I no longer see the bright sky outside, or my guys playing paintball below me as my vision swims, the badass bitch who shot my fake uncle gone as terror fills me. I don’t know why Julian makes me feel this way, what sway he has over me, but I can’t fight him, my head screaming at me to do something, anything, but my body just freezes further. It’s like my subconscious recognises the predator within him, the danger that he possesses, and thinks that if I only stay still and quiet, he’ll go away.
“Are you okay, miss?” a concerned voice asks, snapping me out of my panic enough to take in a deep breath, sweet air filling my empty lungs once more. Julian’s hands tighten on my neck.
“Y–yes,” I manage to stammer out. The young guy, the one I ordered from at the bar, flicks his gaze up to Julian, then back down to me.
“If you need anything else, I’ll be right over there. Okay?” he questions, his eyes trying to give me a message that I appreciate but just can’t respond to. Not verbally anyway. I dart a look behind him to my guys below, then look back at him, hoping that he may get the message to somehow get my guys up here.
“Thank you,” I reply softly.
“That’ll be all,” Julian says over the top of me, his voice hard and cold. One of his hands leaves my neck, and I breathe slightly easier. His hand appears over the top of my head, a folded wad of notes held between his fingers. “My daughter and I would like some privacy.”
The young man’s eyes widen, looking at Julian's outstretched hand and then back down to me. He must see the sheer terror in mine because he hesitates a moment.
“Now,” Julian snaps out, and the boy visibly flinches, his hand shooting out and grabbing the notes. He scurries away after that, and trembles take over my body when I hear the guy’s steps echoing down the metal stairs. “Alone at last,darling.”
I hear the slight creak of his leather shoes as he crouches behind me, seconds before his breath whispers against my ear, and I can’t stop the shudder of revulsion that I feel with his nearness.
“Did you enjoy your little visit back home?” he murmurs in my ear, his fingers playing with the neckline of my dress. “I must say, you seemed to enjoy the nights when Adrian joined you, thrashing under his touch like the wanton whore your mother was.”
My lips wobble, and a hot tear burns a path down my cheek at his words. It's all I can do not to vomit all over the floor, knowing that he witnessed my abuse and knows what happened more than I do. But I hold it in, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a reaction. I bite my lower lip, tasting copper. He growls, his nails digging into the flesh just under my neckline, and I whimper, inwardly cursing the sound of weakness as it falls from my lips.
“It’s a shame that he didn’t have sound on the feed, but I still gripped my cock as I watched you shatter around his fingers, darling—”
“Father!”
Relief floods me as I turn at the sound of my husband’s voice, his tone sharp and cutting as he strides across the room, his face full of rage. Julian gets up from his crouch unhurried, his fingers leaving one last caress that lingers on my skin like an acid burn.
“Son,” he replies, with no hint of shame or anger in his tone at being interrupted accosting his son’s wife. “I came to tell you about the board meeting next week.”
“And you needed to tell me in person?” Ash replies, coming to a stop right in front of me and crouching down.
His steel-coloured eyes lock with mine, dismissing Julian completely as he takes in my trembling state. One hand still holds his paintball gun, and the other reaches out and grasps my cheek, his thumb brushing away the wetness there. His eyes narrow, the vein on his neck bulging, and he looks back up at Julian with murder in his eyes.
“Email me the details, and I’ll make sure we are there,” he states coldly, quickly looking back down to me and dismissing his father once again. That must really piss Julian off, and I almost smile at the thought, then remember what Julian said, and my head dips, heat burning my cheeks as tears fill my eyes. “Anything else?” I hear Ash ask.
“I’ve said all that needed to be said,” Julian states back, and I know that his words are aimed at me, his words hitting their target as I want to curl into a little ball and break down. Vaguely, I hear Julian’s footsteps as he walks away, the sound getting quieter when he gets further away from us.
More footsteps rush towards us moments later, and I tense up, only to relax when Loki speaks.
“Why the fuck was your father here?” he asks. “Lilly?”
“What happened, darling?” Kai questions, and I flinch, a sob tearing from my throat at that nickname. It’s tainted now. I can only associate it with that vile man.
“Don’t call me that,” I mumble quietly, my voice thick and muffled. I lift my head and stare directly into amber eyes full of worry and concern. “Never call me that again.”
“I–I’m sorry, love,” he replies, hurt flashing in his eyes, his hand reaching out and stroking the cheek that Ash isn’t still cupping.
“What. The. Fuck. Did. He. Do?” Jax snarls, each word bitten out like he’s struggling to contain his rage, and my gaze finds his eyes flashing blue, his neck thickly corded, and his hands clenching and unclenching around his gun as if he’s considering using it on Julian.
“Take me home, Jax,” I plead, tears rushing to my eyes, and Jax doesn’t hesitate, throwing his gun at Loki and pushing the others aside to pick me up. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I bury my face into it, shutting my eyes as sobs threaten to overwhelm me.
Jax holds me steady as he strides down the steps, his boots loud on the metal. I hear the others following behind us and then Ash’s voice.
“Thank you for coming to get me,” he says, and I look over Jax’s shoulder to see the young guy from earlier looking after me with concern.
“She looked like she needed help,” I catch him saying just before Jax walks out of the door and into the bright sunshine.
The warmth of its rays doesn’t touch me, shivers wracking my body as we head towards Jax’s truck. Without missing a beat, or letting me go, Jax gets the keys from somewhere and tosses them to Kai, the truck unlocking with a click.