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“You can hide from everyone in the world, but not from us. We are yours, Hope, just as much as you are ours!”
Tears brim her eyes as Knox traces the carved lines in her chest. The crooked initials we put there that night. My mouth waters as I rub the tattoos on my chest. I thought she would notice once she saw me without clothes. The initials tattooed there are her initials.
Because I am marked as hers like she is marked as mine.
“I never wanted them,” she cries, but Knox won’t release her, forcing her to stare at them, at us.
“It’s a promise, one that says you can never get rid of us,” Dimitri says.
“It doesn’t matter where you go, Hope. We’ll always find you,” I say and stand on her other side, skimming my fingers over her heated skin. “Give in, sweetheart. Accept what you are.”
“I–I–I can’t,” she whispers.
“We won’t let you fall,” Dimitri says and gently wipes away a stray tear.
“You’ve hurt me,” she whimpers.
“And it will never be enough,” Knox grunts. “Say it, Hope. No more lies.”
“Look how perfect,” I start and catch her gaze through the mirror. Her breath hitches as my mouth turns up into a knowing grin. “The tears, the panting, broken, destroyed, and we want to see even more.”
“We’ve played nice, but our patience is thinning. We’ll take what belongs to us.” Knox groans.
Twenty-four
HOPE
Ican still feel their touch on me and it’s erasing all the boundaries, all the bad.
I should be freaked out by what Jared did, and I am. But not mostly at what he tried, more from the cameras in my place.
When did he do all that? And why?
He watched me do… everything.
How could he watch me at night and then come into work the next day smiling at me like everything was fine? Like he wasn’t stalking me! He lied to my face so much, but even when I think back to all of our old conversations, I can’t spot any red flags that could’ve warned me of his true intentions.
He tricked me that well. He tricked everyone.
A chill races up my spine and I shake my head. The disgust lingers in the back of my throat. Should I search for more or trust the guys that they’ve got everything?
My breath catches as I realize the meaning of that. Trust.
Shit, since when did we get there?
Was it when they stood between me and my dad, when Knox pulled Jared off me, or when they protected me further?
Perhaps they changed on some level, matured. They will always remain the asses I know, but it has been all talk.
A touch here, a touch there, but nothing that comes close to that night.
Are they waiting? Waiting for me to say… yes?
I wait for the same disgust I felt earlier, but it stays hidden. I barely know how I feel because everything is so confusing. So unexpected. I thought they would take what they wanted by now like the others, but all they have done is get close to me.
So close.
All that replays in my head is the way I fit between them, their tall, broad bodies glued to my side and somehow, their touch was soft but also demanding. Or a warning of what’s to come.