He looked at his watch. “You’ve been asleep for 36 hours now. You slept through the entire day, then most of the next one.”
“S hut up.” I thought he was playing a trick on me.
“It’s true, solnishko,” Adrik said as he kissed my cheek. He looked at me, brushing my hair from my face. He still had a look of concern on his face.
“What was in those painkillers?” I said scratching my head. They all laughed at me,
Misha asked, “are you still hungry? You said you were starving in the hospital. I promised to get you food once we got back here, but then you passed out for a day and a half.”
I thought for a minute. I really wasn’t hungry. My stomach did not feel right. I must’ve made a funny face, thinking about not wanting to eat, because Misha laughed. “I’ve never seen you turn down food before. What was in those painkillers??”
Ivan had gotten up to go the kitchen. He came back with water for me. He handed it to me and said, “start with this first. If you can handle water, then you’ll be able to eat soon. If water is too much, then you need to wait a little longer for the drugs to leave your system.”
“Thank you, Ivan.” I took the glass and took a sip. Okay, I was really thirsty. I took a big gulp and Adrik pulled the glass from my lips.
“Easy, love. Go slow or you’ll definitely p uke it up.”
I pushed my bottom lip out but didn’t fight him on it. I hated to p uke, so I would do whatever was needed to avoid that.
“Can you remember what happened, princess?” Ivan asked me.
I thought for a moment. I nodded my head. “Mostly, I think. We had just left the hotel and Mr. Turner. There were lots of people on the sidewalk like all at once. I remember Misha glanced at me and then the next thing I knew he was going one way and I was going the other. I hit the ground hard, but so did the guy that jumped on me. He kind of faltered and his grip on me loosened. I flipped him off me, like Viktor taught me. As I was getting up, I saw Misha get free from the guy that was on him. I remember being really pi ssed. I jumped on the guy and started hitting him. There was something familiar about it that I still can’t place. Misha pulled me off him and you guys know the rest.”
“Familiar how?” Viktor asked. “Familiar in how he acted? How he smelled? How he sounded?”
I thought back to the guy. “He didn’t look like he was entirely with it when he attacked me. Like, it was too easy for me to get him off me.”
Misha sat up. “I had the same thought. When I got the guy off me the first time and he came back for more, he looked like he was unsteady. Like he was high.”
Ivan said, “if they were high, that would explain why neither one of them has woken up yet.”
My eyes went wide. “That’s what it was! My uncle used to have the same look when he was high on pills and would beat the s hit out of me!” I realized too late what I had just said in front of all of them, my hand flying to cover my mouth. Adrik knew, of course, but none of the guys knew about that yet.
Sephie
They all looked at me, then looked quickly to Adrik. He nodded and pulled me closer. “You can show them, solnishko. They won’t look at you differently either,” he whispered to me.
I slowly stood up and raised my shirt up high enough that they could see most of my scars. I heard a few of them inhale sharply. I dropped my shirt and sat down next to Adrik again. He wrapped his arm around me again, pulling me to his side.
I took a deep breath and gave them the abbreviated version. “I was sent to live with my uncle when my m om died, as he was my only family, and I was only 15. He had a drinking problem that later turned into a pill problem. He started to beat me when he started on the pills. I would leave the house for hours when I knew he was high, waiting for him to pass out. That’s how I started running. Sometimes he wouldn’t be passed out when I got back, and he would catch me and beat me. Most of the time it was just his fists and he’d kick me, but the last night he used a whip on me.”
Andrei asked, “how did you get away?”
“I had found that apartment I was in when I met you guys and I was slowly taking my stuff there, planning to just never go back one day. Ms. Jackson had befriended me in that process. Earlier that day, she had seen fresh bruises from the latest beating, and she gave me a pocketknife. It was in my pocket when he had exhausted himself from beating me with the whip. He came back to kick me, and I grabbed his foot and sliced his Achilles tendon so he couldn’t come after me. I stole his car and d rove to the apartment. Ms. Jackson stitched me up and helped me out. She sold the car while I was sleeping so he couldn’t find me.” I said, smiling at the thought of her helping me.
They were silent for a minute. Ivan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “So, about this bingo that she needs a date for…?”
I laughed. “That’s why she means so much to me. I owe her a lot.”
Viktor said, “she can take each of us to bingo every night of the week if she wishes.”
“Where is your uncle now? What happened to him? Can we k ill him?” Misha asked.
I smiled at him, getting his wide smile and a wink in return. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since that night.”
“We can find him. We will gladly find him,” Stephen said. “I can pick him off from a rooftop somewhere. No one will ever know.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.