“Look at that, would you, Kat? It seems there’s nothing to worry about. Eddie here likes it. Tell her you like getting your ass fucked, Eddie. Especially when it’s by me.”
“Your hand,” Kat exclaims.
Blood wets my hand as it gushes out of my flesh. I welcome the pain because while I hold onto it, I can’t open my heart to her begging or her tears. I don’t want to feel pity for Katelyn Shaw. Hate is all I allow myself to feel for her. It doesn’t matter that hating her is like hating myself. We are two beating halves of the same wounded heart because as much as I hate her, I despise myself more for never being able to forget her.
Chapter 9
Katelyn
I should be horrified at a knife handle sodomizing Eddie while it slices deep into the flesh of Heath’s palm. But all I can register is that he’s back. My Health is back. The eternal darkness that enshrouds my broken heart begins to flicker with the tiniest hint of light.
When I begged him to stop before he killed Eddie, it wasn’t because I cared if he lived or died, but because I didn’t want Heath to pay for my sins. Every choice I’ve made in the last decade was for Heath, except for marrying Eddie—that decision was for me. A choice I knew would forever keep me from Heath. He’ll never forgive me for it, but as long as he’s back, I don’t care.
I want to run to him, wrap my arms around him and press my body to his with such fierce force that even God couldn't tear us apart. The surface beneath my feet becomes quicksand, holding me at bay as I desperately try to reach him. Drops of crimson flow from Heath’s hand and hit the soft wheaten sand.
“Your hand, Heath. Stop, you’re hurting your hand.” My voice catches, emotions buried deep for five years rising to the surface.
He looks different, my Heath, yet still the same. His hair unruly, falling on his face, but that wild, carefree boy I knew is gone. The man who stands before me isn’t treading water, hoping he doesn’t drown. This Heath is sure of himself. He isn’t worried about those with power because he’s the one who wields it.
Eddie’s body is slumped, and his previously flaccid cock has risen.
“Maybe you should have made him your bitch, Kat. Seems like Eddie likes to be humiliated. Is that it, Eddie? You wanted to be fucked the way you’ve been fucking her?”
Eddie just grunts, his fingers digging in the sand. There’s no joy in watching him like this, humiliated and without control.
“Don’t turn away, Kat. Watch your precious husband. I want you to know what you chose. Was it worth it, Kat? Do you have the life you always dreamed of? A princess living in her castle.”
Heath’s words are laced with venom, each a bullet meant directly for my heart, to wound, maybe even to kill. He doesn’t know the hell I choose to live in to protect him, to shield him, to save him. I did him a favor by forcing him to leave five years ago. I saved his life, and if I had to make the same choice today, I’d do it again.
“I have a great life.”
Heath scoffs. “So great that you’re out here on the beach getting raped by your husband.”
If he only knew how much better life with Eddie is compared to what it would be like without him. Eddie might have issues, but at least he keeps it in check. When he’s sober, Eddie is sweet, kind even. But Heath won’t want to hear any of that. He won’t want to hear about the nightmare maze I’ve been navigating while he’s made a new life for himself and forgotten all about me. I wish I could do the same, but my heart cannot let go. The more time that passed, the more my heart longed for him. Longed to run on the shores with the only man who will ever own my heart.
“That’s enough, Heath. ENOUGH!”
Heath pulls the knife from Eddie’s behind and locks his eyes with mine. The piercing gaze that used to look right through me, that fell upon me with admiration and respect, now shows nothing but rancid hate.
“Just go. I don’t want you to get in any trouble. I’ll take him back to the house and clean him up.”
“Does he give you such great care after her rapes you, Katelyn?”
“He’s not a rapist,” I lie.
The reality is that Eddie is just that. He’s soured and become cruel over the years. The guy Heath knew is unrecognizable in the man Eddie is today.
“Listen, you don’t need to get arrested. Henry and Eddie can get you in a lot of trouble. As much as I hate it, men like them still run the island. They take what they want, do what they want, and no one ever will be able to stop them.”