Page 47 of Vengeful Devotion
“I was eight when my mother sent me to live with Lonny and my cousin Lia. For the first two months, it was amazing.”
“Until?”
“Until it wasn’t.”
Tears blur my vision. I swallow. My tongue feels heavy in my mouth. Like it’s swollen with the truth about all the sordid things Lonny did to me. Things I’ve never spoken aloud. Not even to Lia.
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. The fear of Declan rejecting my story holding it all back. This is harder than I imagine it to be. After all, they are just words. Words that have built me into the lost, damaged woman I am today. But words can’t hurt me, so why am I having such a hard time speaking?
Declan grabs hold of my hand, wiping a tear from my cheek. “Don’t be scared, Gemma. I’ve got you.”
A sob leaves my throat. My tired soul unable to hold back any longer. Declan leads me to the bed and pulls the comforter back for me to get in. I whimper when he doesn’t follow.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he says, shedding his suit jacket and shoes before climbing in next to me and pulling my head to his chest.
Silently, he holds me while I expel tears like a child with a scraped knee. He runs his fingers through my hair. My sadness soaks through his shirt. No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop crying. My breath comes in gasps as I desperately try to regain control. But it’s no use. Declan opened Pandora’s Box, and there’s no way to close those memories away again. There’s no stuffing them back down. They’re free to wreak havoc inside me. Free to destroy me.
I don’t know how long we lie there. Me blubbering and Declan holding me. His silence is comforting. The sound of his heartbeat calling to me. Every throb imprinting itself on me. Instilling me with strength. With courage. But the way it feels to be in his arms? That’s a bright light in the darkest of nights. It’s a beacon. The thing that draws me out of the pain and back to reality.Back to him.
“I don’t know if I can tell you all of it,” I whisper, my throat feeling almost too tight to talk.
Declan’s chest tightens beneath my head. My breath stalls, a ball of anxiety forming in my stomach. I don’t know if I can handle him pushing me right now.
“One day, one day you will. But for now, just tell me what you can.”
What the hell is this man doing to me? I shouldn’t let myself want any of this. Not Declan, and definitely not us. But in this moment, when it’s his words that unravel the anxiety within me, I can’t think of a single reason why.
Declan’s hand settles on my ribs, giving me a light squeeze of encouragement.
“O-one night, my uncle changed. He, um, he started by just touching me. Then, it escalated to forcing me to do things to him. Until eventually he…”
My voice trails off. Tears well up in my eyes. How I have anything left to cry, I have no idea. Declan digs his fingers into my skin. The cadence of his heartbeat quickens. A growl rumbles his chest. The vibration knocking more tears loose. I clutch his shirt like it’s the only thing that can stop me from sinking, taking a deep lungful of his cologne to keep me afloat.
“He kept me locked away. The only visitors I had were the maids who fed me, the tutors who homeschooled me, and Lia, my cousin. He had guards outside my door at all times, so I couldn’t go out and no one else could come in. I don’t think Lonny wanted the outside world to know I existed. He wanted me for himself.”
“You’re not his,” Declan growls. The sound going straight to my core like this isn’t the most inappropriate time for that.
My eyes follow Declan’s free hand as he yanks it through his lush hair. His jaw is tense, like he’s trying hard to hold back his rage. To give me the space, I need to tell my story, but he looks miserable.
“You don’t have to listen to this, Declan. I can just leave.”
He moves fast, jumping out of the bed before I even know what’s happening. My head falls onto the mattress. The impact radiates through me. Lonny’s voice accompanying it.
You didn’t think he’d actually stay, did you? Stupid child.
“What the fuck do you mean by leave?”
I push myself to sit up. Declan’s face is twisted into some crazed version of rage. It’s like he’s morphed into someone —somethingelse entirely.
“Answer me, Gemma.”
“I h-have to.”
“You have to what?”
God, I so badly want to tell him I can stay. The words are crawling up my throat, begging to be said. But I can’t. Vegas is no longer safe. I have to leave. Or end up as Lonny’s punching bag for the rest of my life.
“I have to leave, Declan. I have to get out of the country. Go somewhere Lonny can’t reach.”
