Page 98 of Don't Hate Me

I didn’t wait for them to open the car door for me, and I pushed out by myself. The men got out of the car but didn’t follow me as I walked away.

Russell was waiting for me at the end of the pier. He was dressed in a dark trench coat and shoes that shone under the single streetlight.

He hadn’t changed in the years that separated us. He still had that all-powerful stare. That sadistic looking smile.

But there was something off about him. Something that felt different from all those years ago.

Walking to him once felt like I was walking to my death, but that had changed.

I don’t know when it happened or what had caused the shift… but I was ready.

He was terrifying, always had been, but the feelings of helplessness and anxiety that I once had with him lay muted under the anger that now boiled under my skin.

He turned to me with a smile. The same smile that once caused me to relax around him. It made him look kind, but in reality, I knew the thoughts deep in his mind that caused him to smile like that.

I couldn’t help but smile back at him. Letting my own sick and twisted thoughts fill my mind.

How many times had I dreamed of meeting him like this to end it all? How many times have I yearned to slam my fist into that cruel face of his?

The shock was obvious on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but the crunch of gravel caused him to look behind me. I didn’t follow his gaze.

He gave them a single nod before I heard the telltale sign of the car driving off. Only then did I look back to note thatbothof the men had left me here with him, alone.

It was a stinging insult. He still viewed me as the incompetent, sheltered woman he had abused. One that could do no harm. One that wouldn’t dare to.

“Not afraid to be out here without your men, Russell?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

“Oh Tiffany,” he said with a sigh and shook his head. “You and I both know there is no need for them to see what goes on in our marriage.”

I tried not to give in to the fear that his words caused. Unlike the others in the Crowe family, Russell likes to keep his punishment private. Because then, no one would truly know the sick and twisted things he had done to me. Even his fucked-up family had limits.

“What are you doing here?” I asked even though I already knew the answer.

“For you, darling,” he said with a light laugh. “I’ve been waitingyearsto see you again. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you.”

I stood my ground when he took a step forward, then another.

Let him get close. Let him think of you as weak and unwilling to fight back.

My mind was telling me to run. Telling me to turn right back around and try to make it back up to the main road.

But my legs stayed frozen.

“Did you miss me?” he asked, leaning forward and letting his breath fan across my face.

“You know I didn’t,” I hissed.

Amusement twinkled in his eyes. “Then let me remind you.”

He crushed our lips together, a hand coming up to my throat to keep me in place. I struggled against him, hitting his chest as his tongue pushed past my lips, exploring my mouth.

Russell was a disgusting, sloppy kisser. Each time he kissed me, the same feeling of disgust washed over me.Eachandeverytime.

Russell didn’t care about my pleasure. Didn’t care about anything other than his own. He kissed like he wanted to take. Like my body only existed to servehisneeds and nothing else.

Unable to take it anymore, I bit down on his tongue hard enough for blood to spurt in my mouth.

He pulled away with a cry, stumbling back.

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