Page 88 of Tempt Me

I watched my fiancé with unease. He was very heated by the media and this murderer. His skin practically smoked with his anger.

I positioned my body to protect Xavier in case Ferdinand’s hands wandered in his rage. I was used to him using me as his literal punching bag when he was upset.

“I’m not sure, Ferdinand,” I said, trying to put a calming infusion into my tone.

It was the way I spoke to Xavier. Ferdinand either didn’t notice or gave a fuck that I had tears staining my cheeks and my makeup was smeared all over my face. Either way, he was too upset with the stupid ass news.

“It is very classless to kill in a graveyard. I mean, hypothetically, why would a killer choose to eliminate the steps of cleanup? Do they not enjoy the hunt? The blood?”

I swallowed loudly. I felt uncomfortable. Ferdinand was always a huge crime junkie with podcasts and TV shows, but he never spoke this way…like he was angry at the killer not for killing but for being less cunning about ‘the how’s’ than he would be.

“I need to get Xavier back to sleep. Can I meet you in the lobby? That woman was his mother, who died in the graveyard. It’s rude to talk about her like she is just some random fucking stranger.”

I bit my tongue, setting Xavier down in the crib while hearing Ferdinand walk over to me. I barely turned around before his backhand knocked me into the crib and disturbed the calm baby inside. I kept my eyes down on the tiled floor. Ferdinand turned his wrath onto me.

“How dare you speak to me like that. You curse at your husband? What mouth are you using? That is the mouth of a whore, not my wife.”

I let the blood drip into the grooved tiles. I barely felt the burn.

Ferdinand yanked me from the ground and held me by the crook of my elbow, throwing me over a medical cart. I tried to keep my breathing even, resisting the urge to speak because he was past the point of listening to anything I had to say.

He yanked my pants down, and the cold feeling of the metal cart bit into my legs. He wasn’t gentle, and there was no warm-up for the invasion. I could hear Xavier crying in the background, his little ears startled by the sounds of objects falling to the ground from Ferdinand’s cruelty. I found myself looking over to the door, watching my reflection as I was thrown back and forth.

Through my tears, I sang softly. I told myself it was for Xavier, but it was for me too. The beautiful lyrics of “Tennessee Whiskey” gave me a sense of calm, allowing me to succumb to the numbness and wait for Ferdinand to use me to his own end.

His anger was worse than it had ever been. I could feel the heat of the blood dripping down my thighs, and that internal burn made me feel like I was on fire. I kept singing. My body was shaking, and my soul was breaking.

Where was the hospital staff? Couldn’t they hear this? Please, someone save Xavier…someone save me.

The brutality continued, and I was no longer numb. This was an inferno. I tried to adjust, attempting to get away from him. He punched my spine, and I fell forward. The shock of the new pain made me focus on that rather than the burning inside me.

Desperate for an escape, I attempted once again to get up. This time, Ferdinand threw me onto the ground and flipped me over, slamming into my body using the blood as a lubricant.

At least it wasn’t as dry.

“Please…Stop.” I heard the whispered plea and barely recognized my own voice.

“Shut the fuck up, you dirty, disappointing whore. You are only good for one thing, but you fail me even in this area.” He laughed, and the sound was cruel. His eyes sparkled with that dark humor inside him as he leaned into me and gripped my cheeks. “Then I will simply have to kill you, Fallon.”

He let go of my face, and my head bounced off the hard-tiled ground. I felt dizzy, black spots replacing his brutal smile. I needed to shut up, so he left Xavier alone. If I could just be quiet, he would be finished soon.

Thirty Three

Shatter: Break suddenly and violently into pieces.

Will I be able to put her back together?

The hospital noise was deafening. So many beeping monitors, screeching patients, and gossiping nurses made this place more like a zoo than a medical facility. I was nearly free of the hell hole when I heard a crash above my head.

A zoo indeed, for fuck’s sake.

Xenia appeared in front of me. Her face was fearful. She held out her hands, stopping my exit.

“Xenia, my love, what are you doing?”

Xeny shook her head and pointed behind me. “Go, Daddy. They need you.”

I sighed, shaking my head. My daughter had the best intentions at heart trying to play matchmaker, but I was nothing to either of them. With me around, they would always be one step inside the reaper’s arms.

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