“Yeah and I thought you two were supposed to be friends. What’s gotten into you?” Abby questioned Damon.
Damon shrugged, now radiating his famous charm. Too bad it was fake as the day was long. “We are friends. I’m just making sure he’s good enough for our kid sister. Sorry, Mr. R. I was just testing him, that’s all. I didn’t mean to come off disrespectful. Eva knows I love her. ”
Testing? Loves me? I might puke at the dinner table.
Blake leaned back, resting his arm behind my chair. “Well, you can relax. No one will protect her better than me. I’d never let anyone hurt her.”
I didn’t miss the curl in Damon’s lip at Blake’s last statement. I cleared my throat. “So, Daddy, when are you playing again?” It was all I could think of to get the focus off me and loosen things up.
“This Saturday. Wanna come?”
“I can’t, I have to work. Hey, what if I ask my boss if you could play at the bar one night?”
A smile slid across his face. “I never thought of that. Sure thing, ladybug. This old man can show you youngins how it’s really done.”
I grinned, still uncomfortable with the giant elephant in the room. “I’ll set it up when I get back.”
Mom clapped her hands together. “Time for presents. You know it’s my favorite part. Family room. Stat.”
There was only room to walk single file as gifts seemed to come from every corner. “Ma, we’re not babies anymore. This is crazy.” I talked a good game, but really, I loved presents. Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without the ginormous stacks we always got.
“Says who? You’ll always be my babies.” Her eyes practically glistened as she took us in.
“Blake and I are going to exchange tomorrow. His tradition is Christmas morning,” I said.
“Us too,” Abby added. “Damon said he got me the best gift ever this year, so I think he’s trying to torture me.” She pushed her lip out in a pout, shoving Damon’s shoulder.
Time got away from us and, before we knew it, it was ten o’clock and we were still peeling paper off our gifts with no end in sight.
“Abby, I’m ahead of you. I gotta use the bathroom. Catch up while I’m gone.” I hopped off Blake’s lap, ignoring Damon’s eyes on me as I left the room. I didn’t remember how much wine I’d consumed sitting there for so many hours, but my bladder was reminding me it hadn’t been a little. After a while, Abby had set a bottle in front of each of us and we’d gotten rid of our glasses. Now my head was light and airy, and I finally felt relaxed.
Having Blake here made me feel safe. I replayed how he’d put Damon in his place during dinner and smiled, picturing the flush on Damon’s cheeks when there was nothing left for him to say.
I washed my hands, reapplied my lip gloss, and then tightened my ponytail, draping it over my shoulder. In a rush to return to Blake, I threw back the door and ran straight into a brick wall.
A gasp caught in my throat when he covered my mouth with his hand and pushed me back inside the small half bath with his chest. “You think you’re safe hiding behind your little boyfriend, letting him make a fool out of me, beautiful? You’ll pay for that one, I guarantee it.”
I shook my head in denial, my eyes darting behind him as terror coursed through me.
Damon’s purple-red, wine-stained teeth pushed into my face. The smell of stale alcohol on his breath made my stomach lurch into my throat. “I’ll always own you, you little bitch. You better find a way to tone him down. What would he think if he found out our little secret?”
He released my mouth, and I sucked in a large gulp of air. He dragged his finger down my jaw to the top of my breast, and I turned my head, squeezing my eyes shut. “You owe me one now. I don’t like to share, and your little attitude just ensured you’re not going to enjoy it next time.”
Bile rose in my throat, and I bit down my cry as he squeezed my breast, twisting my nipple. Everything flashed before my eyes.
What he was doing . . .
Blake in the other room . . .
Blake.
In the other room.
I pulled from somewhere deep within me, and my eyes snapped open as I grabbed his finger, twisting it in my fist. Staring him straight in the eye, I spit out through clenched teeth, “You’ll do no such thing. You’re never going to touch me again. Do you understand? It’s over.” I threw his hand away from me in disgust.
Damon laughed. “Feisty, too. I think I like this even better.” He moved in closer to my face, backing me against the wall. “I say when it’s over. Get out of fucking fairyland. You’re mine.” He dug his fingers into the tops of my arms.