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Why is my truth more important than the suffering of those around me? My parents, Ari, Cecy, Aunt Elsa, and even Sam and Leo, who have been nothing but kind to me.
Eli as well. I don’t think it’s fair to put him through my embarrassing episodes. He has no obligation to take care of me since we’re not in a real marriage.
My music comes to a halt as none other than my husband’s name flashes on the screen.
I pick up with, “Speak of the devil. Miss me,darling?”
“Are you driving?” His clipped tone fills the car with a coat of tension.
“Yeah.”
“Why thefuck—” He cuts himself off and speaks slowly as if he’s addressing a child. “Pull over this instant and call a black cab. If they take too long, I’ll come to pick you up.”
“Um, no? I can drive on my own just fine.”
“Pull the fuck over, Ava!”
I startle, my fingers clenching around the steering wheel.
Eli never yells at me.Ever.Not even when I thought he would at the height of my provocations.
I indicate to the left and pull over, then put the car in park, mostly because I’m shaking too hard to be driving.
My ears ring and I hear my name being called as if it’s coming from underground.
An image passes through my head in a flash. I’m slumped against the side of the car.
Crimson stains marevery inch of my skin, coating my hands and thighs with a slick, sticky film. I can feel sticky blood beneathmy nails and over the pads of my fingers. The bright red pools on the ground, forming an abstract canvas in the dim light of the street. My breaths come in ragged gasps as I try to steady myself, my heart pounding loudly in my chest. It’s as if the blood has seeped into every corner of my being, smearing me inside and out.
“Ava!” Eli’s booming voice echoes in my ear, but I can’t look up from the blood on my hands.
Oh no.
What have I done?
What have I?—
“Ava?”
I lift my head and look at the distorted, blurry version of Eli’s handsome face.
“Give me your hand,” he orders in a firm voice.
I shake my head frantically. “Blood…blood…”
“Look at me. Hey, look at me. Focus on me. That’s it. Good girl. Breathe. Mimic me and breathe properly. In…out…in…out… You’re doing great, beautiful. Now I want you to take my hand, okay?”
My shaky fingers lift up, and the scraping of my heels on the asphalt echo like a bomb in the eerie silence.
Eli pulls me into his embrace and everything turns black.
29
ELI
Fuck.
Bloody fucking hell.
