Declan

Chapter Twenty Nine

Lexi~

After finishing their sandwiches, Declan and Lexi lounged on his couches completely lost in conversation. The extreme events that had unfolded forced them to skip some fundamental steps in their relationship and they were desperate to learn about each other.

"Can I ask you something? It might be an uncomfortable topic, but I have to know," Declan said in a half question half statement.

"Anything," she replied honestly.

With Declan nothing was off limits. She wanted to share herself with him in every way possible even when it included tough conversations.

"How could a person like you end up with someone like Asher?" He spat out Asher's name as if it tasted bitter.

Lexi let out a sigh before she explained herself, hoping her explanation was good enough, but knowing  it wouldn't be.

"He wasn't always like that. When we were in college he seemed like a normal kid. Sure he was a slacker and partied a lot, but it wasn't that out of the ordinary. I didn't date him then because he seemed like the type who wanted something for nothing. Someone who wanted to smoke weed all day and party all night. No direction."

"What a winner," Declan scoffed.

"Are you going to let me finish?" she joked

"Anyway, a few years later we crossed paths again and he seemed different. He was working for his dad's accounting firm and seemed to have his life together. From the outside looking it was like he was a different person - a better version of his college self. I saw what I wanted to see in him and not what was really there, but his charm quickly faded the longer we were together. His dependence on drugs and the party lifestyle was a constant point of contention and I realized about one year in that his wealth wasn't coming from the firm but instead from drug distribution."

Declan's eyes had her pinned to the couch and he was taking in her every word.

"Our relationship was all lies - all manipulation. When I finally got fed up with it and tried to leave he turned on me. Trashed my whole apartment with me inside and scared me half to death. After that I tried to work up the courage to leave more times than I could count, but I was terrified."

"Nate mentioned that he got physical with you," Declan said low and disgusted.

"Nothing compared to what he did in Vegas."

She unconsciously brushed her hand across the wound on her hip.

"It started off as little things. Little things that no one else noticed, but were so malicious and cruel."

Declan's muscles tensed and braced to move as her voice cracked, but he let her continue.

"If I ever said anything he didn't like he'd squeezed my hand with so much force that my knuckles would pop and crack and hold them that way until my fingers turned purple. Even if we were in a crowd of people, it didn't matter or deter him in the least. He'd maintain eye contact with me as he crushed my hand as if he were daring me to cry out for help, knowing I was too scared to."

She felt Declan's rough hand cover hers in an attempt to soothe the terrible memory - reminding her to stay in the present while retelling her story. His touch was intentionally tender as if he were trying to distance his touch from Asher's in every way.

"The worst part was, he enjoyed it. He liked hurting me."

She let out a frustrated sigh as she continued.

"I hated who I was with him. I was weak."

"You survived," Declan corrected her.

"You shut down out of self preservation because that's what your body told you to do in order to survive. You kept your head down and endured the pain until you were able to safely leave. Nothing wrong with that Gorgeous. That's not weakness"