Bijou

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His hand was warm around mine, it was protective, firm, and. . . Safe.

I had given my trust to this man, and I didn't even know his name. But I could see it in his eyes, I could hear it in his voice, I could feel it in his touch—this man, he wasn't one of them.

I believed it the second his finger covered his lips and he hushed me silent. He had been sent to save me.

My toes curled into the floor as I stayed tucked in his shadow, following every step he took. His foot would lift and my heel replaced it, he would inhale and I would do the same. I was a carbon copy of the man in front of me, doing my best to stay invisible.

Flicking his head over his shoulder, he looked down on me, concern and worry flooding his expression. I wasn't sure if that look came from uncertainty of what could happen or if it was just because of me.

Glancing around his bicep, I could see the doorway of the kitchen. My chest heaved with memories, the feeling of pain and fear washing over me as images of what Diablo had done to me flashed through my brain.

My muscles tensed up, feet dragging behind me as I tried to slow down. I didn't do it on purpose, it was instinct. I felt my heels dig into the floor, toes clutching the ground, anxiously wanting to grab hold of anything I could.

The man whipped his head over his shoulder, brows crinkling into the bridge of his nose, panic and desperation setting into his deep brown eyes. But he didn't stop, he jerked my arm and kept my feet moving for me.

Thank you. I wanted to say the words out loud, but I bit my tongue. It was too dangerous to speak and I knew that.

Dominick wasn't alone, no one was ever truly alone when they came there. But this was the first time Diablo had left me to the mercy of his men. He never left me alone with anyone.

When he told me he was leaving, my breath hitched and I sat wide eyed, expecting him to strike me for my reaction. But he didn't.

Smiling to myself inside my head, I was proud of how strong I had become. For feeling on the inside and hiding it on the outside. He couldn't read my thoughts anymore.

This was my chance, this was what I had been waiting for.

My prayers had finally been answered.

Stopping short at the end of the hall, my body kept moving, bumping into the stranger's back and causing me to sway. His firm arm reached behind, curling around my waist and holding me steady.

I had to fight the urge to crawl into his grasp and wrap myself around his body. Temptation to feel, breathe, and embrace the safety that this man was giving me was all I could think about.

His touch entered me from every direction, it bled into my bones and made me warm. For the first time in months, I felt like everything was going to be alright. My mind twisted with thoughts of how this man was going to fix all of this. He was my guardian angel, that's what they do, they protect you when you need it.

And I had needed it for a really long time.

The man didn't look down as his hand pressed into my lower back, eyes darting back and forth, searching and scanning.

It felt like we stood there, stagnant, as time seemed to slow down and our movements mimicked the seconds passing like molasses being poured.

The muscle in his neck thickened as he leaned forward and twisted his head from left to right. Holding my breath, I hid in the darkness, doing my best to be as small as possible.

One less shadow, one less exhale, one less person.

That was how I had felt since the very beginning of all this. I had been beaten down to nothing, brainwashed into thinking that I was worthless, used as some object of trade. All of who I was had been crushed and stomped into particles that barely resembled a woman anymore.

I had started to doubt if I'd ever get the chance to make an escape. I was drained to the point that I couldn't see the end.

And here it was, holding me snugly in place, leading me out.

His grip strengthened, dragging me into the kitchen, his feet heavy yet delicate in the same step. I was mesmerized by the command this man had in a place that wasn't his own.

He didn't cower, he didn't shed a bead of sweat that was built off fear. This man's presence was more powerful than the whole entity of evil this home encased.

Reaching out his arm, his fingers brushed the handle, eagerly trying to snatch it with full force. My heart raced inside my chest, beating and pounding like a prisoner, trying to burst through the metal wire of its cage.

I watched his hand as it latched on the handle, fully expecting to meet the fresh air I had been denied for so long. My lungs were ready, taking short, quick breaths, not wanting to breathe one more atom of oxygen from inside that house.

Click

In reality the noise was probably barely audible, but in the silence of my head, I heard it loud and clear. The hammer of a gun had been pulled, it was cocked and being aimed in our direction.

“Where the fuck do you think you're going?” His voice sliced its way through my ears, stabbing my brain.

Val. . .

I knew who he was, I knew the kind of man he was. He wasn't kind or gentle, he didn't tend to the needs of others or show compassion where it was deserved. He was sick like the rest of them.

Diablo would take me out on occasion, taunting his men with a treat. If Diablo was in a really good mood, he'd allow them to touch and caress me so long as he was there.

And Val, he was one man who didn't shy away from the offer.

The man's back snapped straight, shoulders broadening and turning to stone. His head ticked over his shoulder, eyes veering in hate and rage. But he didn't say a word, he just stared with razor sharp pinpoints glaring at Val.

“What the fuck do you think you're doing?” Val stood with his legs wide, firmly holding the ground beneath his feet. His gun was aimed point blank at the stranger, eyes lifeless as usual.

The stranger's muscles twitched, and the thick vein on his neck pulsed hard. His face changed, falling into a state of stillness. I couldn't read him, I couldn't tell if he was nervous and afraid, or if he didn't give two fucks about the gun in his face.

“I was just leaving, and I'm taking her with me.”

Val's finger fluttered over the trigger, a deep grimace formed on his face. “She's not going anywhere. She belongs here, she belongs to someone else.” Taking a long step into the room, his arm stayed steady in the air.

“She belongs to me now.” Tilting his head, his jet black hair fell over his brow, tickling the tips of his lashes. “I found her, so I'm keeping her.”

“Do you have any idea who you're fucking with?” Val asked, an evil grin spreading across his face. “My boss won't like this very much, he won't like it all. So I'm going to make this really easy on you, I'm going to kill you.”

My angel wrapped his arm around my waist, pushing me behind his back as he turned to face Val head on. “I don't give a fuck who you are, or about your boss. The one thing I do know. . .” Pausing, my savior curled his fingers deeper into my skin, holding me firmly against his back. “You're not going to kill me, and you're not getting her back.”

Val took another long step, cupping the butt of his gun with his other hand. “If I don't kill you now, you'll regret it. My boss—he's not as nice as me. Ask her, ask her what he'll do to you.”

Gritting his teeth, the man with black hair chuckled. “Look, I'm going to be straight forward with you. Either put a bullet in my head right now or turn around and walk away.”

“I need you to move away from her. You can die, but she can't.”

“Is that right?” The man blocked me completely, his wide shoulders and thick arms hiding me behind his back. “You're that bad of a shot?”

“Fuck you.” Val's eyes turned to slits as he bared his teeth. “I could care less about that cunt. If it was up to me she'd be dead already. She's only good for one thing, and even that isn't very good.”

I could feel my insides as they bubbled, coming to life with all the feelings I had buried. Anger, hate, rage—pure and unfiltered emotions that I kept stowed away. They had broken free of their box, all of them coalescing in my gut like a giant tornado.

A sheen of metallic caught my my eye as the man shifted on his heels. Dom's gun, he has his gun.

It was as if some one else was controlling me, like strings were hanging from my arms and someone was hovering above me, working my muscles. I was looking at myself from the outside, watching from a distance as I let my body take over and my brain step away for a moment.

Stepping out from behind the stranger, I bared my teeth. “Fuck you, Val.”

“Excuse me?” His jaw clenched tight, teeth grinding down hard. “Bitch you know better.”

I didn't say another word, lifting my arm, I held the gun in my hand and pulled the trigger. A bright flash lit up the room and my ears rang from the explosion.

My head was spinning as I took in labored breaths, ready to scream, ready to cry, ready to drop to the ground as my legs gave out beneath me.

Too much of my time had been taken up with thoughts of this moment. Of the moment I was finally able to be freed of the torturous pain this place had caused me. Of the men who had taken from me by the approval of another, of the man who created all of this in the first place. It was done, I was done—no more.

I felt my knees weaken, but the floor never came. In one quick swoop, the stranger grabbed me by my waist and threw me over his shoulder. I didn't know if I killed Val, I didn't see where he was hit or know if we were leaving him to bleed out on the floor.

In the emotional confusion of it all, I had closed my eyes.

I felt the cold air on my face and the crisp oxygen as it filled my lungs. I heard the sound of my savior's feet as they slammed over the pavement and softened as they met the grass.

Everything happened so quick, I had no time to process it.

Before I knew it, the man was shutting a car door and an engine roared to life.

I was out. I was free.

But this, this wasn't over.

And no matter how much I wanted it to be, the damage had been done.

For now, this small victory meant everything.