Chapter Twenty-One
Zahra
Elio didn’t notice the bruise on my side.
He was too busy leaving the one currently on my neck, the one currently slicing my heart in two, the one that made me want to throw up.
I know I fucked up. I know.
But …
From my reflection, my shaking fingers rose to graze the print of his hand on me.
Irritation and anger at myself, burned in my chest.
I’d given him full control and he … the only person I trusted with my body, he …
My lips trembled and I took my hand back down, a shudder racking me from head to toe as I locked eyes with myself in the mirror.
I stared.
And stared … watching tears fall, and fall, my face scrunching up in a silent cry. I couldn’t let it out because why … why, if he was so angry, did he …
Never, he’d never, not once since we got together, made me feel … like that. Like the thing staring back at me.
Why … why would he take from me … why …
I sniffed, flicking on the faucet, filling my palms with water and splashing my face.
I dried off and returned my gaze to my reflection, letting out a breath to calm myself, because this was Elio. I knew him. He wasn’t himself. He was angry. I crossed a boundary, and he did too.
We both did.
Whatever the result of the talk would bring, I would respect it. I wanted him. I wanted to see where this could go … but I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended today.
Being with him was like cheating the system of the world I was still trying to escape, and if there was one thing I knew, it was the fact that I couldn’t cheat the system.
Daiyu never even tried and she still died by the hands of it.
What hope was there for me?