Page 49 of The Unbecoming

Owen grabs my face and kisses me again, but this time he doesn’t pull back. He doesn’t hesitate to grab the back of my thighs and pick me up before moving me to the couch along the wall.

Straddling him, we continue to kiss, getting lost in the moment. When his hands move to my waist, I roll my hips, making us both groan. I pull back, and he wraps his arms around my body to hug me to his chest.

“I know this is a lot. I know we are throwing so much at you,” Owen says softly. “We are giant fucking red flags for this, but please… Please believe me when I say you’re safe. I swear to God, we will take care of you. Liam and Alex loved you so damn much…”

“I don’t know if this is what they meant,” I murmur, rolling my hips. He groans and pulls me against him. He’s hard and fucking huge. “Nice to know big dicks are a family trait.”

“Hell yeah. Means you won’t be disappointed by me,” Luke says, sitting next to us. “I’ll be the not-so-soft one and say that if they loved you, I want to find out why. They wanted you happy and safe. All Liam would say is that he wished someone would show you that you’re worthy of love. They died before they could show you, so we will.”

“You know that sounds insane, right?” I ask.

“Mhmm,” he says.

“What if I decide in a month I don’t want one of you?”

“You aren’t a prisoner, Nora. We are just asking you to trust us,” Owen says. “That’s all.”

“I need you to be blunt with me,” I say. “What do you want? Forget about what I’ve been through or what we’ve lost. What do you want?”

“I want to fuck you through the goddamn floor, Nora,” he says, and my face blushes. “I want to watch Luke fuck you. I want us both to send you to heaven and back. I want to be everything our brothers wanted for you.”

“Is this because you want your family back, or because you genuinely want this?” I ask.

“Nothing will ever bring Chelsea and Parker back to me, Nora. Nothing will ever make that pain go away, but we can’t live our lives in the past,” he says. “So let’s make something of this bullshit and find the happiness that was promised to us.”

I look over at Luke, and he smiles. Owen, I didn’t know, but Luke, I do. I’ve known him for years, and they will never be what Liam and Alex were for me, but they could be everything they wanted for me. I promised Liam I’d be okay, and I wholeheartedly believe that this is what I was meant to find.

“What do you say, Nora?” Luke asks. “Will you let us take care of you?”

“Yeah,” I say with a smile. “Do I actually have a job, though?”

“Yeah,” Luke laughs. “Let’s go home.”

“Don’t I need my stuff?” I ask.

“Ricky and Sadie are packing it all right now,” Owen says with a smirk.

When we get to Luke’s house, I am floating. They spent the entire drive over here glancing at me, waiting for me to react. I think they expect me to handle things poorly, but I’m okay. Honestly, I’m great. I feel good about this decision. I didn’t fight this hard to survive just to roll over and die. If I can find happiness with Owen and Luke along the way, even better. Grief isn’t a life sentence.

We get inside, and my stuff is already here. Ricky and Sadie aren’t, so we go upstairs. Once in the bedroom, they both turn to me.

Owen steps toward me and cups my face. “Sweet Nora,” he murmurs before gently kissing me. It turns passionate quickly when I lean into him.

Owen grabs the backs of my thighs and lifts me so he can sit on the bed. I loop my arms around his neck, and he circles my waist with his arms. Luke is close by, but sits on the bed with us as I am completely lost in this moment. This is the peace I’ve needed for over a year.

I hear a floorboard creak outside the bedroom door. When I pull back, a gunshot pops behind me, and Owen’s head explodes. I let out a shrill scream as Luke jumps up, but another gunshot sends his body dropping to the ground with half his skull missing.

Panicked, I scramble out of Owen’s lap. I turn in time for Professor Green to charge at me. When his body collides with mine, it knocks the wind out of my lungs as he tackles me to the bed.

“Stop! No, please! Stop!” I scream until my voice breaks as he rips my clothing off.

“Stupid fucking whore!” he screams, grabbing me by the throat and pulling me to the bed. With one knee on my thigh, he forces my thighs apart.

Pain slices through me when he suddenly shoves a butcher’s knife into my pussy. My voice is raw and broken as he violently stabs the knife into my pelvis over and over again. Every thrust is filled with cold-blooded rage as he attacks me.

Green flips me to my belly, and my body is limp as he fumbles with his jeans. “Fuuuck,” he grunts when he shoves into my ass.

“P-Please,” I whimper weakly as he starts fucking my ass as hard and fast as he can. His movements are crazy as he rapes me. I can feel my blood seeping out and soaking the blanket below me.