26. The Problem Isnt What Happened

26

The Problem Isn't What Happened

Violet

Declan doesn't take his gaze off me as I catch my breath. Tears burn in my eyes, and defeat rushes through my body.

I'm aching. Tired. Still coming down from everything Saint just did to me and trying to process it. And to make matters worse, I'm naked and used, bent over a table in front of Declan.

Kole presses the back of a knife through the gap between my arms and the rope, slicing through it to release me. I'm shaking as I catch myself on the table, trying to digest what's happening.

Every inch of my body is sore—exhausted. I'm out of breath, with barely enough fight to hold back the dam of tears weighing down my lashes. I clench my fingers, but they only find a smooth metal table as I try to hold on and steady my breathing.

"Why?" My voice doesn't even sound like mine. It's a raspy whisper because my throat is raw from screaming.

Neither of them answers right away, but Kole grabs my shoulders, pulling me up to stand.

I expect Declan to relish in the opportunity to rove my naked body, but his gaze doesn't leave my eyes.

"Arms up." Kole runs his palms over my bare shoulders, drawing a path of goosebumps on my skin.

Shivering, I have no choice but to listen as I lift my arms in the air.

I'm out of fight. Out of energy. And even if I try to struggle or deny him, he has a room full of weapons at his disposal, so I take the path of least resistance.

I don't break Declan's stare as Kole slips his T-shirt over my head. It's long enough to cover all the way to the top of my thighs. But the thin fabric doesn't take away the chill. And the sweat coating the back of my neck and forehead has me shaking.

"Sit." Kole spins me around in his arms, directing me to the only chair in the room.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is where Sigma Sin executes the weak, but I have no choice but to drop down when we reach it, and my legs give out.

"You said no one could come in here." I glare at Kole as he squats down in front of me, still shirtless and showing off his seven flesh-carved trophies. "Just like you said that I couldn't leave. "

Kole hands me a water bottle, watching me take it. Even if I don't want anything from him right now, my throat is raw, and my thirst is overwhelming.

"They couldn't." Kole taps the water bottle when I start to lower it, forcing me to take a larger sip. "Declan was already down here when we arrived."

I drink until Kole finally releases the bottom of the bottle, and I'm thankful it at least cools my burning throat. I'm thirsty, tired, and weak. And I don't know what to make of the fact that Kole's taking care of me when this might be the cruelest thing he's done to me so far.

I pull the bottle from my lips, and he reaches up a hand, brushing the drop of water that rolls down my chin.

"You're lying." I face off with him, not pulling away from his touch. "The room was empty."

Kole steals the bottle, draining the rest before setting it on the tile. "There's more than one room down here, Violet."

Tipping his head to the left, I follow the motion and see a door I didn't notice when we walked in because it blends into the wall. The only thing giving it away now is the crack of light shining through.

"What's in there?"

Kole clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "Only one question tonight, remember? And you already used it."

"You let him watch us," I snap back, my voice shooting up with my anger.

I'm not sure why it surprises me that Kole would let Declan watch, given what he had Nixon do to me. But that was before his declaration at school the other day—his big speech about how he's mine and I'm his .

I should have known better than to believe that meant this resembled a normal relationship.

He fucked me with a knife handle in the forest and then took me in the ass in a torture dungeon. If that doesn't tell me everything I need to know about how sick he is and how twisted I am for accepting it, I don't know what will.

"You're right. Declan watched you come while I filled your ass with my cock like the dirty fucking slut you are for me." Kole's gaze narrows with his harsh delivery. "Just like you watched him get sucked off at the party the other night."

I shake my head, but he doesn't give me a chance to speak.

Kole stands, grabbing the back of my hair to force me to look up at him. "Did you think I'd forget just because I didn't say anything? Nothing slides when it comes to you, kitten, so don't mistake anything I do for kindness. You know better than that."

"So, what was this then? Punishment?" I glare at him.

"It's a reminder to you both about who you belong to. You'd do best to remember it."

Like I need a reminder. Kole's made it clear from the moment I kneeled in front of him on the side of the road.

I'm his.

"This is all a game to you." My voice cracks, my strength breaking no matter how hard I hold it .

Kole releases my hair to grip my chin. His rough grasp is replaced by his thumb gently brushing over my mouth. "It's not a game at all. I told you I'd show you what you mean to me just like I showed them. And don't doubt me because you mean everything ."

"Declan's door was open when I walked past it the other night," I argue, not that it will do me any good. "It's not like we're colluding against you, Kole. I didn't want to see it."

"Then you could have kept walking." He leans in close. "But you stayed to watch."

"That doesn't mean I'm interested in him."

"I'm not saying you are. But remember that lustful, sinful side of you we talked about, Violet?"

I swallow hard, nodding.

"It's always there, just beneath the surface. Making you do whatever you can to piss me off, subconsciously or not. And you know that's the truth. Because as angry as you were when I ripped that blindfold off, you started dripping. You love every awful thing I do to you."

I want him to be wrong. I want to tell Kole he doesn't know me at all. But I can't argue when it all boils down to the fact that I respond to the pain Saint inflicts.

I knew the moment I saw Maddox and Declan fucking that woman that Kole would be upset about it. He does a lot of terrible things, but if he has to share me in any way, he'll make everyone suffer. Still, I stood there frozen while they finished.

Glancing around Kole, my gaze meets Declan's. He's still standing quietly, watching us .

"Why are you still here? Didn't you get enough of the show already?"

"She's not easily scared. I'll give her that." Declan smirks, pushing off the wall of knives and implements I should probably be thankful I'm not more familiar with.

"She's tougher than she looks." Kole tilts his head, the smallest hint of amusement ghosting his cheeks.

We both know he's tested that theory enough to know he's right.

"Why would I be scared?" I ask them both, rolling my shoulders and refusing to back down.

"Why wouldn't you be?" Declan starts walking toward us.

Once more, I lock eyes with Kole, mustering every bit of confidence. He can hurt me in so many ways, but all he's done tonight is reveal to me his truth. And it's why I have no fear.

"Because Kole wouldn't let anything happen to me."

At least, nothing he wouldn't do himself.

He might let Declan watch us to prove a point, but he won't let him near me. And as soon as he was done making his statement, he covered me up and did the exact same thing he did last time—he took care of me.

Kole's cool expression cracks with the faintest uptick in the corner of his lips. Like he's proud of himself for my trust, even if we both know he doesn't deserve it.

"Good observation," Declan says, stopping at the table Kole just fucked me on. He picks up a knife to spin it around. "I wouldn't want to end up like Liam. Or Nix… although sounds like he at least had a little fun with you before Kole finished him off."

"You know?" My eyes widen, darting between them, until my gaze lands on Kole. "You said Sigma House didn't know you killed Liam."

"They don't. Declan does, there's a difference."

"Why would you tell him?" And why would I care?

Isn't this what I wanted? For people to find out the truth. Declan is the Sigma House president. If he knows, he's the one person who could potentially do something about it.

"I told him because I can trust him."

I want to ask why. But when he glances at Declan, and Declan pauses his spinning of the knife, I get the impression his reasons are a secret between just the two of them.

Kole walks across the room and opens a cabinet, pulling out another water bottle and bringing it over to me.

"Drink." He forces me to take it because even if he's brutal, he can't seem to stop himself from taking care of me. "Liam's family officially opened a missing person's case. They'll start questioning people tomorrow."

"And you know this because your family runs the police?" I guess.

Kole nods.

"So what? Suddenly, you're worried about them finding out you killed Liam? Shouldn't you have thought about that sooner? Or at least before you continued your rampage with Nixon? "

Declan chuckles, but Kole glares at him.

"The problem isn't what happened to Liam," Kole says.

I find that hard to believe, but I can't help taking the bait. "Then what's the problem? Besides the fact that you murder people ."

Kole steps to me, gripping the back of my chair so he can get right in my face. His patience is wearing thin, and I know I'm pushing it. But I'm the one being put in this position right now.

"The problem isn't what happened that night, Violet. It's what didn't ."

"What do you mean?" I swallow hard, not liking how Kole's anger is replaced with something much more terrifying—something too close to fear. "What was supposed to happen that night?"

And why did it involve me?