not anymore. All I want is to feel her one last time before I have to let her go for good.
She moans beneath me, soft and dazed. She still thinks I’m hers but she’s wrong.
I finish fast and she doesn’t finish at all. I spill my release across her back, coating her in it — it’s not a claim, like it used to be. It’s a mark of shame.
And when I pull away, I feel the monster opening its jaws again. Ready to rip another piece out of her soul.
Before she can say a word, I’m already zipping up my jeans.
She shifts, confused, blinking the sleep from her eyes. I don’t wait for questions, and throw the first clothes I find straight into her lap.
“If you don’t want to walk out of this room naked, put those on.” My voice is dead, ice-cold.
Her eyes go wide, confusion turning into fear.
“What?” she whispers, the sound broken and small. Not because of what I said — but because of how I said it. Because she hears what’s underneath. The change.
I grab her arm hard and yank her up off the bed.
She gasps and cries out, startled, stumbling back.
I lean in close, my breath fanning her lips.
“I said get fucking dressed,” I growl, “unless you want me to parade you through this entire fucking place naked and drenched in my cum.”
She starts shaking. Tears spring to her eyes, and I welcome each one. Let her feel this. Let her see what she’s broken loose.
But she finally listens to me.
Good. Her body belongs to me. Only I can see it.
She pulls the t-shirt over her head with unsteady hands, not saying another word.
Fuck, that’s my t-shirt! Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t fucking matter.
The second it’s on, I grab her arm again and drag her forward. Fast. Brutal. She stumbles behind me, sobbing.
“What are you doing, Dominic?” she chokes out.
I stop dead and turn on her.
My hand snaps around her throat, squeezing. Her feet lift off the floor, eyes blown wide, breath stolen. Her fingers grip my wrist.
“Don’t say my fucking name,” I hiss, venom coating every word.
She nods — barely. I release her, and she gasps for air, choking on it. Still crying.
I ignore it and keep walking, dragging her behind me. Through the hall, down the stairs. She hits the banister once — twice — trying to keep up, but I don’t slow. I don’t look back.
Her sobs grow louder and it grates on my brain.
She needs to stop. She needs to understand this is it.
“Ghost!” Bones’ voice crashes through the common room like thunder.
I freeze and turn toward him. He’s already standing, face hard, fury buried deep behind the steel in his eyes.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he bites out.
I tilt my head. Calm. Deadly.
“I’m taking her to the Fun House.”
The room stills.
Several of the brothers are watching. None of them move, but they instantly feel closer, like wolves sniffing blood.
“You’re not,” Bones says, voice final. “We need to talk.”
I scoff, and take a step forward.
He gets in my way.
Rage fucking blinds me.
“Sympathizing with traitors now, Prez?” I sneer. “Not surprising, since you’re one yourself. How’s Temperance? She forgive you yet?”
The second her name leaves my mouth, his jaw tightens and his eyes darken. But he doesn’t move.
Adora keeps crying behind me, the sound scraping at me like nails on a chalkboard.
“Do…Do…Ghost, please,” I hear her whisper, voice breaking.
She needs to fucking stop already.
The brothers at the tables rise slowly. Quietly. They start circling.
What the fuck is wrong with everyone? If I want to kill a lying bitch, I’ll kill a fucking lying bitch.
“Ghost,” Bones tries again, his tone hiding a plea. “You need to calm down. Think. You’re not thinking right.”
“I’m thinking just fucking fine.”
“You’re not taking her to the Fun House,” he says. “That’s an order.”
And that’s it.
I stare at him, seething, rage clawing at the back of my throat.
“I won’t forget this,” I spit, and start walking again.
I drag Adora outside, barely seeing anything in front of me.
Out front, I throw her away with a rough jerk.
She loses her balance and crashes to the ground, hands catching gravel, knees scraping hard.
She doesn’t move. Just keeps her head bowed, shoulders trembling, and stays exactly where she landed.
“Get up,” I growl.
She still doesn’t move.
“GET THE FUCK UP!”
My roar cracks the air open like thunder. And finally — finally — she lifts her head.
Tears pour down her face, but she’s not sobbing anymore. She’s just quiet.
She rises slowly, no fight left. No spark.
Why does it still hurt to look at her? Why the fuck does she still have this power over me?
“Ghost,” Bones says from behind, stepping out onto the gravel.
“Shut the fuck up,” I snap without turning. “This has nothing to do with you. Your precious Fun House stays clean. You come near me, I shoot.”
Adora glances to the side and realizes there’s a crowd.
Perfect.
I pull my gun, and raise it. Point it right between her eyes.
Someone curses behind me.
I don’t care.
I need to finish this. Break her open. Burn the remains. Scrape her out of my soul.
“You’re nothing,” I say, my voice a blade drawn slow. “You really thought I fell for you again? Thought you had me wrapped around your little finger? You’re not fucking special. You’re not bright, or pure, or untouchable.”
I force a smile.
“You’re just a used-up cunt who got easy. You spread your legs fast. Didn’t even make me work for it. Let me fuck you in every hole like a greedy little whore. Moaned for it. Begged for it. Told you you didn’t have to, and still you gave it all.”
Her eyes are glassy and her hands shake, but she stays standing.
I lower my voice, and sink the knife deeper.
“So fucking desperate to be loved, huh? Daddy didn’t want you. Mommy hated you. Your ex couldn’t replace you fast enough.”
“Even Liz ran from you. Your precious little sister, who you broke yourself for, took a scholarship and didn’t look back. Guess what, bitch. I’m the one who dangled that scholarship in front of her. I wanted to get you all alone, and she took it faster than she could blink.”
Her mouth falls open on a silent gasp.
“You have no friends. No family. Nothing.”
My hand tightens on the gun.
“You’re toxic and no one wants you.”
I lean in.
“Especially not me.”
She looks at me like she’s already dead. Those beautiful eyes vacant, with tears carving slow rivers down her cheeks.
Good.
She needs to die inside first.
“It was a lie,” I sneer, letting the poison roll off my tongue. “The whole fucking year. Every kiss. Every touch. They were all fake.”
My grin stretches, ugly and cold. I twist the knife once more.
“I used you, bitch. Used your body like a cocksleeve. It’s the only decent thing about you.”
I take a step closer, letting my shadow close in around her.
“Can you feel it now?” I whisper. “What it’s like to be shattered by the person you love? To have your soul stomped on, spit on, tossed aside like it meant nothing?”
I lean in, my voice a low growl, taking a scalpel to her empty heart.
“Not that it’s the same for you, is it? You’re not capable of love. Almost a year I spent baiting you, trapping you, waiting. And you still felt nothing.”
Then I deliver the final blow. The words she’ll never come back from.
“You should’ve done it. All those years ago. Put that gun in your mouth and pulled the trigger. Spared the world your fucking poison. No one would’ve missed you. You’re nothing but rot in a pretty shell. And now you’ll rot in the ground.”
Time stills. I wait. I don’t know for what. I want a final memory. Something to make me feel like I’m finally free of her.
I twitch, surprised, when she moves. Just one step. Slow. Controlled. Still crying. Still lifeless.
She presses her forehead to the barrel of my gun. Like she’s giving me permission. Like she’s at peace.
And then, it’s her turn to ruin me.
“I love you, Dominic.”
It’s a whisper, barely audible and cracked down the middle. Unexpected.
“It’s ok. You need this. You need to be free of me. I hope it gives you peace.”
She closes her eyes.
“Goodbye, Dominic.”
My breath stutters. My hand starts to shake, and my grip on the gun loosens. This isn’t freedom. She just threw more chains around me.
The monster inside of me recoils — startled. Confused. Afraid. Fucking afraid. Of her.
How is she doing this? How the fuck is she doing this?
A hand presses down on my arm, gentle, but firm.
“Dom,” Bones whispers. “Stop. Please. It’s enough.”
She opens her eyes and there’s death in them.
God, she’s still beautiful. Even like this. Even now. Why can’t I rip her out of my fucking soul?
“Leave,” I choke. “You need to leave.”
She doesn’t move.
“NOW, Adora!” I shout. “GO! I don’t want to see your face ever again!”
She’ll finish what I couldn’t. I can see it. That was the backup plan.
She blinks once, then nods and turns around. She walks away without any words or sobs, dropping a veil of silence behind her.
When she steps through the gates and out of my life, the last piece of me leaves with her.
Gone.
She’s gone.
She’s gone.
No. No. NO!
Panic claws at my throat. Something rips inside my chest. I can’t breathe, I’m choking on fucking air.
I turn, and throw up everything I have inside of me into the dirt.