Page 42 of Heartless Heathens

“Mina,” he called out to her, his arms spread wide over the back of the sofa casually.

She turned on her heels to face him, still wrapped in the towel and nothing else.

“Come sit with me.” He reached his hand out and she pranced to him.

He winked at me proudly and scooped her up into his lap before nuzzling his nose into her neck. “You smell so good,” he whispered just barely loud enough for me to hear.

I turned back into the shower to wash myself, turning the temperature to a scalding hot. The steam quickly filled the room, and I breathed away the weight that had been searing into me.

That couldn't happen again.

I’d figure this all out soon enough.

I brought my fingers to my mouth, savoring the lingering taste of her blood and cunt still on my skin.

Fuck.

I was the last person who needed this distraction.

Once I got out of the shower I slipped on some sweatpants and a black t-shirt, grabbing an extra one for our guest. Well, if she was here first, I guess we were the guests. I entered the living room to see her sitting on Felix’s lap, her head on his chest and her eyes closed.

“I went through that iPad she had up in that attic,” I told Felix and his eyes glanced away from the TV screen to give me his attention.

“And?”

“It’s restricted in every way possible. Parental blocks, flags on thousands of keywords, no access to social media, blogs, or anything with any form of news. There were only a few basic learning apps installed but aside from some crossword puzzles and sudoku there was nothing in there,” I told him, exhaling heavily.

“I told you she wasn’t working for him,” Felix said, sounding annoyed. “I don’t even like thinking about the fact she could have been up there her whole life. It’s so wrong.”

“It’s Claüde Fucking Frollo,” I reminded him.

Ihadrestedmyhead just for a moment onto Felix’s chest while he watched something too colorful and flashy on his giant television. I didn’t even mean to fall asleep, but I did. I woke up to the smell of something salty and greasy in the air, my stomach growling loud enough to wake me up from a foggy dream.

“Hungry?” Felix asked still beneath me, and I nodded, looking over to see Sonny at the stove preparing a meal. “Go on.” He nudged me.

I cautiously made my way to where the stools were tucked under the black marble counter.

I was no longer in the towel but wearing an oversized black shirt, the breeze between my legs letting me know that wasallI had been wearing.

I had every right to be unsure around him. He knew it, I knew it. Every experience with Sonny seemed to be borderline terrifying. It was religious, in the way that it always left me afraid of a higher power. Because if God was watching, he’d turned his cheek away with every thrust of his fingers.

And worse yet.

What did it mean that I enjoyed it?

When he asked me if I wanted him to stop, I couldn’t answer because I couldn’t lie. The archbishop had beaten anything but the truth out of me.

I couldn’t tell if Sonny liked hurting me more than I relished the feeling of the pain.

I’d spent so long wondering if I was even alive, if I’d ever be anything more than someone else’s secret. I thought for sure that I’d die in that belltower and there would be no one who would know me or recognize my bones, let alone mourn my story.

His lips made that awkward flat line like he could read my thoughts and was trying to hide his amusement from me. He pushed a plate my way and handed me a fork. “Eat,” he said, shoving an identical plate towards Felix as well.

I sat down, eventually Corvin rolled into the room as well, saying nothing and barely sparing me a glance before taking a plate from Sonny and sitting down an entire stool away from me. Eventually Sonny made his way around the island and sat on the empty stool next to me and we all quietly made quick work of our individual meals.

“What is this?” I asked him, holding up the little brown wavy stick, loving the way the salty taste and crispy texture rolled over my tongue.

“You’ve never had bacon before?” Corvin asked, sounding more annoyed at me then surprised.