“She slapped me, Thomas,” Kimberly whines like a child. Melina looks at her, astonished she’s going to play that card right now.“You did what?” Thomas shouts, arching his eyebrows at Melina.Fear grips Melina as she realizes that slapping Kimberly back might not have been the best idea.“She slapped me first,” Melina tries to defend herself. She knows it won't help, but she’s still willing to try.“And that makes you think you have the fucking right to hit her back?”As his words register in Melina's brain, a stray bullet enters her heart. Melina has never felt more betrayed by Thomas than she does right now. Melina knows she shouldn’t expect him to take her side, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.“No, it doesn’t.” Tear fill her eyes.“Apologize to her.”“What?” Melina knows he won’t take her side, but this is too much. Her heart breaks a million times more. She couldn’t believe he’d do this to her.“Fucking apologize to her.” The tears escape her eyes, flinching as he yells.
Melina can’t take her eyes off Thomas as Leo drives them back to the hotel. Her feet bounce off the ground quickly as she bites her nails and stares at him. He was just released from the station. Fortunately, her sister did not arrive before then. Thomas hasn’t said a single word to Melina since he was released, and he hasn't even given her his signature glare when he's angry with her. Not knowing what's going on in his head is killing her. It’s the most heinous form of torture ever. Not knowing when your doom would come. Melina can only hope he believes her and that she had nothing to do with his arrest. But who will believe her? She’s going to die tonight.They step out of the car once it arrives at the hotel. Melina doesn’t even dare to walk in front of him as they step inside. They walk straight to the elevator and take it to their floor. She wishes the elevator would just stop, and they would never arrive.“Leo, ask the staff to
Thomas drags her down to the basement of an unfamiliar house. The place is enormous and filled with scary-looking men with tattoos and scars on their bodies. His grip on her hand is firm. A bruise will definitely form by tomorrow. She bites her lower lip to keep from wincing. They stop in front of two holding cells. Why does he have a holding cell in the house? Melina looks at the two men in each cell and realizes that her suffering is nothing compared to theirs. Her hands fly to cover her mouth as one raises his head. His face is badly beaten, and she can bet people who know him will no longer recognize him. Looking at Thomas, she wonders why they are standing in front of these two battered men.“Pick,” he says.“Huh,” she asks, confused.“Pick one,” Thomas growls at her.She wishes to ask why but knows he won’t tell her. Melina looks at the two men in front of her, who are already at heaven’s gate. They’ve both been badly beaten. She wonders if he’s asking her to pick the one she fe
THOMASThomas looks at Melina as she stares at the ground, oblivious to what’s happening around her. This is how she has been for the past three days. She no longer speaks, eats, or displays any emotion. Thomas roughly passes his hands through his head, cursing loudly as he paces the room.“Maledetto!” Fuck.He knows it’s because of what he did. He didn’t mean to hurt her in this way. He just wanted to fucking scare her, but it blew up in his face. Thomas didn’t like Melina like this; he fucking hated it. He approaches her by the couch she is sitting on near the bed and takes her hand in his.“Melina,” he says softly. She doesn’t say anything and simply turns to face him with that blank look she’s had for the past three days.“Are you hungry?” Thomas asks. She shakes her head.“You haven’t eaten in days; you need to fucking eat something,” his grip on her hand tightens. He quickly let’s go of her hand as she winces slightly. “I didn’t mean to hold on too tight.” Melina pulls her hand
Melina is startled awake when the nightmare ends. She closes her eyes and tries to calm her racing heart. Melina just had the same nightmare again. It’s the same one she has been having for three weeks. Opening her eyes, she runs her hand through her hair and drops her legs to the side of the bed. Melina can’t believe she really thought if she left that house, the memories of what happened would vanish. She sighs and places her hands on her temple. These past three weeks have been hell. She even wishes she hadn’t come out of numbness. Melina gets out of bed and walks to the bathroom to take a shower. Her body is sticky from sweating all night. While taking off her clothes, she recalls something that may help to alleviate her guilt. She noticed his chest move slightly before she left that day. Melina knows she might just be making things up to feel better, so she will ask Leo tomorrow if he’s dead or not. The man’s chances of survival are slim, but she remains hopeful. She knows it’s
Melina swings the weight between her feet as she tries to summon the courage to knock on Thomas’ room door. She can’t believe she’s scared to even tell him she doesn’t have an outfit for tonight, but you can’t blame her. Thomas gets angry at her even when she does nothing to provoke him. Melina gives up telling him and turns away from the door when it opens, and Thomas walks out. “What are you doing standing in front of my door Melina?” Thomas asks as half of her body still faces his door. Swallowing saliva, she clears her throat before speaking. “Uhmm,” she tries to talk, but her head is suddenly blank, and she has no words. “I don’t speak Uhmm, Melina,” he sounds a little irritated. This is what she’s talking about. She stares at the ground and mutters the words. “I don’t have a dress for tonight.” Melina doesn’t know if he heard her, but she hopes he did. “Look at me when you’re talking to me.” Thomas places his hand on her chin and raises
A big yawn escapes Melina's lips as the car pulls to a stop at a traffic light. She forces her eyes open as her eyelids drop on their own. I don’t understand. I just woke up a few minutes ago. How can I be feeling sleepy again? Melina looks out the window, blinking her eyes to drive the sleep away, when she sees that they have stopped not too far from a pharmacy. Melina remembers she needs tampons. She was going to ask Thomas to get it tomorrow morning, but she has started spotting, so it would be safer to get it now. She’s unsure when her period will begin. Melina takes a deep breath and moves closer to Thomas to ask him if they can stop by the pharmacy so she can get some tampons. "Thomas, can I ask for something?" "Why are you suddenly so close to me, and did you say something?" Thomas looks between their touching thighs and Melina's face. Melina moved closer to him so that Leo and the driver wouldn’t hear her question. She doesn't feel comfortable lettin
Thomas doesn’t let go of Melina’s hand on the ride home. She wishes he would, as the blood is making their hands sticky. Clearing her throat, she looks up at him and tells him about it.“Oh, I totally forgot,” he says, letting go of her hand.“Thank you,” Melina says, looking at her palm filled with Xiao Zhan’s blood. Thank God he’s still alive; even Thomas’ hands are as bloody.“Here,” Thomas says, placing a handkerchief in her hand, but before Melina can touch it, he grabs it and begins to clean the blood off her hands.“Thank you again,” Melina says. Thomas grunts in response before speaking to Jacob.“Find somewhere with a bathroom close by.”“Okay, sir.”“How long?”“What?” Melina asks.“How long have you been having the nightmare?”“Since I left that house,” she says. Thomas hums in response, and a comfortable silence settles between them.Melina suddenly starts feeling sleepy on the way and rests her head on Thomas’ neck. She quickly pulls it away once she realizes what she did