Tainted

31

~Sebastian~

I love how confident Pip is. Even right now. When she is completely terrified. This past week I've given her full control over Cian downstairs. Every time someone has come to me about what to do I've reminded them he is not my prisoner, he's hers. I was merely the person bringing him to her. Everything had been down to her. Food, drink, who was watching him, who was allowed into him. Everything. I kind of half expected her to just put him out of his misery but she'd been fucking brutal.

Every time he fell asleep she had Ice cold water thrown over him. He was now sick down there, coughing and spluttering and she was watching it like her favourite TV show. He was sat cowering in a corner, regretting ever being born and she looked like she'd finally crushed her biggest fear. She was capable of a lot more than I thought she would be.

Like me, Pip was tainted with a darkness I'd finally been able to show her she held. And rather than shying away from it, she was tearing down the innocence she knew and was rebuilding herself as something completely new.

This control I'd handed her, the ability to determine a man's life and death, it had reminded her exactly whose wife she was. Exactly what her life was now. She was a Di Leo. Di Leo's were brutal, something to be feared. Not to be used and abused as other people saw fit. She was determined to tear herself away from the helpless little girl everyone was still looking at her as.

Everyone had spent years stepping on Poppy O'Neill. She'd been abused and chained to horrors I don't think she would ever fully confirm with anyone. Not even me. But she was done. She spent one day watching the live stream of him kicking and screaming and cursing her name, promising to kill her. She sat outside of his cell and watched and listened and I could see it breaking her. She was breaking herself down. Letting the anger burn inside of her and when she work up the next morning, she was different. She held her head a little higher. She was more harsh spoken when it came to anything relating to him. She'd burned her O'Neill name to the ground and was rising from the ashes as Poppy Di Leo. And Poppy Di Leo was done.

"You've got this Pip." I held her face and she let out a sharp breath, nodded at me. "We can leave whenever you have enough. He's on our terms. Take what you want. He belongs to you. His body and mind is yours. He took it from you. Take it back. You deserve to take it back."

"He touched the wrong girl."

"Yeah, he did." She stood up straighter, shook the nerves from her hands. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Pip turned around heading down the dimly lit corridor she was now a little too comfortable with. She nodded at Stephen who pulled the giant bar out of the lock, opening it up for us, closing the door behind us and flicking the bright light on. Cian practically hissed in the corner and I stood right back, leaning against the wall and letting Pip handle it. I'm here for support and to make sure he doesn't think about putting one of his bloody, broken hands on her.

"You." He snarls, struggling to get to his feet. She'd been kinder than I would have been. She'd sent minimal food down. Water. I wouldn't have. "How da-"

"On your knees." Her voice demanded nothing but respect. Powerful, dark, and heavy with anger.

"Not a chance." He stumbled up to his feet, taking a few shaky steps towards her. "I will not-" Poppy kicked her foot directly into the middle of his chest, the force sending him backwards. She stepped forward, dug her sharpened claws into his bare skin until I could see fresh blood beginning to leak from his skin.

"I. Said. Knees." I snickered and Poppy turned around, glaring at me.

"Sorry. Sorry. You're so hot right now. Carry on. I'll keep quiet." She looked back at him, now on his knees like she'd instructed. Quick learner.