Stay(67)

Had he suffered? Was he left to slowly bleed to death, alone out in the cold? Maybe he died instantly and was in a better place now, though I wasn’t sure if I believed in a better place anymore. It was hard to believe in heaven when I was trapped in hell.

***



“Adeline. Get up.” Zane’s voice was sharp. Each word cracked against me like a whip. I opened my eyes, puffy and swollen from crying myself to sleep. “Adeline.”

My mouth was dry, and my skin stuck together when I parted my lips. I sat up and looked at Zane. He had a black eye, and his bottom lip was split open. The long sleeved, black shirt he was wearing covered the rest of the bruises.

“Blue looks good on you.” I stared at his face with no emotion.

Zane’s eyes narrowed, and his nostrils flared. He stepped off the stairs, arms out to his sides, and limped. He abruptly stopped as if he forgot he was injured. “Upstairs. Ten minutes. Look decent.” He set his jaw and turned around. I noticed his hands were balled into fists, and his shoulders were stiff. I hoped he was in a world of pain.#p#分页标题#e#

I swung my legs over the cot and stretched my back, tight from being in the fetal position for most of the night. My hip hurt from tumbling down the stairs. I groaned and feebly walked to the vanity. Phoebe was stretched out on her cot, fast asleep. Lily had the covers pulled over her eyes, but I got the feeling she was really awake.

I turned on the shower and splashed cold water on my face. I knew I looked like a mess. But I didn’t care. Jackson was dead, and I was being forced to work—again. I didn’t give a crap if my eyes were red. My nose was bruised from Nate hitting me and dried blood crusted on my neck, which was red and bruised from the choke chain. I ran my hands over my hair instead of brushing it and put on a black dress and red high heels.

I went up the stairs and pushed on the door. Of course it was locked. I turned around and sat on the top step, waiting. More than ten minutes passed before Zane thrust the door open.

“You look horrible.” He grimaced when I stood. “I’m going to have to pay Keith to fuck you.”

I bit the inside of my cheek and kept my eyes on Zane’s face, focusing on the bruise around his eye. It was the last trace of Jackson, the evidence of his existence fading away. I took a breath, lifting my heavy heart back into my chest.

I kept my face still. I remembered the look on Jackson’s face when he lunged at Zane. He was so angry, so ready to finally end this shitty life. Only it hadn’t ended in the way he had planned.

Zane took a hold of my arm and jerked me forward, both of us limping through the house. He let me go and shoved me forward when we reached the stairs. I went ahead of him, seeing out of the corner of my eye that he needed to grip the railing and hoist himself up each step.

I went into the guest room. The man Zane called Keith was already there. I'd had him as a client several times before, but never knew his name. He was a large man, usually sweaty and reeking of cigarettes.

“What happened to you?” he grunted. He wasn’t really asking to get a response. He didn’t really care. It was something said to someone who looked like hell, and I fit the definition of that to a T. He walked to me and picked up a handful of my hair, pulling it away from my battered neck. “Rode hard and put away wet, eh?” He let go of my hair. It fell in my face.

His hands settled on my hips. Pain seared through me. I must have had a nasty bruise on my side from falling. He turned me around and pushed me over onto the dresser. His fingers slipped under the hem of the dress and pulled it up, wasting no time yanking my underwear to my ankles. He pressed his cold hands to the back of my thighs and dragged them up.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and started counting as I let the air slip out of me. It was going to hurt when Keith entered me. There was nothing I could do to stop the pain. I could only brace for it. Pretend it wasn’t happening. Think of something else. But I couldn’t really escape.

Don’t give up. Jackson’s face flashed before me. I opened my eyes and stared at my reflection.

“I won’t,” I promised.

“What you say, girl?” Keith’s breath was hot on my neck. He tipped his head up and looked at me in the mirror.

“I won’t give up.”

I pushed up against the dresser and brought my arm back in a swift movement. My elbow rammed into Keith’s stomach. He pitched forward, losing his grip on my waist. I scuttled out of the way and raced to the door. My fingers closed around the knob. Keith sputtered behind me, zipping up his pants.

I threw the door open and leapt into the hall. My heart sped up. I whipped my head to the side and looked down the hall. There was no one there. I looked to the other side. Still no one. The stairs loomed in front of me. Without a second thought, I ran toward them, grabbed the railing, and flew down the steps.#p#分页标题#e#