Page 112 of Broken by my Bully

“Let me go,” I say, pushing against his chest.

“Not until your ass is in a chair at the sheriff’s office.”

His words put a lump in my stomach. “What?”

He drags our bodies flush, eyes hunting for something in mine. “Youwillreport this.”

I knock his hand away. “Fuck you.”

He stares at me like I’ve lost my fucking mind. Joke’s on him, because that happened a long time ago. “Haven, you’ve been assaulted?—“

“I told you, I had it coming!” I dust myself off, taking another step back in case he tries to grab me again. “I’ll be back at classes next week, once the bruises have gone away. I’m a fast healer.”

We stand just like that, two feet away, both our hands clenched into fists like we’re contemplating going around to see who wins this argument.

Then he slumps, eyes dropping to the floor between us. He pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing. “Christ, I should have stuck to private practice.”

“Yeah, maybe you should have.”

He turns his head, studying me out of the corner of his eye.

There it is again. That flash of annoyance and curiosity instantly hidden behind a calmmask.

“You know what I find most interesting about you, Miss Lee?”

“I’m all ears, Professor,” I say sourly.

My tone doesn’t seem to affect him in the slightest. He brushes away my hair, openly studying the marks Kai’s brutal grip had left on my throat.

“How you keep willingly putting yourself in harm’s way.” His voice drops to a deep rasp. “First him, then me.”

Air stops moving in and out of my lungs like it’s frozen in place. I blink at Bastian, replaying his words, trying to figure out if I heard him wrong.

…first him, then me…

“What—”

He speaks right over me. “Fine, Miss Lee. You’re so adamant you deserve this, who the fuck am I to crash your pity party?”

That puts a lump in my throat, but I swallow it down with force. “I’m glad we have an understanding.”

“It’s a free world.” He shrugs, scanning me with dead eyes, like I didn’t just take the fight out of him, but the life too. “People should be able to strangle anyone they want, right? With enoughprovocation?”

“Okay, yeah,” I mutter, pursing my lips, nodding as I cross my arms tight over my chest. “Figured you wouldn’t understand.”

I charge for the front door. Professor Rooke turns to watch, but he stays where he is, simply raising his voice to reach me.

“Is that all he did, Haven?”

My feet are rooted to the spot. I stare at Bastian over my shoulder. “What?”

“The shower would have washed most of the evidence away, but you can still do a rape kit. He could serve time.”

“He didn’t—“ I cut off, swallowing hard when I realize he’s baiting me.

Fuckingasshole.

“I’m not a victim,” I say through gritted teeth. “There was nocrime.”