And just like that, I finally see it, I finally see Vito’s monster.
***
When my bedroom door comes open a day later, I think it’s Vito coming back to finish shredding the last pieces of my soul.
But when I look up and find Maximo standing in my doorway with a smile on his face, I realize I’m going to have to deal with the monster I’ve known for too long now, instead of the one I was just introduced to.
I sit up, pulling my knees to my chest as I watch Maximo step into the room and close the door behind him.
“Sulking?” he asks, drifting closer to me and I don’t offer him a reply.
I can tell from the smirk on his face that he’s only here to taunt me and I refuse to play into his hand.
He plops down on the end of my bed, the mattress dipping beneath his weight. His dark locks are pulled back today and I decide that it makes him look more sinister than when it’s down. “So tell me, how was it?”
I turn my head away from him, refusing to answer.
“Don’t be like that now, Little Mouse. I missed all the action, so the least you could do is fill me in on everything. I’d do the same for you if I was out being a whore and got in trouble for it.” He lets out a laugh.
I turn my head, glaring at him.
He gives me a slow smile. “And I hear that Vito got a first row view of the show. Or did he participate too? You just have to let me know, Mouse.”
I don’t know why I do it. Maybe because someone else hurt me so I want to do the same. All I know is that I feel good about it as I lash out at Maximo. I throw my body at his and he’s not expecting it. I see his eyes widen a moment before we both go tumbling to the floor.
Maximo hits the hardest, his back on the ground as I land on top of him, my knees thumping against the floorboards. I close my fist, punching him right in the face.
And it feels amazing.
I pull back again, going to hit him even harder this time, but he captures my fist in his hand. He yanks me forward and the next thing I know I’m the one on the bottom, my back pressing against the unforgiving floor.
Maximo perches over me, pinning one of my arms to the ground. His eyes are bright as he leans closer to me, his warm breath gliding over my face. “And that’s what I like to see, Winter.”
“What?” I snap at him, breaking my vow to remain silent.
“The destruction of an angel. Did you feel your feathers fall, because I definitely see them, Mouse.”
I’ve felt them fall since I got here, one by one.
But I don’t tell him that, instead barking, “Get off of me.”
Of course, he doesn’t listen to me and I struggle underneath him until I take note of the bulge pressing into me. I go still.
Maximo’s eyes twinkle. “Don’t worry, Mouse, I’m not here for that.”
“Then what are you here for?” I grit out.
“To remind you.”
“Remind me of what?”
“That whatever my brother did to you, I plan to do worse.”
It’s a promise, I know it the moment his eyes meet mine.
He leans closer to me until his lips are brushing right against mine, sending tingles through my body that his words quickly evaporate. “The clock is ticking until the day of your destruction, Mouse.”