Their Wife

Twenty-Two

I pressed the button on the wall as I worried about a stray thread. It was sticking out where the tulle skirt met the tulle corset.

Did I ruin the dress somewhere? All I needed to do to know that I couldn't afford it was look at it. The thought of having to buy it because I damaged it made me shrivel up on the inside. Just imagining having to explain to Zev or Jaxon why they had to pay for it had me hoping I'd accidentally activate another portal.

The curtains softly finished opening.

Something seemed... wrong.

I looked up from the loose thread. I realized the feeling of wrong was coming from the heavy silence that had blanketed the room.

For the first time since the day I first woke up, looking into Ezra's eyes evoked fear.

He slowly rose from his seat. His green eyes lacked their usual warmth. They were locked on me.

On my neck.

I swallowed.

It was fine. It was nothing.

He slowly walked towards me, his eyes never leaving the bursts of colour that popped against my light brown skin. An unfamiliar fear rose from within. It wanted me to be assured that Ezra wouldn't hurt me, but at the same time, it sent my warning signals blaring.

Behind him, Zev leaned back against the couch, widened his knees, and crossed his arms. His eyes hardened as they focused at the same point as Ezra's.

My tongue darted out to moisten my lips. I had to say something to cut the rising tension in the air, but I didn't know what.

It was nothing. I was the one that had the bruises. They were fine. It was fine. It was nothing.

I still stepped back when Ezra got too close. It was scary. He was scary. I hadn't been more aware of the physical difference in size between us than I was at the moment.

My heel collided with the mirror, my back followed.

My heart raced.

My eyes remained on him as his stayed locked on my neck.

He came to a stop a few inches away. He just watched me for a moment. His eyes didn't stray further than the darkened edges of the bruised skin. He raised a steady hand and brushed his thumb up my neck. His thumb pushed my chin up, exposing my neck further.

"Have you been lying to me, Nea?"

I swept my tongue over my lip. "No," I lied.

His brows furrowed, mocking sympathy. "Oh, blossom, that's a lie too, isn't it?" He frowned as he shook his head.

His thumb pressed into the bruised skin harder. I winced at the flare of pain.

His eyes finally met mine.

"Nea." His voice was hard. I swallowed at the shiver of fear his eyes sent up my spine as they drilled into mine. "You lied to me." He didn't ask this time. He stated.

I bit my lip to stop it from trembling. It was a white lie. It hurt no one, least of all him. Plus, I could recall from my fuzzy memory of the car ride I had decided to eject myself from, that the kind of treatment I received from Jaxon was something I was warned about. It was something they knew was going to happen.

He kept watching me. His eyes were heavy on my skin, prickling. He waited. He wanted me to acknowledge the truth. Hesitantly, I gave a small nod, admitting that I did lie.

He shook his head in disappointment. His thumb gently trailed up and traced over my cheek. He stepped towards me and I tried to mimic him, but my back pressed into the mirror behind me. He caged me in against it and leaned down until his lips brushed my ear.