Page 52 of Down the Aisle
All I could do was brace myself to be the punching bag for his words and hands. I mean, why else would he look at me so angrily? I didn't even have it in me to think about what I possibly did to deserve this because it was probably everything. Maybe he finally snapped. People did that, and why would Adam be any different?
The way his peeled-back lip relaxed while his eyes boiled more and more with such seething vexation unnerved me because how could someone be so calm but so furious? Then, his voice was so controlled that it felt like some calm before the storm—worse, the eye of the storm itself.
Finally, his words… They felt like a stab to my face with how shocking they were to me.
"Who fucking did this to you?"
Chapter 18
Adam
Seconds stretched to minutes,then to hours. No, I wasn't being dramatic; it really was hours that Eliza spent in the bath.
I'd heard the front door open and saw her through the camera when she came home. Her little gleeful giggle and squeal from the bathroom didn't elude me either. I also might've snuck a peek here and there because I couldn't help myself. Then, I lost myself in my work for a while, and time kind of flew by. By the time three hours came and went with no signs of Eliza at my side, I grew a little worried.
Fearing she might've dozed off; I scrambled out of my seat to go check on her. She was fine when I last peeped at her. Granted, that was a long while ago…
Much to my relief, she wasn't floating in the bathtub. Unless she had, and this flustered person before me, with lingerie haphazardly donning her body, was the ghost of Eliza. I was about to leave her be, but something on her arm caught my observant eyes.
For a split second, I played it off as a trick of the light, but when I focused my attention on her arms, all of that went sky-high. Heat exploded in my chest, cascading in harsh waves over my body. The bomb of rage veiled my vision with red as instinct took over my actions. Some unknown force pulled my feet in her direction, causing the distance between us to close in the blink of an eye.
Before I could control myself, I watched my hands shoot out, wrapping around Eliza's forearms. Feeling her body go stiff as a statue under my unintentionally harsh grab was enough of a shock to my system for me to grasp my strings again. As much as I wanted to apologize and remove myself, I couldn't.
It was too late.
The way her eyes looked like they'd shatter into pieces when she looked up at me in utter fear nearly broke me, and it would've if I weren't so enraged and concerned.
Seeing the discolored lines scattered across her arms and feeling the roughness under my fingers set off some kind of dynamite of pure fury in me as my trembling eyes raked every inch of her scarred arms over and over. Most of the concentration of scars were on her forearms with only a few scattered higher up.
I was so torn. Half of me wanted to take her to bed, hold her tenderly in my arms while I kissed every one of her scars, and tell her how much I loved and adored her. The other half, the onethat won, wanted vengeance for her. She could be spoiled later. I wanted—no, needed—answers, now!
Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself together. I needed to be strong and calm for both of us. I'd already spooked her barging in the way I had, and I didn't want to trigger her into a panic attack.
After a few seconds, I felt the tension in my face ease with my controlled breaths. Even though my shoulders had relaxed, I could still feel a slight ache threatening to tighten them back up. With every heaving breath, I fought the suffocating grip around my chest—the one that demanded I take vengeance for my woman.
Once I thought I had a good cap on it, I spoke up. however, the brewing anger slipped from my tongue and spewed out of me like venom, and my voice turned deep and raspy with it.
"Who fucking did this to you?" My grip on her loosened slightly, and I slid my hands up to her shoulders, holding her comfortingly and longingly.
And I refused to let her slip away this time. Having seen the horrors done to her body, I wanted the name that belonged to the body I was going to carve up to match what had been done to my little rose. For every scar they inflicted on her body, I would double on theirs. Then, once I’d scored their body like some lump of meat to be marinated, I'd take them out to sea and make the sharks happy.
This wasn't a matter of if, either. It was only a matter of time.
I will get a fucking name from you, Eliza, one way or another.
But by God, I wanted to melt at her feet and apologize for being so demanding when her eyes teared up.
No! Stop it! No more!
I couldn't cave. Not this time.
Softening my gaze a little, I looked at her demandingly but also with concern. "Eliza,mia rosa, no more. You need to tell me. I have been more than patient with you, and I want to keep giving you the time you need, but if you're hiding something like this from me… I don't know if I can keep hanging back until you are ready. I mean, how long were you planning to wait before telling me? How long until you stop wearing long-sleeved shirts?"
Granted, I should've pushed the issue a little more. I mean, did I find it strange how she always wore long-sleeved tops? Maybe. But we were on the Oregon Coast, not like it was bustling hot or warm to the point where a lack of sleeves was needed.
Easing my grip, I slid my hands around her body, pulling her tightly against me. "Please, let me in, even if it's just a little, or at the very least, tell me who did this." Because I needed to kill the bastard; otherwise, I could forget about getting a good night's sleep any time soon. "Who hurt you?" I pleaded against her head with a kiss.
Eliza's body eased in my arms, and a soft weight pressed against me when she slumped and sobbed. "It was my ex, but I don't want to talk about him… Please… I just want to forget. I don't want to go back to that night." Her muffled words sobbed against my chest as her body shook like a scared bunny.
