Read Online Collateral Damage by Bianca Sommerland - Free Book Online

Nicole. I don't like hitting you."
    My fault. Of course. I rolled my eyes as I ate the sandwich. If I'd just obey, everything would be peachy keen. I'd never be smacked around or raped—
    The bread and peanut butter clumped up in my throat. I washed it down with the milk. While Vince brought the tray to the dresser, I reclined and plumped up the pillow under my head. "I'm sorry."
    "No, you're not." He sighed and came to lie beside me on the bed. "But you will be."
    About a foot separated us, but tension made the distance seem greater. He stared up at the ceiling, and I watched him, wondering if there was any way I could get through to him.
    "Why did you bring me up here, Vince?"
    He rolled over to face me. "After what happened . . . I didn't think you should be alone."
    "Because you slapped me?" No. That was after.
    "That was necessary." His lips drew into a hard line. "But what Cyrus did . . . ."
    I held my breath. Don't get your hopes up!
    "He shouldn't have. It taught you nothing."
    "Are you saying he was wrong?"
    His glare made me shift my gaze to the shadowed wall. He put his hand on my waist and drew me up against him. "I didn't say that."
    Eyes shut tight, lashes wet, I nodded. I'd expected too much, too soon.
    Vince grunted, and then held me while he tugged the blanket out from beneath us, using it to cover us both. He pressed my head to his chest, his hand splayed over my cheek. "But he was."
    It's a start. Each inhale, each exhale, stuttered in and out as I made myself relax.
    Right now, I was where I needed to be with him. I had to believe it. But this is good. This is very good.
    And an open mind was all I'd ever needed.

Chapter Six
    "Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, that can denote me truly. These indeed seem , for they are actions that a man might play." I took a gulp from the water bottle Vince handed me and then took a deep breath. "But I have that within which passeth show, these but the trappings and the suits of woe."
    Alrik's pencil slipped from his slack hand, rolled off his desk, and then hit the floor with a soft click.
    I jumped, making my chair squeak and startling Alrik awake. He gaped at me as I covered my mouth to smother a sob.
    Vince rose smoothly from the chair he'd pulled beside mine and went to pick Alrik up. His tone was light as he carried the boy from the room. "Naptime, buddy.
    We'll continue after dinner."
    Alone in Cyrus' dark office, I thought back on the week I'd spent failing to get Alrik interested in Shakespeare. Cyrus had told me through Vince I had two weeks to prove myself. For Alrik to choose me. So far I'd tried everything from using sock puppets to act out the parts with the voices that had been so popular in the daycare, to bribing the boy with the sweet treats Vince provided. But Alrik refused to even attempt to sound out the simple words from the small passages I showed him—he just couldn't get into the story. Not that I blamed him.
    He was five. He couldn't read. He wasn't going to start with this.
    Training with Vince showed much more promise. He'd avoided anything sexual, insisting I needed time to heal after . . . anyway, things were going well. Most of what he taught me seemed like basic rituals. Positions and such. Going through the motions took me away to a peaceful place, where all I had to do was respond to Vince's commands. Where all I wanted was the warm look he gave me that told me I was doing well.
    I wanted to be in that place now. Vince told me eventually I'd have to learn to anticipate what was expected of me. That confused me at first—how the hell was I supposed to know what he wanted if he didn't tell me? But then I started to notice the little changes in his expression before he gave instructions. We went through the same routines. When we ate together, I had to wait for him to give me permission before I started. If he left the room, he asked me to kneel when he returned . . . .
    Sliding from my chair, I lowered to my knees and then