Sin & Salvation

Chapter 31

Brett walks out of the room, leaving Silas and I alone. I can feel the anger radiating off of the beast next to me, scared he's going to change his mind and go after Brett. Instead, he begins moving around the room rummaging through drawers, grabbing things out, and then walking to my closet.

I run after him. "What are you doing?"

"What I told you to do to begin with— getting your shit and getting you the fuck out. And you're staying with me." He grabs a duffel bag from one of the shelves and begins shoving random clothes into it.

I take it from him, pulling out the sundress, sweater, and underwear he put in. "I can do it. Also, absolutely not. Payton and I already talked about me staying there for as long as I need, at least until I can get a job and a place."

He looks at me angrily. "What? No, you're staying with me and that's final."

I stop putting things away and flip around to face him. "You don't get to demand anything from me, first off. Second, I barely fucking know you. For all I know, you're probably no better than Brett, and you're certainly proving that right now by trying to control where I go or what I do. It's fucking suffocating." I huff in annoyance, turning back to my closet, grabbing some shirts and pants.

"Suffocating? Really?" He pauses to stare at me before laughing loudly. "If you think that's suffocating, then what do you call it when Brett watches you on those cameras all day?"

I ignore him, continuing to grab more clothes and stuff them haphazardly in the bag. He gets closer, coming to stand inches away from me. "What about when he wraps his hands around your pretty little throat and watches the life leave your fucking eyes?"

My head snaps up to him, fury filling my vision. But I look over to the door, nervous that Brett might be standing outside, so I point past him and growl, "Get the fuck out. I can do this by myself. And you can leave too while you're at it, I'm going to take my car back to Payton's apartment." I go back to packing up my clothes, turning my back to him.

"What about lunch?" He asks, standing there, clearly waiting for my response.

But I don't give him one and push him out of the way to walk into the bathroom. He follows me and stands in the doorway while I get my bath products, skincare, and makeup into another bag.

"So we're going to play this game, okay Cora." All I can do is laugh in response. "What's so funny?" He seethes, clearly getting annoyed with me.

I shut the door on him and lock it so I can change. After I put on some jeans and a loose t-shirt, I pack everything in the bag with my other clothes. I know I have to face him, but I'm losing my patience with both of the men currently in this house. How they both feel entitled to control my life and use me as a puppet, like I can't make decisions for myself.

When I finally open the door, I respond, "What's funny is the fact that you think any of this— my life— is a fucking game for me right now."

Shoving past him to the bedroom, he follows me saying, "That's not what I meant. I just meant that—"

I spin around, putting a hand on his chest to stop him. "See, that's the thing Silas— I don't really care what you meant. I'm going to say this once and I won't say it again, so listen carefully: if you want to be part of my life, by all means, go ahead. But if you're going to put me in a cage, a prison, like he's done for the last six years," I say quietly, not wanting Brett to hear, "count me fucking out."

I go to leave, but he shuts the door in my face, pulling me back to him. He holds my arm with a sort of possessiveness and force that has a dull ache beginning between my thighs. A finger slowly drags up my arm, leaving chills in its wake.