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“Hey, I like my cell. It does everything I need it to do, and if I’m bored, I can play Snake, arguably the best cell phone game of all time,” she says, arching her eyebrow and daring him to disagree.
“I’ve got you, girl,” Davis says, his own cell phone clutched in his hand. “The latest iPhone is on its way to Gulliver’s. It’ll probably be there before we get back.”
“I don’t need a new cell phone, and I’m not moving in with Gulliver,” Izzy protests, uncurling her legs and stretching them out on the bed as she braces her hands behind her.
“Fuck yes, you need a new cell, and yes, you’re moving in with me. This is my fault. I’m not letting you live in a hotel, especially not a room like this. Didn’t they have any suites available?” I snarl, glaring at the tiny room we’re in.
“Why do I need a suite? There’s only me, and I’m not planning on living here. I’ll find an apartment or a house as soon as I can go out in public,” she says, motioning to her face again and making the well of guilt inside of me swell even bigger.
“No,” I snap.
“No,” she snaps back, elongating the word.
“Look, we both agree that you’re in this situation because of me, so use me. Let me do something to try to make up for everything I’ve done. I can’t let you live on your own. I’ll never fucking sleep, worrying that your fucked-up parents are going to track you down and hurt you again.”
“I’ve already told you I plan to use you, but I’m still not moving in with you. I want to get my own place. I already found a few condos to go and look at.”
“Buy a place if you want, but at least for now, come and stay at my house. My dad’s away on business for the next week, so he won’t see you until most of the bruising has gone down,” I say, not telling her that I plan to tell my dad what those assholes did to her anyway.
My dad wants wealth and power as much as the next rich guy, but he will lose his mind when he finds out what her parents did to her. It means I might have to tell him about the engagement being fake, but I’ll take whatever punishment he wants to send my way if it helps protect her.
She sighs, and I can see her wavering, so I press on. “It will only piss them off more when your family finds out that we’re living together.”
“I suppose I could stay there for a week while I heal. After that, I should be able to cover the worst of the bruises with makeup, and then I’ll go view those properties,” she muses.
“Perfect,” I announce, not giving her a chance to change her mind. “Kip, grab the stuff from the bathroom, Thorn, the closet. I’ll get everything packed into your case while Davis checks out.”
The guys all jump into action, while Izzy just stares at us, like she has no idea what the hell just happened or when she lost control of the situation.
When her confused gaze finds me, I shrug and smirk. I’m happy to let her use me in whatever way she needs, but while she plots to destroy her family, I’ll be keeping her close and making sure that nothing happens to her.
The bruises on her face are my fault, and I owe her a serious fucking debt, but I’ll repay her by being her fucking sword and shield. Whether she knows it or not, she’s under my protection now. Izabella Rhodes is mine, and I take care of the things that belong to me. I need to get her to my house. I need to help her put her plan into action, and somehow, I need to make her parents pay for this.
25
IZABELLA
Gulliver keeps me pinned to his side, his arm draped gently over my shoulders, while the others crowd around me like security guards, ensuring no one can get close. I’m still not sure that staying with Gulliver is the right thing to do, but the guys had my stuff packed and were shuffling me out of my room before I even had a chance to argue.
Thorn drives a shiny white Mercedes, and yet again I get squashed into the back seat, only this time I’m stuck between Kip and Gulliver, both of whom are acting like my black eyes and bruising must mean I’m on the verge of falling apart.
To be honest, I haven’t really allowed myself to fully process the fact that both of my parents violently assaulted me two days ago. They both hit me hard enough to leave marks, bruises, and maybe even a scar from the cut on my cheek. I haven’t turned my cell back on yet, but I don’t expect either of them will have contacted me to apologize. I think they’re both so far gone that I’m not even sure they realize that their behavior is wrong any more.
I feel like I should be sad, and I am, but more than anything, I’m frustrated and angry. I’ve literally given up my own identity at my family’s request to protect my sister’s legacy and ensure nothing prevents her from meeting the terms of the will, and this is how they repay me.
If I asked him to, I know Gulliver would go to them and confess the truth about our fake engagement, but fuck them. They didn’t even give me a chance to explain before they beat the hell out of me, so they don’t deserve to know the truth.
I won’t be hiding in plain sight anymore. I won’t be pretending to be Penelope. All of my obligations to my family ended on Saturday, when my parents beat me to the ground and called me a whore. I plan to do everything I can to try and ensure that Penelope doesn’t inherit my great-grandfather’s estate. Maybe in the long run, my little acts of rebellion won’t have a massive effect, and she’ll still turn into the monster I know that money will make her. But it’s the only thing I can think to do that will balance out the anger I feel toward them. In the grand scheme of things, forcing my sister to attend her own classes and pass her own tests seems pitiful, but after three years of blind devotion to a family who got colder and more dismissive toward me, I’m confident my small rebellion will have a big impact.
When we get to Gulliver’s house, I start to panic. He and this house are so connected to the downward spiral of events that culminated in my parents attacking me. My hands start to tremble, but when I look down, I see the ostentatious diamond ring on my finger, and an odd sense of peace settles over me.
When Gulliver got down on one knee and slid this ring onto my finger, I was horrified by the lie he’d forced me into, but now wearing it feels like a victory. Gulliver is the one thing my parents wanted so desperately for my sister, but no matter how much they negotiated and cajoled, he refused to give in to their relentless pursuit.
Our engagement might be fake, but my parents don’t know that. All they know is that he chose me and not my sister, and that must be driving them fucking crazy.
When Thorn slows to a stop outside of the house, Gulliver holds my hand and helps me from the car like I’m an invalid. Kip rushes to grab my case from the trunk, and we move as a group toward the front door. Just like at my parents’ house, Gulliver’s housekeeper Beth opens the door before we reach it, her eyes going wide when she sees me. In the last two days, I’ve avoided mirrors as much as possible, but I still know I look like an abuse victim.
Since the attack, my bruises have darkened to an ugly purple color that mottles most of my face. Both of my eyes are still swollen, and the stitches the doctor had to put in my cheek are impossible to miss. I look like someone beat the crap out of me.
