Surviving Broken(18)

“Ouch, hey, knock it off!” She shrieked, jerking side to side, shoving frantically at his powerful hands. “What the hell is wrong with you? Let me go!”

Luca pinned her against the wall. One fist firmly clutched the material of her shirt and his other twisted into the hair at the nape of her neck, yanking her head to the side. “Do you know what I had to listen to all…day…long?” he screamed in her face.

Tears of anger, fear and pain streamed down her cheeks as she shook her head, struggling to get free. He pulled her hair harder, making her wince.

“You were gone all day yesterday! I got to work this morning, and do you know what I saw? You…kissing Benny Levi!”

Her heart pounded in her chest. “I went to-”

“Shut-up you fucking whore.”

Her lip twitched. A defensive rage exploded in every fiber of her being. “Get your hands off me. Fuck you Luca. I wasn’t kissing…”

JC’s head cracked hard against the wall, filling her ears with the sound of white noise. A thin layer of sweat broke over her skin as adrenaline coursed through her. She didn’t realize until she felt the burning sting on her cheek and the taste of blood in her mouth, that Luca had hit her.

“Some asshole posted pictures of you and Benny all over the set. He was kissing you! You were fucking smiling and laughing and letting him touch your ass as you slid into his car,” he seethed. Spit projected from his mouth. “How do you think I felt seeing that shit all day long? They made a fucking joke out of it! You embarrassed me in front of the entire cast. They laughed at me!”

JC slumped back against the wall for support. To her own amazement, she cried out with the overwhelming urge to justify herself, “I didn’t kiss him, not like that. Benny’s like my uncle. He’s family to me.”

As the word family left her lips, Luca’s taut jaw flexed clenching his teeth. His eyes turned black as he dropped his hands to his sides. Thinking it was over, she stepped toward the hall, cradling her left arm.

“You bitch! Benny Levi is your family?” He circled around her, labored breathing filled the silence. “Did you screw him yesterday? I saw the way you looked at him at Tracy’s wedding.”

“What? No!” she shrieked in disgust.

Luca pounded his fist against his chest. “I’m your family!” he growled, slapping her hard in the face again, calling her awful names in Italian.

Pain and terror heightened her perception. Time slowed to a crawl as her heartbeat pounded in painful beats with the ringing in her ears. With no other options, she backed down the hall into the bedroom, countering his every movement.

Luca charged toward her, “Where do you think you’re going? You’re not leaving me!” He lunged again, tackling her onto the bed. She struggled and shoved at him, begging him to stop, pleading for him not to hurt her. JC cried so hard, she couldn’t breathe.

The instinct to survive kicked in.

She stopped struggling and lay still, telling him the things he wanted to hear. “I’m not leaving you Luca. You are part of my family. I need you.” The idea of saying the words I love you made her want to puke. Sub-consciously she refused, only saying, “I care for you.”

Staring past his hatred filled black eyes, she concentrated on the ceiling as Luca lay on top of her, burying his face in her hair, groping her breast.

“You are my family. Ti amo, JC. I need you. Let me show you how much I love you.”

The detestation in his eyes diminished, easing the tension in his face and replacing it with a dark hunger. She didn’t budge when he leaned to the side and opened the bedside table drawer grabbing a condom. Nor did she deny him when he ripped at her clothing, entering her without force and repeating the words, “I’m sorry. Ti amo. You made me so mad.”

Tears soaked the pillow beneath her head as she lay still, letting him finish. Trembling beneath the weight of his body, JC couldn’t process the fact that she was in the middle of a real life nightmare. He lay wedged inside her, softly speaking in Italian, I’m sorry. I love you. Please forgive me. His remorse-laden eyes stared down at her as if he were coming back into the scene of reality that lay beneath him. Rising over her onto his elbow, Luca caressed the skin beneath the ridge of her neckline. “I don’t know what happened. That won’t happen again. I’m sorry. I love you.”

JC didn’t move until he rolled to his side and fell asleep. Her entire body ached as she carefully slipped out of bed and wobbled down the hall. Stepping into the hall bathroom, she examined the damage in the mirror. Her cheeks were red and swollen and a small cut near the corner of her eye. Tilting her head back, she gently opened her mouth to inspect the gash on the inside of her cheek. A drop of saline leaked from her eyes, stinging the cut beside her lashes.