gently runs his fingers down the right side of my face.
“Did you tease him with this beautiful face?” Rex asks softly.
My body locks up from his words and the meaning behind them.
I harden my features. “Fuck you,” I grate out.
At the angry tone of my voice, Rex takes notice and it appears to wake him from whatever world he’s been lost in.
He examines my face a little more and his eyes grow glassy. “How could he? He knew I loved you,” Rex says, his voice distant and calm.
My body relaxes, though not from feeling safe, but from confusion and also sorrow. I knew Rex loved me, once upon a time. Before his father took what I had kept intact only for Rex—what his father took that wasn’t his to have.
My lips tremble and suddenly years of emotions come to the surface, and a sob bursts from my lips.
Rex jolts up in shock, but not enough to let me up. His face turns worried, his brow furrows and lines appear on either side of his eyes, showing just how much he’s aged in the last five years. Not from growing, but from stress, sadness and anger. It’s ravaged his body and soul.
“Were there signs?” Rex asks. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have done something, stopped him before he hurt you. Then he’d still be alive, all of this could have been avoided if you just told someone,” Rex ends on an enraged shout.
My heart stills and my mouth widens from the shock of his tone going from gentle to furious within seconds.
Nevertheless, I don’t stay frozen for long. Injustice and anguish surge through me, to the point where I nearly give up—almost. Instead, I get mad. Frenzied rage vibrates through me.
How dare he blame me.
How dare he put the last five horrible years on me.
My fists bunch and I strike Rex. My hands colliding with whatever surface of his body I can get to. Thumping them against his shoulders, neck and head.
In Rex’s attempt to catch my wrists, he leans backward and I take the opportunity to slip out from under him. As soon as I’m up, Rex is too. Arms out wide, his feet dancing from side to side ready to cage me again. Defeat slams into me and I raise my hands in the air, halting him. I look around and there’s nowhere to run, no-one to help me. There’s only my car and even if I could outrun Rex and get to it, it’d be a miracle that the keys were in the ignition. We’re just going to keep running around in circles. My best bet is to stop and find out what Rex wants with me.
“Wait,” I shout. “I’m not going to run, Rex. But what the hell are we doing here? You want to talk about your father? You want to blame me for your life? Then fine, let’s talk. Let me tell you some truths. Your daddy raped me… there’s no gray area on how I behaved or what I was wearing. It’s black and white. He took and I screamed and begged him not to.” I take a shaky breath in, desperate to get through this moment with my head held high and my point made. “Signs? What fucking signs should a woman look for in a man who’s going to rape her? Or maybe it’s you who should get the blame? You were always there. I was hardly ever alone with your father, so why didn’t you see the signs? Why didn’t you save me?” My chin wobbles and I dash away my tears.
Rex’s eyes bulge and he takes a step back as if I physically struck him.
I sigh and shake my head, frustrated with the situation. I would never blame Rex for what his father did to me. “I don’t blame you, Rex. I’ve had enough bad in my life to know that no-one can control other people’s actions, any more than I can control the rotation of the Earth.”
Rex looks up to the sky, the veins in his neck bulge as he grinds his teeth together and then he lets out a guttural yell.
My brow furrows, and I take a careful step back from him.
This isn’t Rex, not at all.
His eyes lower to me as fast as lighting and his lip curls up in a snarl.
What the hell? His moods are all over the place.
It’s then I think to look down at his arms. And what I find shatters