Trey - Shandi Boyes Page 0,66

ears. He’s carrying a lifeless woman in his arms—my lifeless woman.

Seventeen

Kristina

“Come on, K.”

The heat of a hand being slapped across my face rouses me from the darkness long enough for me to realize I’m in the shower. The same shirt and tiny pair of knickers I’ve been wearing the past twenty-four-plus hours clings to my body. I’m drenched head to toe, and the contents of my stomach are being forcefully removed by two thick fingers ramming down my throat.

“Bring them up for me, K. You’re not going down like this. You are too fucking strong to let them win.”

I soundlessly cry through the pain tearing up my throat when the fingers pierce through my gag reflex so forcefully, my stomach has no reason not to protest. I cough and splatter through pain medication I must have swallowed whole since they ping off the floor like they’re made from the same material as the studs in Trey’s cock.

“Yes, that’s it. Bring them all up,” says a growly British voice not as pained as it was minutes ago before he once again shoves his fingers down my throat.

This time, it is Trey’s clutch around my waist that causes me to hurl. He squashes my stomach so brutally, I’ll never be convinced my insides have organs.

Once my second bout of vomiting is over, Trey commands for someone to count the pills in my vomit, wanting to ensure not a single one remains in my stomach. I don’t know who he’s talking to. I can’t see anything through the film coating my eyes. I’m not even sure we’re in the shower in his bathroom. Everything is a blur.

While the black bob near the lower half of my body rummages through my stomach’s contents, Trey slips his hand under my chin to raise my heavy head. “Stay awake, K. Don’t you go passing out on me again. If you pass out, I will hurt you. I’ll hurt you so fucking bad, you’ll get back the will to live because you’ll hate me so much, you’ll want to kill me. You can’t kill me if you’re dead, K, so you need to fight to stay alive.”

He pushes my hair out of my face when I slant my head back so the icy-cold water drenching my waist-length hair can remove the blobs of spew gripping my chin. “That’s it, K. Come back to me. Show me how strong you are.” When my head careens toward his chest, the pressurized water too strong for the emaciated muscles in my neck to handle, Trey wrenches it back. His clutch on my hair hurts, but it’s nothing close to the first time Achim tried to assault me. “Don’t you go falling asleep, K. Stay with me. I’ll get you warm soon, I promise. I just need to make sure you’ve brought up all the pills first, then I’ll never leave your side. You’ll never be left alone again. Do you hear me? I’ll always be there for you when you wake up from the dark. I won’t leave your side. I should’ve never left you to begin with.” His last sentence is barely a whisper, and it breaks my heart.

When the guilt highlighting his solemn tone becomes too much to bear, I whisper, “Omlouvám se. Nezasloužím si tvou korunu. Nic si nezasloužím. Je mi to moc líto.”

My blurry eyes drift to the right when a soft female voice whispers, “I’m sorry. I don’t deserve your crown. I don’t deserve anything. I’m so sorry.” Although my vision is still hazy, I know who she is. She just translated what I said word for word. Only one person has done that in this country. Justine.

“You said you’d go to war for me,” she tells Trey on my behalf. “But the war had already started. It will never end.”

After blinking in rapid succession, I raise my eyes to Trey’s face, desperately needing to gauge his reaction when I quote, “I’ll give you the crown you’re craving, Duchess. It just won’t be pronged with jewels.”

Since he has to wait for Justine to translate what I’m saying, it takes a few seconds longer for shock to wash over his face than I am anticipating, but it arrives, nonetheless.

“You were in the pantry?”

When I nod, Justine stops interpreting his question for me, clueing on that I have no trouble understanding English.

After many seconds of painful silence, Trey asks, “Did I fire at you?” Not waiting for me to respond, he pulls back the tangled hair draped