Page 33

HOPE
Theysaved me.
Theysavedme.
They savedme.
Three words with too much weight for me to bear. I wanted them to come, but deep down, I never thought it would happen. But they did. They came.
For me.
The realization is difficult. Complex.
I can’t let them go. I can’t even let Jaxon’s freaking shirt loose, but he doesn’t seem to mind. I’m glued to him, afraid if I even let the cotton fabric slip, I’ll be back with my father. It’s stupid. I know it’s stupid. I know this is real. It’s different from the fantasies I’ve had about them. That doesn’t mean it’s good.
But safety, I need it. I can’t live without it anymore.
Even if it is with… them.
“What the…” Knox mutters and walks to the corner of the room.
“Camera,” I whisper, not sure they can even hear it. My throat aches, talking burns. Every breath is agony that I cling to. The fact it hurts means I’m alive.
Dimitri clears his throat. “We found a… website. He was recording his… also with your mom.”
I swallow and whimper from the soreness in my throat. “I know, he told me before he…” My gaze drifts to the table and I sigh. “I think he… he did something to her.”
The sound of a crash behind me makes me flinch and I turn in Jaxon’s hold, watching how Knox stomps down on the camera, shattering it to tiny bits. He rubs his boot down and scoffs. “It was still recording.”
“Sick fuck,” Jaxon breathes.
“What’s this?” Knox asks as he holds up a black cord that runs to the kitchen. Dimitri moves quickly, following it, and comes back with a laptop.
“It was a live feed,” he grits and tosses the laptop on the remnants of the dining table. Again, I wince from the impact andthe deafening sound. I try to blink away the tension that curls up in my stomach.
“Did you see it?” I whisper and Dimitri meets my eyes. A storm brews in his own and he swallows thickly.
I already know the answer. “Someone called… him… he knew you were coming,” I add and Jaxon tightens his grip on me.
“Where’s his phone?” Knox asks and scans around.
Dimitri groans. “It was probably my dad, he was the only one who knew.” He shrugs and wrings his hands together.
I notice his hands then. The blood on his shirt. I blink a few times and focus on it. It’s a better thing to think about. Better than wondering what they saw. Better than thinking about what happened at this table, how naked I am, how… no. Just Dimitri’s hands. How he’s going to be able to play with them like that.
“You got hurt,” I mumble as I stare at the cuts and bruises on his knuckles.
“Oh sweetheart, you should’ve seen him. It was beautiful,” Jaxon gushes while earning an eyeroll from Dimitri.
“Oh,” is all I manage to say as Knox strolls past Dimitri with a phone in his hands.
“Is this your dad’s number?” Knox asks as he holds my dad’s phone in front of Dimitri. Dimitri’s brows crease, his lips move as he reads the numbers, then he shakes his head.
“No, it’s not even the right area code.”
“Then who called him?” Jaxon asks, and my mind spins from it all, drowning their conversation.
“I want to get cleaned up,” I whisper and silence drops.