Page 135 of Forgive Me Father

I clamp my mouth shut as my father speaks to someone on the phone, putting it on speaker.

Luca leans in, his breath hot against my ear.

“Extra motivation for lover boy.”

The terror is suffocating. Luca’s fingers invade me, making the screams erupt from my throat, raw and unrestrained. His intrusion is a violation that amplifies my dread and helplessness.

I cry until I can’t cry anymore, the agony relentless as his fingers continue their assault.

“He needs to hear her voice,” Kevin whispers. “Stop what you’re doing.”

Luca’s hand remains over my mouth as he reluctantly pulls his fingers away, my body trembling from the trauma.

“Speak up, bitch,” My father demands, holding the phone near my mouth.

Luca removes his hand, pressing the gun to the side of my head, his fingers still tainted with my scent.

“R-Roman?” I choke out, staring up at the men looming over me.

“Eden?” His voice, a lifeline in the darkness, reaches me.

It’s him.

It’s really him.

“Are you okay—”

“Roman, I don’t want to be here,” I sob, my voice breaking. “Please—”

A sharp slap stings my face as my father strikes me, silencing my pleas.

“Time to go back to sleep,” Luca hisses, his voice a cruel promise. “When you wake, you’ll be mine, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

As my father and Kevin walk away, taunting Roman on the phone, Luca forces me back into the cage. He jabs a syringe into my leg, pushing the plunger down with a cruel finality.

My vision blurs, dark spots clouding my sight, my body growing increasingly heavy and unresponsive.

“Goodnight, Angel,” Luca scoffs. “That’s the last time you’re hearing Roman’s voice.”

Laying down, the pain throbs through me, each heartbeat a reminder of my helplessness. My eyes struggle to stay open as I cling to the fading echo of Roman’s voice, my last tether to hope.

All light has dimmed.

God has once again rejected my prayers.

Chapter 38

Eden

Ialways wondered how my mother felt, lying on that cold floor, a handful of xanax in her hand and a bottle of wine to wash it down.

Dazed and confused, I had always assumed she was trying to numb the pain.

Pain from her failed marriage.

Pain from her failure to be a mother to Aiden and me for most of our lives.

Pain was all she knew.