Their Thief: Redemption

Chapter 22 (Part 1)

I fidgeted uncomfortably in my seat as Luca pulled the car to a stop in front of the large brick building. Ivy crawled up the sides, setting the aged building ablaze as the shift in seasons turned the leaves into an illusion of flames. The sight was breathtaking and vibrant given last night's light rain, but even the beautiful sight wasn't enough to draw my attention from the gnawing unease that had been eating my stomach from the inside since I had woken up this morning. It had made forcing bites of the delicious breakfast Luca had prepared for me to enjoy before my first day at the library.

The persistent discomfort had started as an uncomfortable crawl beneath my skin when Luca had first shared the shattering revelation that forced me to look at him through a different lens. One that left me shaken at what I found. When he had swiftly changed the subject after sharing the horror he and his brothers had experienced, opting to pick a film of his choice for us to focus on instead, it had only left the itch of unease to fester into the mess it had become now.

Jace's continued absence from the previous morning wasn't helping either, nor was Luca's reassurance that he hadn't kicked him out before returning to discussing how impractical what we were watching was. Instead of reassuring me as intended, his words only led my mind to picture him high on a couch enjoying the company of women again. Which only furthered my twisting unease.

While it appeared Luca wanted to pretend he had never shared a hint of the horrors I never would have thought to consider he and his brothers had experienced, he couldn't. Not when his words had been seared into my brain and made me question his every action. Not to mention, it helped give a possible explanation as to why he went out of his way to avoid touching me and pulling his hands away like I burned him when he made the mistake of making contact. Especially since he had aired his revelation. The distance he maintained between us had grown.

Maybe the thought of being touched by me disgusted him. Not because he found me the morning after shamelessly accepting Jace's offered his help, but because he was aware that I was once fond of his abusers- before I knew what they had done. Enough to make him second guess the fate he and his brothers had decided for them long ago. For me.

I couldn't blame him, but I also couldn't stop the way my heart clenched each time I watched him jerk himself away from me to keep from making the mistake of touching me.

The unease crawling beneath my skin rose to grab my attention over the lingering burn that still remained after Jace's assistance the other night. The faint simmer was an afterthought compared to the chaos currently residing inside my head. I would trade the unease for burning need any night.

And the conjured images that played when I made the mistake of shutting my eyes for too long.

A horrified shiver had my muscles tightening as I tried to hide it from Luca's watchful eyes. I could feel their weight on my skin, touching me the way his hands refused to.

The way Alec and Jace had no issue.

Only, they weren't the ones I wanted near me.

Liar, whispered the part of me that was never too far when I tried to lie to myself about Alec, Jace, or Luca lately, not when the memory of the relief that Jace's fingers and his pointed teeth brought was so fresh in my mind. It forced me to face what I would otherwise avoid and refuse in stubborn defiance. Like forcing me to see Luca as something other than a monster. His brothers as well, though with a bit more difficulty.

They were once innocent victims too.

They were broken.

And I couldn't unsee it. Not in the way Luca forced a smile as he pulled away from me; the way Jace chased after his next high, dragging me behind in his pursuit; or in the way Alec refused to loosen the suffocating grip of control he was adamantly keeping until it led to his detriment.