Chapter 105 Pink Lines
Lila POV
“Then why? Why do you think I hurt you?”
I licked my lips. “Lust, hunger. The same reason I wanted to be hurt by you, why I want to be hurt by you.”
Silence settled around us. I tried to listen for any noise, any shuffling of feet but nothing. It was a heavy silence. Then the sound of the belt striking my flesh sliced through the silence. I cringed and squirmed, trying to get rid of the burn that intensified with every lash.
“Do you see his face? Can you see the bloodlust marring his features? I do. I see it and I see it every fucking night when I close my eyes, the way his eyes beamed with pleasure while he hurt you. It haunts me, you know? It haunts me every fucking day for allowing him to do that to you.”
Another strike, and Damon evil face became clear inside my mind, the longer I focused on his face, the less I felt the pain, the longer I kept his dark, evil eyes in the center of my thoughts, the more my hate for him intensified. It started to boil, searing my veins from the inside. The hate, the resentment, the need for revenge. “I don’t blame you,” I murmured.
“You should. If I didn’t have you kidnapped, if I didn’t fall for my mother and brother’s lies, you would be out there in the world living your happy life.”
“But I am.”
“What do you mean?”
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “I am living my life…with you.”
“But you have lost so much because of me.”
“That might be true, but I’ve found more than I ever thought possible because of you.” My mind shifted from Damon face to the two pink lines that changed everything and then it occurred to me, what would Damon do if he had to find out I was carrying Moretti blood inside me? If he hated me so much, what would he feel toward a child who was a result of me and Nico being together?
I startled when Nico started to untie my hands. What was he doing? I knew he wasn’t done yet. He was trying to do the same thing as he did with Doc. He wanted me to tap into every bad feeling I’d experienced since all of this started. Nico was trying to make me strong by letting me grab hold of the hate that would guarantee my survival.
When my hands were free, I instinctively wrapped them around my stomach. I was still chained, my face buried in the mattress.
“Why are you stopping?” I murmured. “I know you’re not done.”
He pulled the blindfold off, and I squinted as my sight got used to seeing light again.
Our gazes met. “You’re right. I’m not done, and neither are you.”
My gaze followed him as he walked to the front of the bed, kneeling down so he could look me in the eye. “Too many lies have surrounded you, Lila. Lies destroyed us both, but I swear to God I will make it right but I need you to hold on to the hate you feel for my brother. It’s the only way I’ll be able to make this right for you.”
His dark eyes softened, and I looked straight at the elongated pupil, the uniqueness of his soul shining through it. I no longer saw the scar on his face and all I saw was a man I had fallen deeply in love with. A man who seemed more determined than ever to make me his, to make sure I was strong enough so that nothing would ever come between us but as he had said so many times before, he knew what I needed…and now I knew too.
I narrowed my eyes. “You’re going to kill him.”
He shook his head. “No. But you are.”
Nico cupped my cheek in his palm. “I am going to give you the revenge you need to heal, Lila. I am going to give you my brother.”
I had no words because my heart hammered as if it would break through my chest at any moment. My stomach churned, my spine nothing but ice yet there was something else. There was a flicker, a spark that crackled with a threat to erupt should it take flame.
It scared me, this was not how I was supposed to feel about killing another human being. It wasn’t normal yet, it felt so good.
Nico full lips pulled up at the sides, he saw it, too. In fact, I think he had seen it all along, and that was why he had pushed me, punished me, forcing me to think of the man I hated the most in this world.
With my chin pressing into the mattress, I moved my arm out from beside me and placed my palm over his. “You would do that for me?”
His eyes bore into mine. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, little pet.”
Softly, he pressed his lips against mine. No tongue, no movement just a single, simple, yet powerful kiss.
He pulled back. “I told you before, I see you. I know what you need, even if you don’t.”
“Thank you.” It was all I could say. He was turning me into the kind of person I needed to be in order to survive the past and be ready for the future. Nico was making me strong, to protect myself and the life growing inside me.
He needed to know.
Nico needed to know.
Tears stung the corners of my eyes as I stared at him. After everything, this was the moment I felt a fear that had the power to crush me. Fear of losing him but deep down inside the core of my soul, I knew…I knew I needed to do right by him. Earlier he said that I had been surrounded by lies for too long, but it was the same for him. His family didn’t just lie to me. His twin brother with whom he shared the same womb, lied to him. The mother who gave birth to him, who raised him, also lied to him.
I wouldn’t.
I wouldn’t be the same as them and I would never be the same as them.
I pressed my lips in his palm and closed my eyes, allowing my tears to escape.
“There were two lines,” I whispered against his palm. “There were two little pink lines.”
I looked up at him; his eyebrows slanted inward with confusion. “What are you talking about?”
More tears stained my cheeks, my heart no longer beating inside my chest, but pounding up my throat. I tried to keep my secret, but it wasn’t mine to keep. It was ours.
He wiped the tears away with his thumbs. “What is it, Lila?”
Please God.
I sniffed then took a deep breath before I allowed my secret to escape. “I’m pregnant, Nico.”