Cut Too Deep(56)

Tears pricked her eyes. “You son of a bitch.”

He leaned down, breathing stale cigarette and beer breath into her face, making her lean away as much as she could. “Yeah, and don’t I know it. I’m your worst fucking nightmare, baby.”

Jenna pressed her lips together, pushing herself away from him.

He straightened and stared at her, his eyes narrowed, as if he hated her, as if she’d done this to herself purely to get him put away. In fact, she wondered if somehow in his twisted mind that was exactly what he believed.

“They made out in court like you were pretty badly cut up after the accident,” he said, that same snide sneer on his face.

She turned her face, not wanting to look at him anymore. “You know I was. You were there.”

No response came back, and she forced herself to glance back at him, needing to know what he was doing. Garrett just stood there, staring at her, his head tilted to one side. His hair was shorter than it had been back then, cut so short now she could make out his bumpy, pale scalp beneath. He lifted his hand to his chin, and rubbed his mouth thoughtfully.

“So you must have been messed up pretty bad. I bet that ugly body of yours looks even worse now.”

“I’ve learned to accept who I am,” she said, trying to be brave. But even as she said the words, she realized they were, at least in part, true. Ryker had helped her do that. Over the last couple of days, she realized she hadn’t hated herself as much as she had for the past year, and even for the years that preceded the accident. She hadn’t taken time to stare at herself in the mirror, and lift her flesh and imagine what she’d look like with all the hateful rolls cut from her body. She hadn’t flinched when Ryker had touched her, hell, she’d loved it when he touched her, loved it more than anything else in the world. Over the past few days she hadn’t punished herself or rewarded herself with food, she’d simply eaten and enjoyed meals that Ryker had cooked for her. She’d even enjoyed sitting down and eating with Mikey sullen and ignoring them. It had felt normal. It had felt real. It had felt like she was finally living her life.

But Garrett seemed intent on destroying every last shred of confidence she had gained. He walked over to her and leaned over her. “Let’s see, then.”

She startled back, shock resonating through her. “What?”

“You heard me. I want to see how badly you got cut up. I think that’s my right considering I just did time for you.”

He dropped to a crouch, and reached out to her. She tried to scoot away, but her back collided with the counter, blocking her escape. Her arms were bound behind her back, and she was sitting on her feet, and had been for so long, they’d completely gone to sleep. She had no way of defending herself.

Garrett grasped the bottom of her t-shirt and yanked it up, revealing her stomach and bra. He stared down at her body, his eyebrows raised. “Jesus Christ. You really are a fucking mess, aren’t you?”

“Get the fuck off me!” She tried to yank herself backward, to pull out of his grip, but it was useless. She had nowhere to go.

With his other hand, he reached down to her stomach and poked at the raised, thick red and white scars that ran from below her navel, right around her waist and back. The poking became more as he pinched the scarred flesh between his fingers and squeezed.

Pain shot up through her torso. “Get off me!” she tried again, but now her voice was choked with tears. “Just leave me alone.”

He leaned in closer and spoke against her ear. “No fucking way.”

His touch was cold, his fingers hard against her skin. He left her scars alone and took hold of one of the rolls of fat around her middle and gripped it in his hand, and laughed. “Look at this. Talk about pinch an inch, this is more like grab a yard. Jesus, Jenna, how did you ever let yourself get in such a state?”

He grabbed her flesh some more, rolling the fat between his palms and fingertips. His breathing grew ragged and fresh fear rolled through her. One hand still held the t-shirt up, while the other hand moved higher, massaging and squeezing her rolls of flesh until he reached her breasts. She choked back a sob, praying he wasn’t going to touch her there, but he did.

Garrett moved his hand over the top of her left breast and squeezed hard, hurting her. “People always say more than a handful is a waste, but I always did like your fat, juicy tits, Jenna. I like a pair I can bury my face in.”

She wrenched her body away again, the best she could. “Fuck you. I can’t believe I ever let you touch me.”

He lifted his eyes to her. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be touching you all over again, and you’re going to love it.”