The Victim (Book #1)

Chapter 15

He nodded, as if to say, 'that's what I thought'. My face flushed in embarrassment.

"You know I don't like liars." He said, taking another step towards me.

My legs immediately tensed, and I felt my back straighten and thoughts race.

"You know what happens to liars?" I heard the voice ripple painfully through my skull. But it wasn't Dominic's voice anymore, it was his. I was in the kitchen and had threatened him less than a year ago, saying I could go to the police. He had asked me why I thought anyone would trust me when I was obviously lying.

"I have friends on the police force, honey. They're gonna know you're lying." He said condescendingly.

"I wouldn't be lying!" I protested, not letting any tears fall but wishing they would pour. I didn't want to be numb forever, it hurt.

He laughed a little to himself, and stood up from the dining room table, taking a step over to me. My face stung and he hadn't even touched it yet.

"Me? Hurting you? Now why would I hurt you after I spent so much time adopting you, paying for you to have a good education, and nice things..." he said each word with a tilt of his head, not making eye contact. Until he did.

"You asked me to adopt you, Maya. Don't you remember?" he asked, smiling pitifully at me.

I shook my head. The past was so blurry, I couldn't remember if I had or not. I was so young.

"You said I was your favorite uncle. You wanted me to keep you safe. There are bad people out there that would hurt you." He gestured a hand to the world outside. "You're being silly." he said, with enough confidence that I almost believed him.

I looked down, and then back up at him. "You're wrong." I answered.

His fist slammed into my stomach almost immediately and I dropped to the floor, out of breath. With all of my remaining strength I lifted my shirt and looked down at my stomach, seeing no mark. Despite the remarkable pain, there was only smooth tan skin where his fist had touched.

He got down to my level and grabbed the collar of my shirt, ripping me up until I was on my knees in front of him. Exactly where I belonged.

"What're you gonna show them?" he whispered in my ear. I could feel the hot breath on my face, until all I felt was the cool hardwood of the ground.

"BABY!" Dominic shouted, running forward to me from an angle. I realized that I had fallen and hit the ground, and I was the one at the angle. My fault.

He scooped me up without caution and ran us over to the couch, setting me down gently. He sprinted out of the room in long strides and was back in what felt like seconds with an ice pack for my head. I stared numbly into the distance, and into my past. I was stuck there. I couldn't move.

"It's okay. It's okay." He whispered as he brushed his hand across my face.

"Breathe." he said.

I looked down at my body to see my chest was frozen in place, so I took a shaky breath, and then a couple more. I realized I was sobbing.

"It's okay that you lied to me, little one. There is nothing wrong with that. You were keeping yourself safe. I understand." he whispered.

This only made me cry more as I finally sat up and pressed into his side, hugging him as if my life depended on it. His arms hovered over me, unsure, until he breathed out and wrapped himself around me tightly.

"Sorry." I choked out, as tears slid down my cheeks. My lip wobbled and eyesight grew blurry from the tears.

"It's okay. None of it is your fault." He said again, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.