Torment: Part Two (The Bleeding Hearts, #2)

by Dylan Page

Her death had been so violent, tragic, and pointless. Why? Why had they done that to her? Why disfigure her? Why put her through that torment and horror? If

I reach over and squeeze James’ hand. He releases a shuddering gasp and squeezes back, a tear slowly slides down the end of his nose, and falls into his lap.

this was my reality. It was dark. It was violent and terrifying, but I was still loved. Shay loved me. He loved me more than anything. And I so desperately needed his love right now.

Just-just know that whatever this-this thing was between us, know that it meant something to me. You mean something to me-”

I feel like the man, who was once my faithful guardian and protector, is now transforming into my dark demon.

Shay always had the final say over my life.

“You’re my girl, Mina,” he murmurs, at last while reaching out with his free hand to cup my face, “it’s time you fully embrace that.” He takes a step closer, forcing me to spread my legs so he can stand between them. “Now open your mouth and take me in.”

“My family is involved with the wrong people… so I paid the price.”

For years I’d been trying to help him fight his demons, but now? He’s forcing me to dance with them instead.

“You’ve never been a fucking toy, Mina…” he practically growls at me, “You’ve just been mine. You always have been, from the very first time that I held you in my arms and looked at you. I felt it then, even if I didn’t understand it. You were always meant to be mine.”

He was no longer my protector. He was my tormentor.

He blamed my attitude on my stubbornness instead of the actual reality of the situation… I was trapped, betrayed, and caged by the one person I had loved and trusted most in the world.

Who the hell enjoys sex with the very person holding control over every facet of their life in their greedy hands? It’s like I’ve lost all self-respect.

He has money, his good looks, but most of all he also has the thing he’s always coveted… me.

“I don’t give a shit that she threw the first punch. You’ve fucking failed in protecting her and left her to fend for herself.”

He asks, taking my property jacket off my shoulders to hang on the coat tree by the door.

He reaches for my jacket and slides it off of me effortlessly, carefully laying it over the top of a distressed, ancient-looking wooden chest at the end of the bed.

“It’s a coincidence. Nothing more. Don’t know where they went after our meeting. Don’t give a shit. Now is that all? Or can I get back to fucking sleep?”

My protector had turned into my tormentor, and now, he is something I don’t know how to live without.

“I know your mother and I had our bad times. I know shit got real bad between us. A lot of shit went down that I regret… but I still loved your mother…”

“I loved her so fucking much. She was sweet, beautiful… After what I went through with Shay’s momma, I was drawn to Emily and how different she was from the women I usually chased after.”

“What the fuck is that on your arm?”

“All I’ve ever wanted was you, Mina. Even before I understood how much… why the fuck would I throw that away for some nothing when I have the only thing my heart cherishes right here, waiting for me?”

“I know what is best for Mina. I take good care of my girl.”

“Mina is mine, and any decision in regards to her ends with me.

“I guess I’m just a little confused, is all. When you said you and Mina were together, I figured it was a long time coming. But after spending some time with her again, I can see that she’s a scared, timid fucking kitten. Why, Manic? Why?”

“Then why aren’t you getting her help? Why have you stopped the investigations into the prick who did this to her and Emily?”

My affection for Keenan only grew as I got older, and it became the catalyst to how I ended up here in Shay’s arms. But now, my feelings for Shay were different than they were when I agreed to be his. I needed Shay now. I trusted him more than anyone. He was the only person who made me feel loved and wanted. At the end of the day, I wanted to be with him.

“No, we have five minutes.”

I don’t even realize I’m crying until he pulls back to cradle my face, brushing my tears away with his thumbs before he presses his soft lips to mine.

Shay keeps me safe. He loves me. Everything that he does is for me. And here I am kissing his enemy.

“All good, Sunshine?”

When I think of his name, I instantly clamber off of Keenan and move back into my seat,

I attempt to pull away from him, but he won’t allow it. Keenan releases my hand only to wrap his arms tight around my back, crushing me to his chest, forcing me to stay.

“I never dreamed I would fall in love with you.”

“The only reason you feel this attachment to him is because he has isolated you from anyone else who cares!”

“I didn’t mean to fall in love with you. I knew it was wrong, that it made me a sick person. And I fought every urge I had to want to hold you and kiss you. But that day on the beach, when I saw you standing in the sand, the wind whipping your hair around, your pink cheeks, and your bright green eyes… I fucking fell apart.”

“You know the moment you want to, I’m stealing you away with me, right?”

I’ll always be waiting in the wings for you, love.”

“I just wanted her. I didn’t want her to leave me.”

“You will. Because darlin’, you do love him, and he wants what’s best for you. As much as I fucking hate the fact that you snuck around with this guy under my nose without me knowing it, and I want to blow his goddamn brains out with my gun, I can tell that he loves you too. And that’s why I can’t approve of you being with Shay. Because he doesn’t want what’s best for you. He wants you to be what he needs.”

“Key is the only one who isn’t selfish with me.”

“But I would never hurt you. Do you really think when I hired those idiots to help me kidnap some girl and end the woman living with her, that I told them I wanted them to do that to you?

all I know is that the one person I know I love more than anything has betrayed me in the worst way. But, he’s still the one person I care about more than anyone.