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Which would keep me out of prison for murder.
Her plump lips are slightly parted as she softly breathes in and out. Her eyelids flutter as she dreams. Her perfect soft skin in complete contrast to my dark sheets. Her hair fans out around her.
I look at my watch and see it’s three in the morning. She has been out for a few hours now. Everything she went through today completely exhausted her.
Watching her mouth turn down, I instantly hate the sadness on her face. She starts to whimper in her sleep, her face scrunching up. Rory tosses and turns, and I jump up from the chair, heading toward the bed.
When I get there, I slowly climb in and hover over her. “Angel, wake up. Wake up, Rory.” I rub her face softly, trying to stir her. Her fists grip the sheets at her sides.
“No! Stop!” Her eyes fly open as a cry slips from her lips.
“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay. It’s just a bad dream.” I take hold of her hand and rub my thumb against her skin.
“Ow. Fuck, I hurt.” I can see her clenching her jaw as she squeezes her eyes shut.
“Yeah, I need to give you some more ibuprofen.”
“Is she okay?” Xayden runs into my room like the place is on fire. Seven is following close behind.
Rory stiffens beside me. Her eyes widen at the intrusion of Xay and Seven. I texted them as soon as I had her comfortable and asleep. They both came running back as soon as they heard she was beaten to hell.
Seven slowly walks up next to her. “We just want to make sure you’re okay.” Her eyes track him, but she doesn’t say anything. “We heard what happened.”
“You need to rest,” Xayden cuts in. “You can sleep here. Dekker is going to take the couch in my room.”
“No, I need to go.” She tries to push up, but her body is so sore, she grimaces as she tries to move.
“No, you don’t.” Xay levels a stare at her. “You will take some more pain meds and then get some sleep. Then in the morning, you can tell us what the fuck happened.”
“You fucking happened!” she spits as she grabs her side.
“Excuse me?” Xayden takes a step closer to her.
“You! You’re the reason this fucking happened! The reason everything has happened. And I didn’t ask for any of this.”
She bites her lip as she throws the blanket off of her, and I go to tell her to lie down, but her look instantly tells me that I need to let her do her thing. Or I’ll be in the line of fire next.
“What the fuck does that mean, Aurora?” Xayden takes another step closer to where she is standing on the side of the bed. Seven slowly backs away and moves around toward where I am standing.
“You three and those fucking cunts you use as your own personal pocket pussy have been making my life miserable. The three of you have allowed and given them the go ahead. You stood there when they pushed me or said shit to me. You let them bully me! Surprise, surprise, when they saw me outside the bar!”
“Wait, the girls did this to you?” I clench my fists. She doesn’t move her eyes from her stepbrother “Yes.”
“Fuck.” Seven says beside me.
“You’ve had an issue with me since the moment I got to this godforsaken state. I didn’t ask for this!” Tears start to fall from her eyes. “I lost everything. My dad left me when he died, my mom left me for your dad. You, you left me standing on that sidewalk the day we moved in.
“I have had to keep my own head above water just so I can try and survive. All I am trying to do is get out of here. Not bother a soul, just keep my head down and enjoy the shitty hand I was dealt. I didn’t mean to intrude on you and your dad, and if I could have, I would have stayed in Vegas.
“Alone. Because at least there, I’m alone without all the shit you have done. So, fuck you, Xayden. Fuck you.” Her eyes don’t waver from his.
Xayden doesn’t say anything, but I see the moment he snaps. His control, his bullshit reason for wanting to hurt her. I see the moment he gives in to how he feels.
In a flash, he has her pushed up against my wall with his hand around her throat.
She lets out a yelp as her back hits the wall.
“You think I hate you, Princess?” His voice is raspy, and I can see her eyes widen at his question. “You think anything I did was out of hate?”