187
When I find her curled up in a corner of the room, her face soaked in tears, her dry lips, and her wrists bound, I only want to kill him.
I rush towards her, kneeling by her side and quickly untie the rope around her wrists. Then I realize she's not even conscious.
"Juliette," I speak to her, placing my hands on her face. "Love, talk to me, I'm here."
I'm extremely worried for her to open her eyes.
"Juliette, react, please."
I start to panic as she doesn't respond, but then I feel her right hand on mine, and soon her eyes open, allowing me to see her beautiful hazel iris.
"Gérard," she whispers almost inaudibly.
"Yes, my love. I'm here."
"Gérard," she says again, clinging tightly to my torso as if I'm protecting her from everything, as if I'm her shield.
The sound of her sobs reaches my ears, and for every tear I see her shed, I want to make that son of a bitch pay even more.
"He... he... did this to me," she mumbles, barely able to speak.
"I know," is all I say, kissing her forehead.
"You warned me," she blames herself, but I don't let her continue.
"You didn't know him, it's not your fault, my love," I reassure her.
Suddenly, noises from the main floor put me on alert.
"Damien!" I hear Isabella's voice from downstairs.
But for me, hearing that name sends me from zero to a hundred.
"I know he's in my house!" he shouts now.
"Gérard," Juliette whispers in terror, clutching onto my shirt.
"I won't let him hurt you," I tell her to calm down.
"Well, you took a little while to show up, don't you think?," that damn bastard says as he reaches where we are.
"Juliette?" exclaims Isabella, astonished to see her there.
"Isabella, take her to the car," I ask her.
"Gérard, no," Juliette immediately refuses to let go of me.
"Go with her, my love."
"No, I won't leave you here with him."
"It's incredible how she protects you, as if she didn't know the kind of man you are," the jerk taunts, mocking.
"Juliette, please," I ask her, standing up next to her.
"Didn't you enjoy your stay in my house, sweetheart?" Damien says, trying to approach her.
At that moment I lose control and nothing matters to me more than tearing this scumbag apart.
A direct punch to his nose causes him to immediately spurt out jets of blood and it leaves my fists hurting from the impact.
I want to shatter his disgusting face. I want this son of a bitch to cease to exist if possible, and that's why I hit him in the face again without any mercy.
Soon he defends himself, managing to land a strong blow to my ribs. I hear both girls desperately begging us to stop but neither of us does until we hear Isabella scream that the police are on their way.
It's at that moment that I manage to react and process everything. Even though rage has consumed me I control myself, not for my sake, but for hers. For the woman who cries in terror and has had to endure so much shit from both me and this son of a bitch.
"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" I confront him. "That's why you did this to her, to have me back here and try to fulfill your stupid revenge against me."
Upon my words, he just laughs like the sick fuck he truly is and attempts to hide it.
"Gérard, let's get out of here, please," Juliette asks me, gripping my arm.
"I could kill you, but I won't give you the satisfaction of ruining my life that way. You want me to stay away from her, but you're screwed because that will never happen," I say with a smile, watching his expression turn to one of hatred.
"Gérard."
"Juliette is mine, she's my woman and always will be," I say, noticing how it eats away at him to hear that. "And brace yourself for the damn report, you son of a bitch, because this isn't going to end here."
Giving that scumbag one final disgusted look, I take my woman's hand and carefully help her down the stairs of that place.
I'm furious but I try not to show it to her. She doesn't need to see me as unhinged right now.
"Guys, we should wait for the police to arrive," Isabella advises us as we exit. "I still can't believe Damien was capable of doing something like this."
"Well, he did it, you saw that he's a damn lunatic, Isabella," I say with a stern voice.
"I know," she sighs with a sad expression. "Appearances can be deceiving."
"Love, tell me if he hurt you more," I ask Juliette.
"No, I just want to get out of here, please."
"But..." Isabella wants to intervene again but I gesture for her to be quiet.
"We're going to our house, okay?" I tell Juliette.
"Fine. Isabella, I'll drop you off at your building," I let her know, and without any other choice she just nods.
The atmosphere inside the car is tense, despite finally getting away from that place. Juliette and I have a lot to talk about, and of course, I don't ignore the fact that she needs to report that bastard.
When I reach Isabella's building, I thank her for her company and Juliette also says goodbye to her. As we start moving again, the car falls into complete silence.
I don't want to pester her with questions, but I want to know everything that happened there. But not now.
"Do you have the keys to the house?" I ask.
"I left them in my purse, which is... at his house," she replies, referring to the fact that the key is in that bastard's possession.
Damn.
"It 's okay."
I take a different direction than the one I was planning to take, and minutes later I notice the confusion on her face when she realizes that we're heading to my apartment.
"You're crazy if you think I'm going in there," she says as I enter the building's parking lot.