Page 114 of Injustice and Absolution

I feel something tug on my hair, and my watery gaze is forced on Drew again. He’s on his haunches next to me. His boots in front of my face.

“Delilah... I’ve been telling you almost since the moment we met. You. Are. Mine. I decide what you will and won’t do.”

That’s not what I thought he meant when he said it in the past. Clearly, I’ve been mistaken by his words and their meaning several times over the past few months.

He lets go of my hair and stands up.

“Get yourself together and up on the sofa. What I tell you next is going to beveryimportant. I don’t want you missing any part of it.”

He walks back to his desk, turning off the loud fan as he goes, and I contemplate never moving from this spot. But I know he’ll force me onto that sofa if I don’t go on my own. The last thing I want is for him to put his hands on me again.

Wiping my tears, I sit up and pull myself onto the sofa. Sniffling, I keep my face toward the wall so I don’t have to look at him while I wait.

For several agonizing minutes, I listen to him open and close his desk drawers and shuffle through papers, wondering what other bombs he could possibly have to drop on me.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

DELILAH

The wood from Drew’s desk drawer slams shut, startling my already quivering form.

“You know, Delilah, I didn’t want to have to resort to this.”

I don’t turn in his direction. I couldn’t possibly meet his eyes.

“Things were going so well. Since the beginning, I would steer you in the direction I needed you to go. When your stubbornness got in my way, all I’d have to do was show you an ounce of affection to make you pliable.”

Hearing my own revelation on his tongue causes my self-hatred to spread through me like wildfire.

My tears have slowed, but there’s no stopping them at this point. His betrayal sinks into the pit of my soul and desiccates me from the inside out.

And I don’t know if I’m more disgusted with Drew or with myself for being so fucking stupid.

“A passionate kiss. A perfectly timed compliment. A lover's touch. Anything like that and you’d cater to my every demand. You should be thanking me for cracking the hardened shell you were locked inside of when I first met you. Look at how you’ve flourished since then.”

He’s delusional, but he really has made me feel as though I’ve been empowering myself ever since he got his claws in me. It’s hard not to be thankful to him for making mefeelthat way, even after learning those feelings are false.

Think about what you just said… And you thinkhe’sdelusional?

I hear Drew’s footsteps come to a halt in front of the sofa, but I still can’t look at him. I can’t allow him to see how badly I’m hurting.

Physically.

Emotionally.

I can’t stand the thought of showing him the pain he’s caused me.

“But I’m growing tired of the process. I’m ready for results.”

His hand comes into my view, and I loathe how my body begins to melt into the gentle way he caresses my chin with his index finger.

Taking a deep breath, I give in and finally meet his stare. The Drew I've come to know and … love … isn’t the one who’s looking back at me.

He grabs one of the chairs sitting in front of his desk, turns it around, then takes a seat. My eyes leave his and land on the manilla folder in his hands.

Before I can ask what’s in it, he speaks again. “You’re my pretty girl, Delilah. And you’re going to make me a lot of money. Do you know why?”

For the first time, hearing Drew call me hispretty girlmakes me want to throw up rather than bring me any amount of joy. My face droops, and I turn my gaze to the floor.

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