Elliott
I don’t know why Marcus’s words have me all worked up, but they definitely hit more than one nerve. I was caught in a mixture of annoyance, hurt, and frustration with everything. He looked at me like I was this weak little girl who needed people to protect me…and part of me knew he was right. I have never been able to stand up for myself or protect myself. Having it thrown in my face just made the reality of it so much worse.
I didn’t want to be this way.
I didn’t want to have to sit back and allow Everton to take every piece of me they wanted, with no fight or confidence to say no.
I didn’t want to have to sit back and have others fight for me.
Then there was the part about just being a pawn for them to bring down Everton.
Was that all I was to them? To Kameron…to Hunter?
Marcus sounded so sure that I was just a phase for them, something that they could get a taste of and then move on from. Has this happened before during their missions? Finding a girl they fancied, fucked, and then left after their job was done? And why did they have these missions? Who were these men?
I sit down on the edge of the bed I’ve been calling home and drop my face into my hands. The tears that Marcus saw dry and all I feel now is anger.
Anger for so much I can’t even begin to explain.
The door swings open and my head snaps up from my hands. Kameron stands in front of me now, shock in his eyes to see me there.
“El, sorry. I didn’t know they had you in my room.” He shifts on his feet, “Do you want me to give you some space?” He says, pointing back to the door.
“No, I can go. It’s your room after all.” I stand to go, not knowing where Icouldgo. Living room? Hunter’s study? Doesn’t matter, I’ll find somewhere. But he steps in front of me before I can leave the room.
“Hey, you don’t have to go. This room is yours now too.” He lifts my chin so that I have to look into his eyes, “We could stay in here together. What do you say?” He flashes me one of his perfect smiles, and all I can do is nod.
If I was just a piece that he was using to get to Samuel and the rest of the Divine then why did it feel so fucking convincing?
Because you are a gullible, naive girl.
He grabs my hand, guiding me back to the bed, leaning down to pull the duvet cover up for me to crawl in first. He kicks off his shoes before joining me.
“Tell me gorgeous, have you been loving my bed while I was away?” He pulls me into his chest and I close my eyes, letting his smell engulf me.
“It was the only place that made me safe.”
“Is that so?” He places a kiss on the top of my head and then rests his cheek on the same spot. His hand glides up and down my arm as he holds me. My body instantly responds to his touch, both relaxing into his hold and burning up from his closeness.
“Everything in here smells like you, the covers, the pillows, the body wash.”
“Funny, I was about to say it smells better now that it smells like you.” His hand repeats the soft strokes on my arm.
I’ve begged for him to come back, to have him near me again to keep me safe. I prayed to whatever there was out there that he would return safely, and now here he was and I was questioning whatthiswas. I knew how I felt, well what he told me he felt. But after he saw me at the ceremony, after he watched Samuel take every shred of who I was on that stone table, what did he feel now?
“Kameron?” I push back from him.
“Yes?”
I clear my throat, “Am I just apawnfor the mission?”
“Fucking Flores.” He mumbles under his breath, “You heard that?”
“Kind of hard not to when your voices are so loud.”
“Marcus has his own demons he’s working through, and he thinks that if he pushes everyone away, life won’t hurt him again.”
“So what he said isn’t true?”
