Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 129207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
“You fucking bitch,” he growls, lunging for me.
I go to flee, desperately trying to scoot myself off the bed, but the glimmer of a blade catching in the light brings me up short as he presses it against the base of my throat. “That’s what I thought,” my father says as I come to a terrified halt, my whole body shaking in fear. “Now, here’s how this is going to happen.”
He moves away from me, and I scramble up the bed, putting distance between us as he reaches for my small purse that’s been tossed on the ground.
“I’m going to fuck you, Raleigh. I’m going to take everything that I’ve deserved, and you’re going to lay there and take it like the filthy little whore that you are, and if you don’t,” he says, his tone shifting to something more sinister and vile than I’ve ever heard from him. “I’ll be right here waiting for your little boyfriend to return, and when he does, this blade will be plunged right through his heart. You hear me?”
Fuck.
Tears stream down my face, and all I can manage is the slightest nod as bile rises in my throat, knowing with every ounce of my being that he means every last word he says. If I don’t do this, if I don’t allow him to take every shred of dignity I’d painfully found over the past six years, if I don’t allow him to destroy me, he will end Ezra’s life.
Ezra and I would never see eye to eye on this. He would prefer I fight, prefer that I allow him to take his chances with the blade, but he doesn’t know my father like I do. Whether I play along or not, he will still rape me. Whether I lay there and take it or try to fight him off, he will still brutally force himself inside of me. The sad reality is that after years of his abuse, I already know how to play the game to ensure I’m not left bleeding and broken when he’s through with me.
My father grins as he pulls my phone from my small purse and strides up to me, using my face to unlock the screen. “Now,” he says, searching through it before pressing a few buttons. “Smile for the camera, Raleigh. We’re going to show the world just how much you like it.”
32
Ezra
My gaze shifts to the wing of the stage, hating that Rae isn’t here, but I get why she needed the night to herself. That meeting was a shit show. Hell, the past two weeks have been a shit show, and considering everything, I think she’s handling herself remarkably well. Though I won’t lie, I’m annoyed with Dylan for catching her before she could get a chance to beat Jessica’s ass. The bitch deserved it, and while watching Rae take her down would have been the highlight of my century, she needed it more than she could ever know. I might have to introduce her to a punching bag, or she could take her frustrations out on me in the form of wild, desperate sex. I have no issues there.
Rae and I, when we’re together, it’s fire. I always knew we’d be compatible in that way, but finally getting to taste her, to feel her, it’s everything I thought it would be and more, and though I don’t regret waiting, I wish we were able to get our shit together a long time ago.
Years were wasted between us. I can only imagine where we’d be now if we never lost those years. If I never left her behind, and she never suffered the horrendous abuse her father submitted her to. If Rae had been with me all these years, Ax never would have needed to go find her. He’d still be here. So many fucking harsh consequences for the decisions I made as a kid following his dream.
All of it rests on my shoulders, but I’m strong enough to bear the weight of the burden, especially if it means taking it from Rae. She’s hurt for too long, suffered in a way no woman should ever have to suffer, and if carrying her burden makes it just a little easier for her to breathe, then fuck, it’s not a burden at all. I’ll take it from her willingly.
The seductive words of “Scarlett Rose” flow from me, and without Jessica and Stacey prancing around the stage and putting their hands all over me, it’s fucking refreshing.
Firing them was the easiest decision I’ve ever made. Having their hands on me made me feel dirty, and I hated every fucking second of it. And now that they’re gone, I can sing the song the way it was always intended—right to Rae. At least, when she’s here tomorrow night.