Page 78 of Havoc
“When did it happen?”
“About a month in.” She surprises me by actually answering. “My father bargained with Titan when he first took us because Titan needed his help with somedocuments. He agreed to do what Titan asked so long as Titan didn’t touch me. That was enough for a while. Titan locked me in a room, and I was alone most of the time. But I’d barricade the door so I could sleep because I knew at any time things might change.”
My thumb continues to skate back and forth on her thigh. But I don’t move or speak because she might stop talking.
“Titan made good on his word and kept his distance for a few weeks.” Aimee sighs. “But then Titan’s men found the letters you wrote me at my dad’s house, and for some reason, my dad’s cooperation was no longer enough.”
“He got jealous?”
“Maybe. He got so angry at those letters that he started trying to convince me that I wanted to be there. He said my feelings for you were the problem and that he’dfix it.” She uses air quotes. “He stopped caring about my dad’s demands and decided that no one could tell him to stay away. That I was his. But when I tried to fight him on it…” She shakes her head. “That’s when he did this.”
Her fingers grip her shirt again.
“He figured if he broke me, I’d give in, so that’s what he did. He broke me, Levi. And after that, nothing mattered. I stopped fighting because he owned me, and he did what he wanted.”
“He raped you?”
I’ve spent weeks avoiding asking this question because I’m already on the verge of snapping. But now isn’t the time to be afraid. If she can face this conversation afterbeing the one who went through it, then I can be strong for her.
“I didn’t try to stop him.” A tear slips down Aimee’s cheek. “I should have tried to stop him.”
“That’s not consent.” I wipe her tear away.
Aimee nods, defeated.
“Did you choose to be there, Aimee?” I wipe away another tear. “Would he have let you leave if you asked?”
She shakes her head.
“Then that’s not consent. That’s abduction. Abuse. Rape. What happened to you is not okay, and it’s not your fault. You need to know that.” I don’t understand how my voice remains calm.
Inside, I’m steaming.
Raging.
A storm ready to rip everything apart.
“The things that happen at that clubhouse…” Aimee shivers, but it’s not cold with the blanket around us, so I know it’s not that. “If there is a hell, then it looks something like what happens there.”
“You’re here now,” I remind her.
Steely determination stirs in her eyes as her tears are replaced by anger. “Only because my father risked his life to get me out. I thought I lost him. I watched them shoot him, and I grieved his death. I’m not doing that again.”
“You won’t have to,” I promise.
“I appreciate the sentiment, and I’m sure you believe that, but if it comes down to it, I’ll do whatever it takes, Levi. You need to know that.” She meets me with a hard stare. “I owe him my life.”
“Your life isn’t up for negotiation.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m not saying I’ll just go willingly or that I won’t fight back this time. How do you think I ended up in that basement and not back at the compound?”
My eyebrows furrow. “How?”
“Just because Titan found me again didn’t mean I was the same girl he remembered. I fought back, Levi. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of breaking me again. He locked me in the basement, figuring that after enough time, I’d change my mind. Who knows, maybe if your club hadn’t shown up, I would have.”
“You wouldn’t have.”
“I wouldn’t,” she agrees with the slightest lift in the corner of her mouth—her shoulders lighter. “Well, that’s the whole story. Or most of it. I’ll leave the gory details to my nightmares if you don’t mind.”
