Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Ah yes, the ol’ “you really should slim down, hon, everyone at the club is talking” or “if you stopped eating so much you might actually get rid of that baby weight.”
“No, I had a little work done”— magic counted—“and I exercise with Austin a lot.” Battles and training certainly counted as exercise.
He swung his gaze Austin’s way and froze up for a moment before jerking it back to me. I had a suspicion Austin was giving him an alpha’s stare.
“You two haven’t been together long,” he said, his tone even.
“Not as long as you and Camila, no,” I replied, my tone just as even, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“And you two are…serious?” He quirked an eyebrow again, flicking his eyes toward Austin.
“Very,” Austin said, matching the tone.
“You must be a patient man.” Matt laughed like that was a grand joke.
His voice from the past drifted in. “You’re lucky I’m patient, Jacinta. Most men wouldn’t tolerate a wife like you.”
He’d said that or something like it all the time, as though no one else would want me. As though, if not for him, I’d be destitute and alone, not fit for marriage, and it was only his kindness that kept him from tossing me out.
I laughed to myself. It wasn’t my insecurity that started to rise this time, but my banked anger. He was systematically hitting all the things he knew affected me, one by one, trying to break me.
He was trying to break me.
Power rushed through me from my gargoyle.
Many of the things Matt had said tonight were challenges, to me and also Austin. He was getting away with it because Dicks and Janes didn’t punish mental or emotional abuse, just physical. If he were magical, though, he’d have been dead ten times over.
“I’m not very patient, no,” Austin replied easily as I let out a long, slow breath, trying to calm myself. Ivy House started muttering about rope, fire, and closets again. “Thankfully, I don’t have to be. Jess is patient enough for the two of us. She has shown she’s able to deal with some truly unforgivable personalities. I once thought I was a nightmare, but I’m now convinced she’s an angel for some of the garbage she’s had to deal with.”
Matt tilted his head just slightly, like a dog hearing a dog whistle. “Well, give it time. You’ll see what I mean. She can try the patience of a saint, can’t you, Jess?”
The way he repeated Austin’s nickname for me, giving it emphasis, rankled in a way I wasn’t prepared for.
Rage blotted out my senses. Power throbbed to the surface, ready to destroy.
“Here we go,” Ivy House said. “Now we’re talking.”
“She used to ask for an increase on her allowance for the most far-fetched things,” Matt went on as I struggled with the urge to destroy his whole world. I couldn’t react in a Dick environment like a magical person. I couldn’t react like I might at the mage dinner tomorrow. Matt had to be dominated a different way, and not just because I didn’t need Dick police putting me on a most wanted list. Being destroyed emotionally would register with him more poignantly. It would create a lasting impression that cut much more deeply.
But my God was I struggling just now.
“The amount of books she purchased was bad enough,” Matt said with a disbelieving smile, “but imagine trying to extend the allotted amount to include a computer, a TV, and expensive jewelry, all in the same month! She was always extravagant. You’ll see. Though I don’t see a ring, so maybe you won’t get that far.”
His smile was grating. His tone made me want to both shrivel up in remembered horror and go forth with firebombing this place.
“Imagine,” Austin said lightly, though I could feel the rage running through him, “wanting to buy common material possessions with your half of the family estate.”
“The computer was for Jimmy because we only had one and Matt wouldn’t allow him to use it,” I said in just as light a tone. “I was told to replace the TV by Matt because the other one was old—it looked bad when people came over, he’d said. His image was apparently more important than his son’s education or desire to share. The necklace was a request for my birthday. The women at the social club whispered behind my back—loudly enough that I could hear—about my wearing pearls too often. I wanted to fit in better, as Matt said I should. Isn’t that right, Matt? Or am I somehow remembering that incorrectly? Do you have a better account? Maybe you’d like to talk me through my experiences with childbirth, as well. I’m sure you know what happened much better than I do.”
His smile was placating. He ignored the digs, focusing instead on his agenda. “You could’ve saved up for a nice necklace. Instead, you chose to spend it on other things.”