Page 136 of Beautiful Venom
“I’ll be fine. It’s nothing.”
“Abuse isnotnothing,” I whisper-yell.
“Go home, Dahlia.” He strokes my hair and then pats my cheek, the motion cold and lacking any of the warmth from earlier. “If you pity me again, I’ll cut you the fuck out of my life.”
And then he walks down the hall and into the lion’s den.
My heart clenches so hard, I’m sure I’ll be sick.
24
KANE
After the meeting with my father, I’m thirsty for a venting outlet.
Grant explicitly said that if Dahlia—the not-important member of the equally not-important Thorne family—proves to be a weakness, he’ll personally eliminate her.
I’m already a freak accident of my mother’s weak genes that he spent so much effort into molding into a true Davenport, and he will not allow any ‘gold-digging trailer trash’ to mess with his progress.
Progress.
I suppose that could also be another word for his fucked-up methods.
Regardless of Grant’s threats and unpleasant methods, this has only solidified the idea I’ve been shoving into the back of my mind for a while now.
I need to stay the fuck away from Dahlia.
She’s already proving to be a nuisance, digging her tiny claws where they don’t belong and burying her nose so far up in my business, it’s hard to maintain the mask I’ve been wearing almost all my life.
She knows the right words that push my buttons and always has her fucking hands all over me as if she has every right to. As if my clear rejections mean nothing.
This is my chance to categorically cut her off.
For her sake.
And mine.
She’s sent me several texts since Samuel had to drag her out of the house earlier this evening. And there was dragging, because I’ve seen security footage of that fucking girl trying to follow me. When Samuel stopped her, she screamed, “Either let me go or you check on him! Don’t just stand there and do nothing. Why does no one do anything?”
Since Samuel shares the same emotions as a wall, he carried her out and managed to drop her off at her dorm. He later told me she called him and Grant names the entire ride.
Afterward, she proceeded to bombard my phone.
Dahlia
Are you okay?
Please tell me you’re not hurt.
You’re wrong about what you said earlier. I don’t pity you. I’m scared, okay?
I know you think it’s nothing, and I can’t begin to imagine what it was like to have been exposed to that form of abuse since you were a child. But some of my foster parents beat me and, while it wasn’t systematic and usually happened because I rebelled, I know shit like that messes with your head, Kane. Childhood trauma changes the fabric of your soul. It sucks out the positive energy and replaces it with fragments of darkness. I know because it affected me. Losing my parents and knowing it was my fault made me think I deserved every hellish thing I went through afterward. It wasn’t until Violet came along and told me the accident wasn’t my fault and that blaming myself and spiraling wouldn’t make my parents happy in the least that I realized I was wrong. I still have my issues, and I’m by no means claiming to be perfect, but I don’t sweep my trauma under the rug. You shouldn’t either.
I hope that didn’t sound patronizing or wasn’t too much information. I’m not used to opening up to people, so I’m kind of new to this whole thing. I just…want to help, I guess.
Talk to me, Kane. We can listen to each other even if we come from different worlds.
As I said. I’m cutting her off.
