Page 16 of King of Wrath
He points at the center door behind him, and I start toward it. I’m not sure what I’m hoping to accomplish, but I’m tired and I need a moment to think it through.
I brush past him, quickly entering the room and close the door. I really do need to go pee, and I pull down my panties and sit. The bathroom is as nicely appointed as the rest of the place. It really would be a lovely house to stay in if not for the whole “held against my will” part.
Pulling the knife from my sleeve, I hold it in my hand.Think, Nia. What are you doing?I could trust him. He says he wants to help me. I snort at the ridiculousness.
The blade catches the light as I stare. I could kill him.
I let out a long breath of air, my eyes closing. I’m holding the handle in my grip. Am I a killer?
The only person I’ve ever tried to hurt is myself…
I was fourteen, my mom had been dead for a year. I knew the truth about Toni, and I’d seen his love for me turn to hate.
I thought it might be better if I just…
“Are you hungry? You missed dinner.” Jake calls from the kitchen.My knuckles are white on the blade, my breath coming out in short gasps. I don’t answer.
He doesn’t ask again.
A beat goes by. Two. And I stare at the knife, wondering if I’m better or worse off if I just end it here. I had that same thought in the car. What am I fighting for? Life is closing in on all sides…
Suddenly, the door flies open…
Jake stands in the doorway for a split second, his eyes filled with lightning as a growl rumbles from his chest.
I’m still on the toilet, my dress up to my waist, panties around my knees as I stare up at him, my mouth surely open and my eyes wide.
In a second, he’s across the bathroom, his hand wrapping tight around my wrist, the knife still in my hand. “What are you doing?” he growls.
“I…” A lump forms in my throat. Is it crazy that I feel ashamed? For a second I want to explain. I wasn’t going to hurt myself…probably. I was contemplating hurting him first. But why should I offer him an explanation?
He’s the one who stole me. Why should I believe him when he says he’s not going to hurt me?
He puts a little more pressure on my wrist until I cry out and loosen my grip on the handle.
He takes the instrument from my hand, tossing it out of the bathroom and down the hall. I watch it sail through the air, refusing to think about what is going to happen next.
That’s one of the ways you survive abuse. You don’t think.
“You are not hurting yourself, Nia,” he growls out. “Didn’t I tell you that I was here to protect you?”
Then he leaves the bathroom, softly closing the door behind him.
I stare at the spot where he just was. Because this is not how men in my world act. They don’t softly close the door when you’ve disobeyed. And they never mean the words when they say they’ll protect you.
Something small in me cracks and I realize that I might actually want to believe him.
CHAPTER SIX
Jake
It takeseverything in me not to smash a window when I stride back into the kitchen. Was she going to use that knife on herself?
My blood is pumping ice cold. With all my carefully planned scenarios, that was never one of them.
It never occurred to me that she’d be a danger to herself.
Fuck.