Page 112 of Isolation

This is too hard. I can’t do this with a sober mind. I turn around wordlessly and go back to my original search.

Milo follows me, confused by my movement during such a heavy talk.

I see a familiar spot and do a silent prayer. Kneeling on the hardwood, I use my knuckles to tap on the floorboard.

Milo bends down and gently grabs my arm to pull me up to standing.

“It’s not here,” he announces.

I openly gape at him.

“Raven, I raised three teenagers next to a near-abandoned house. It’s not rocket science. I know the owners. I have a spare key in case of emergencies. I inspect the place regularly.”

I still stare at him, feeling dumbfounded.

Of all the things he has ever done. Of all the shit he has pulled. The manipulation. The assaults. The bullshit excuses he keeps piling on top.

I have no idea why but, of all those things, this is the worst thing he has ever done to me.

It shouldn’t be; far from it.

Maybe I feel this way because Reid is gone. Maybe it’s because Mia knows more than I ever wanted her to. Maybe watching Tessa reminds me how none of us ever change.Maybe it’s because I miss the old Milo.

Or it might merely be the fact that I needed to numb myself, and Milo robbed me of that.

Maybe it’s a combination of it all.

But something in me snaps.

As I glare down at Milo, my pupils dilate. My breathing becomes ragged—my adrenaline spikes. My heartbeat picks up at an alarming rate.

Before Milo can react, I make a fist with my right hand, draw it back, and punch him right in his fucking poker face as hard as I can.

Holy shit!

“Ow. Fuck. Fuck,” I cry out. I cover my fist with my other hand, hunching over in pain.

I punched Milo square on the jaw, but Milo, the fucking hulk, has an iron jaw. I am pretty sure I broke my fist while his jaw remains impeccable.

“Damnit, Rave,” Milo puts his hands around my shoulders as I hold my fist to my chest. “Let me see. You probably broke a finger.”

“Get off me!” I shake him off, still holding my right hand tightly to my chest.

“Baby,” he says more gently as if trying to alleviate my descent into madness. “Just let me take a look at it. We might have to ice it.”

Thisis when the caring guardian I needed finally shows up? Not while he was fucking me as a teenager and didn’t have the decency to stop after I asked him to?

He cost us our chance. He lost himself. He cost me my innocent upbringing, and I will never get to have that back.

Andthisis the moment he chooses to care? He has even cost me my fucking sanity, and he doesn’t even know it.

So, insanity it is.

And insanity takes over.

Milo told me he loses all control with me. He fucked up our lives because “he lost it.”

Well!