“I know you are, but your strength gives me hope. Don’t make me doubt it. I need it to keep going.” His voice was somber, pleading.
“Okay. I’ll try.”
“That’s all any of us can do.”
We fell into a comfortable silence, listening to the music and watching as guests staggered past, high and lit. I kept my hand in his, forming some sort of bond that I hoped strengthened the both of us.
After a brief respite where we were simply able to exist, someone laughed raucously and stumbled down the hall in our direction. I recognized the voice—Red. I tensed and tried to shrink into the alcove.
“What is it?” Gavin dropped my hand and put a steadying palm on my thigh.
“Red,” I whispered.
The steps came closer. I shivered.
“Oh, fuck. That guy?”
“That guy.” If he noticed me, I wasn’t sure if we could avoid an even worse confrontation.
Gavin looked down the hall and then back at me. “Trust me?”
I nodded. Then his lips were on mine, his body crushing into me and shielding me from the hallway. His eyes slowly closed as he slanted his mouth more, covering my face so that all Red would be able to see was Gavin’s dark hair.
I’d frozen at Red’s voice, but Gavin’s body heat tried to thaw me. He rested one hand at my waist and planted his mouth on mine. He didn’t seek entry with his tongue, just kept himself poised over my lips. Red’s voice grew closer, and I closed my eyes, praying he wouldn’t see me.
Red bellowed a string of profanities. He was so close it startled me and I opened my mouth. Gavin took the small chance I gave him and lightly darted his tongue inside, teasing along the tip of mine. He tasted like vodka and some sweet mixer. I gripped the lapel of his jacket as his hand slid up my bare thigh.
“Well look at this shit.” Red’s voice. “We got Acquisitions fucking each other now?”
Damn. Gavin broke the kiss, his brow creased, before pulling away from me.
“You horning in on Sin’s little cunt here?” Red swayed and leaned against the wall opposite us, his head almost bumping into an ornate sconce.
“Fuck you.” I stood and stared him down.
He leered at me. “Wait ‘til Christmas, little cunt, then I’m going to be balls deep in your ass while you scream for me to stop.”
Rage lit me from the inside out and before I knew what I was doing, I’d slapped him, leaving an angry red handprint along his cheek.
“You fucking—” He lunged for me, his eyes wide with wrath. His hands were at my throat, pressing the metal of the necklace into my skin as he constricted my airway. I clawed at his wrists, drawing blood and wanting to do much, much worse.
Gavin yanked him off me, but I wasn’t finished. While Gavin was pulling Red backward, I walked up and kneed him right in the crotch with every ounce of anger I had. Red yowled and bent over. Gavin released him and held his hands up as if he’d just touched something filthy.
“You fucking bitch, you fucking bitch.” Red kept saying the same thing over and over with wheezing breaths as he cupped his balls and stared up at me from his hunched position.
Gavin came back to my side. “Stella, we need to go—”
I couldn’t look anywhere but at Red. The desire to inflict more pain blotted out any thought about Acquisitions or trials or who was watching or consequences. “You are never going to touch me, you sick fuck! You got that?” I seethed with hate, and pulled my hand back to strike him again, but Gavin gripped my forearm.
“Don’t.”
“That’s right, bitch. Don’t.” Red was trying to stand up straight, but kept clutching his crotch. “I’ll get you back. Don’t worry. In a few weeks, I’m going to fuck every hole you got. And there’s not a fucking thing you can do about it, you stupid cunt. Merry Christmas to me.” He laughed in a high-pitched cough.
I struggled against Gavin’s hold, desperate to hurt Red, to make him feel even an ounce of the pain I’d already endured.
“Gavin?” A voice floated down the hall. “Gavin, where are you?”
“Shit. It’s Bob.” Gavin pulled me next to him and forced me to turn my back on Red and walk away.
Red was still laughing. “Oh, I’m going to have a good time with you Stella. Such a good time. Can’t wait to see you at the Christmas trial. Come hungry.”
Gavin kept leading me away even though I wished I could go toe to toe with Red and win. I wouldn’t. He would beat me. And worse, I feared his words were true. There was nothing I could do about the Christmas trial, no way to pull myself back from the brink. Red would capitalize on it, make me hurt in ways I never had before. He would always have the last laugh, just like everyone here. Even so, I still held onto the slim hope that I could somehow stop it.