JUNIPER’S POV:
Hiram doesn’t look at me. He pulls away and gets to his feet like I’m invisible. He adjusts his pants, knots the rope around his waist, and walks off without a word.
I sit there, frozen, as a thousand emotions ripple through me-shame, anger, betrayal. My chest feels tight, and I glance at the camera on the wall. The knot in my stomach twists tighter, knowing Cillian was behind it. Watching.
“Hiram!” I scream out his name as I push to my feet.
He doesn’t stop even after hearing me. My legs move instinctively, following him, but before I can catch up, he reaches the storage room door. He pulls it open, and there’s Cillian, tied to a chair, glaring at me.
His eyes are sharp, judging, and I feel their weight. I do not care about him because I’ve seen him with my roommate and the way he played me like I was nothing. If anyone deserves this, it’s him.
But it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change the truth burning in my chest-Hiram didn’t do this for me. He used me to get his revenge. That’s the part that hurts the most.
Hiram doesn’t say a word as he walks into the storage room calmly-like dragging me into his twisted revenge wasn’t the most humiliating thing he’s ever done.
Cillian shifts in the chair, and my eyes dart to his wrists, which are red. He glares at me first.
“Are you happy now?” he yells, his eyes burning into mine.
“You think I wanted this?” I snap, and Hiram grabs his jaw roughly.
“I am not here to watch you have a conversation with my girlfriend. This was to teach you a lesson, and I hope you have learned it!” he barks. “I hope you know it is only in your wildest dreams that you get to stick your worthless dick into her! She is mine!” he growls, letting go of him.
“You both are psycho, and I think you deserve each other!” Cillian yells, and Hiram lets out a chuckle, turning around to grab me roughly before shutting the door.
His words do nothing but disgust me, and I yank my hands away from his grip, glaring into his eyes, my chest rising and falling terribly while he stares at me with no remorse in his eyes.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he says, disregarding the fact that I have tears crawling down my face.
I try to steady my breathing, but I cannot. This is the first time he is acting this way, and it is almost unbelievable. It is like I am watching him slip from my palms, and my body is void of his comforting arms.
“You sick bastard!” The words leave my mouth accompanied by a slap to his face before I can stop it.
His head tilts to the side with my palm still on it, then I slide my hand away, staring at him. This time I do not feel bad for hitting him, and my mind justifies my action, causing the anger in me to intensify.
“How could you?” I yell, and he lets out a chuckle, glaring at me.
“Call me a sick bastard or whatever you want. Slap me more if you want to, but that doesn’t erase the fact that you are nothing but selfish, Juniper!” His tone is harsh, startling me. “I have done everything possible to keep you safe, but that will never be enough for you. No matter how many people I employ to look after you, I will never be enough, and I will never be him!”
The fury burning in his eyes scares me, and it is like I am with a different person, but worse, I have no clue what I have done to deserve the treatment I am getting.
“What… what are you talking about?” My voice comes out small.
“Oh, please, June! Do not use that small innocent voice on me because it stopped working the moment you thought it wise to kiss him!” My breath hitches as he says this.
My eyes flutter as I stare at him, and I begin to wonder how he found out about it.
“How did I find out?” he questions. “Well, your little fling couldn’t keep shut about the fact you both shared a lovely kiss, and it makes me wonder-was the outfit for him?” he asks, and I stare at him without a word. “Parading yourself in that skimpy bodysuit just for him-was that your plan?”
His words take a jab at my chest, and I don’t even feel the need to tell him Cillian kissed me against my will.
“Do you know how stupid I felt last night? Waiting on you to come home to me, only to learn you were out kissing another man. Not just any man, the bastard I was trying to protect you from!” His voice goes high again, then he steps close to me, running his thumb underneath my eyes. “Are these even real? Or do you just flip them out when you want to manipulate me because you know for sure that I will come running to you, June.”
My tears roll down more, falling on his thumb, and I hold his gaze, hoping this is all a nightmare. It hurts. Hurts more than anything Cillian has done. He withdraws his hand from my face, then he grabs my hand.
“I am willing to let this slide because I love you, June. I would never take out my anger on you, but on whoever is involved. That is why I have him in there.” Hearing him try to justify his actions makes what I feel worse.
I yank my hands away again.
“Do not make me lose my temper, June!” he snaps, and I scoff.
“Because what you are doing now, isn’t it?” I ask in a low tone. “Denying me privacy and using me in your little pawn game isn’t enough? Or the fact you could cost me my scholarship at school?”
“I couldn’t care less!” he snaps, and I feel his words drill into my chest. “I do not care what it costs you, June!”
The hurt, the betrayal, the anger-all of it crashes into me. I stare at him, my chest rising and falling erratically as I try to process his words. Soon I feel the air around me thinning out. This cannot be my Hiram.
“Why should I care what it will cost you when you never cared about me in the first place?” he asks, and I stare at him without a word.
“You are right. I do not care about you, and all the tears, all the stupid and irrational behaviors from me, are just because I was jobless.” After this, I turn, desperate to get away, to put some distance between us, and to clear my mind.
I walk away to get the space I need-anything to stop this suffocating tension, but the moment I step into the hallway, Hiram moves. He calls out my name, and before I can even think of responding, he grabs me.
“Don’t you dare walk away from me, June,” he growls, his grip tight around my wrist as he slams me against the wall in the hallway. I wince from the impact, but he doesn’t let up. His body against me is as solid as the wall behind me, and he inches close with his breath burning with fury.
“You’re mine,” he hisses, his eyes burning into mine with a kind of madness I’ve never seen before.
“You don’t get to leave until I say so. You think you can walk away from me? No. I own you.”
His words hit me like a slap, and the lines between him, Victor, Larry, and the rest of them blur. He is no savior. He is just a man, and he can never be different. I struggle against him, my mind racing, but my body feels trapped, pinned by his sheer force. I want to scream, to fight, but my voice is caught in my throat.
“If you want your tuition paid for the rest of your life, June, then I am up to the task! I do not bloody care about any scholarship! I have the money for every fucking thing you need, and all you needed to do was shut your mouth, stay beautiful, and be obedient to me. You’re nothing but my property now!” His voice feels like venom to my ears. “I’m tired of being nice to you while you go off and do whatever the hell you want, parading what belongs to me!”
I swallow my fear and let my anger take over. I drive my knee into his stomach, the force of it making him grunt in pain, but his grip on me tightens.
“You are no different from them. Every single man that has hurt me, Hiram. You are the same as them.” His brows loosen up when I say this, and his grip, too.
He opens his mouth to speak, but I do not allow him. I step away from him.
“I… I…”
“You meant every single word you said, and if it means anything to you, Cillian kissed me against my will. I kept it from you because I knew you would go after him, but I never expected you to hurt me, and you just did.”