New York.
Caleb’s study.

I walked in.
He glanced up briefly.
“I’m busy.”
I smiled.
How rude this Caleb was.
I came closer and sat down on his lap.
Caleb grunted in irritation.
“I’m busy. Not now.”
I pressed down lightly on his shoulders, forcing him to tear himself away from the laptop.
Caleb crossed his arms over his chest.
I smiled.
And kissed the corner of his mouth.
Caleb smiled, but immediately pulled himself together.
He started pulling me off his lap.
“Stop it. I said I’m busy.”
I wrapped my arms around him from behind.
He froze.
I smiled.
And slipped my little hands to his neck and chest.
Caleb leaned back in the chair.
I walked around the chair.
“May I?”
Caleb spread his hands.
As if to say, you are not going to leave me alone anyway.
I thought that this bastard did not appreciate my tenderness at all.
He simply doesn’t know how — Brain.
I nodded.
True.
He does not have that skill.
I nodded to myself.
Caleb wrapped his arms around me.
And started growling into my neck.
I arched.
Caleb grabbed my jaw and started kissing me.
My head began to spin.
But I tried to pull myself together.
“Easy, darling. Easy.
Please.”
I was breathless with desire.
“Easy, sweetheart.”
Caleb began to growl low.
And grabbed my hair.
“You will do as I say.”
I smiled.
“Of course, darling.”
Caleb nodded with satisfaction.
And sank his teeth into my neck.
I pulled back.
My eyes nearly rolled back.
I did not know how to breathe.
“Caleb, darling…”
He started getting angry.
“You don’t want this?!”
“Caleb… my God, please. We are not at war. I am not attacking you.”
He relaxed a little, but his brows were still drawn together.
“Darling.”
“I see.”
In a rage, he pulled me off his lap.
“I’m busy. Leave.”
I bit my little finger.
Caleb could be such a teenager sometimes.
Such a grump.
“Sweetheart, please.”
Caleb snorted, staring at the monitor.
“Leave.”
I smiled again.
“You are very rude, Mr. Caleb.”
“Your own fault. Get out.”
I came closer and began to purr.
Caleb started to melt and relaxed just a little.
I lightly licked his ear.
And gently bit his earlobe.
Caleb roared.
And with one sharp movement, pulled me back on top of him.
He looked at me for one second.
Then kissed me.
Pulled back.
And slammed his fist hard onto the desk.
I jumped in fear.
Caleb shoved the chair back and, with one brutal motion, planted me on the desk.
He caught my jaw in his hand.
And squeezed.
“You… you… you will do as I say.”
Caleb said it slowly and clearly, with effort, and with that unmistakable dominance of his.
I smiled.
“As you say, darling.”
My eyes flashed.
Caleb flew into a rage.
“Don’t you turn on those feminine little tricks of yours.
Do not dare manipulate me.”
I smiled again.
“As you say, darling.”
Caleb pulled back.
He was furious.
What game was she playing?
What was she about to pull now?
He started pacing nervously from corner to corner.
His beloved was shining.
She was smiling.
What was this witch planning?
She was playing with him.
Those big eyes of hers were shining.
What was she planning?
He came up to her and grabbed her jaw.
“Don’t you dare play with me.”
Caleb raised his hand.
He meant to tear that little smile off her face.
His beloved froze.
Caleb yanked himself back.
And shook his head.
Strange habits were crawling out.
Caleb nervously adjusted his collar.
No whiskey.
Couldn’t drink.
Couldn’t even smoke.
She had banned everything.
Damn witch.
Caleb grabbed her jaw.
And immediately dropped into the chair.
He loved this witch.
He was under her power.
He could not resist her.
If she wanted him to submit, he would.
I smiled.
“May I?”
Caleb nodded.
I sat on top of him.
And held him tighter.
I started stroking Caleb’s back, softly.
And kissing his hair.
“I am not plotting anything.”
Caleb tore me away with a jerk.
“I knew it. You are behaving like this on purpose.”
I bit my finger.
“No.”
“You.”
He grabbed my jaw.
“You want to fool me.
You want to play me.”
I shrugged.
“Yes.”
Caleb was speechless.
He choked on his rage.
“Damn witch.
I knew it.
I knew it.”
Caleb grabbed me by the throat.
And started choking me.
Then immediately yanked himself back.
And collapsed to the floor.
“What do you want?”
A smile spread across my face.
“I would like to have tea with you and for you to hold me.”
I rubbed my neck.
Caleb flushed.
“I’m sorry.”
I smiled.
“What else do I need?”
Caleb thought about it.
And got angry.
“I don’t know.
Get out. I’m busy.”
I smiled and left.
Kitchen.
Twelve minutes later, Caleb came in.
I turned away so he would not see my smile.
His hand was bleeding.
I understood: in his rage, he had broken something.
Silly Caleb.
What an unruly boy.
Caleb came up behind me and held me tightly.
I kissed his hands.
“My love.”
I turned to him.
“I am not at war with you.
If I manipulate you,
it means I want it to be better for you, but you will not agree directly.
So I have to find a way around.
Do you understand?”
He grabbed my jaw.
Froze.
And then kissed me hard.
He dropped his head into my hair.
“I love you, do you understand?”
I smiled.
Caleb grabbed me by the throat.
“I love you.”
I swallowed.
“I understand, darling.”
He shifted into a whisper.
“Don’t use this against me.”
And even quieter:
“Please.”
I started crying.
“Darling, love is safe.
Everything is all right.”
Caleb turned away.
“How would you know?”
I wanted to hold him.
“Get out,” he shouted.
“Get out. Get out of here.”
I stood motionless.
Caleb raised his hand.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Caleb lowered his hand.
“I love you, you idiot.”
I started crying harder.
“Don’t talk about me like that.”
Caleb drove his fist into the glass table and shattered it.
He hated himself for the roughness, the anger.
The cruelty.
For the very essence.
For the darkness.
Caleb turned and caught his beloved’s hands in his.
“Please forgive me.
I didn’t mean to.
Forgive me.”
He started crying.
“I’m sorry.
I’m sorry.”
I took a deep breath.
“Caleb, you pig.”
He cried, his face buried in his hands.
15:10
“Get dressed.”
I lifted my eyes.
“I don’t want to. I have a book. I want to finish it.”
Caleb shifted awkwardly.
“Please, get dressed.”
I looked at the beast.
And let out a deep sigh.
“Fine.”
He stood there and waited.
I went to pee.
Fixed my hair.
And put on a mini skirt and a sweet little blouse.
Heels and my favorite watch.
Oh, my bag.
My bag.
I came back to get my bag.
And through the window, I saw the car downstairs.
Roses all around it.
Probably the inside of the car was full of flowers too.
What was he planning…
I smiled.
Romantic.
That beast was a romantic.
I had only just gotten ready to leave when the doorbell rang.
Get ready — Brain.
I did not know where to look.
Where to expect the blow from.
Oh, those damn spirits.
Damn higher forces — Hades.
Yep.
And we fist-bumped.
Jess was at the door.
Holy hell.
I understood immediately what was happening.
I shot out like a madwoman.
“Jess.”
I quickly kissed her on the cheek.
“Michael?”
I started peeking over her shoulder.
“Is Michael with you?”
Caleb stared at me, adjusting his cufflinks.
Clearly displeased with my behavior.
Hades waved him off.
He is never pleased.
Yep.
“No,” Jess said.
I swore.
And immediately blushed.
“I’m so sorry.”
Jess smiled gently.
Move. There’s not much time left — Brain.
Oh, hell.
Caleb started rolling his neck.
I realized they were pushing him into Mode.
Holy heeeeell.
I quickly texted security.
Five.
No, seven.
Everyone here.
Immediately.
Jess.
I moved to protect her,
shielding her with my body
and backing away.
I spread my arms wide.
Caleb started closing in.
Jess began to shake.
Hades grabbed popcorn and stretched out on the sofa.
“Hey, boys, everyone over here. The show is starting.”
Jess started crying.
I got scared.
Poor thing — she was being thrown back into the same state she went into when her husband used to beat her.
Damn.
But you’re not our crybaby, are you, baby? — Mushu.
I swallowed.
Damn it, where is security?
I kept backing farther and farther away.
Everyone had taken their roles.
Caleb had become his own father.
Jess was Jess.
Holy hell.
He would knock me out with one hit.
Damn.
We kept moving backward, farther and farther.
And I remembered myself almost three years ago, shaking with fear, my coach standing opposite me.
“Get up.”
And it had been like that with Derek too. Well, with Nate. Derek was his inner part, after all… — Hades. — You remember, baby.
I swallowed.
Fuck, this was not the time for jokes.
Caleb was huge.
He was strong and very angry.
Damn it.
Darling, come on. Derek — I mean Nate… Hades pretended to be confused. Um, anyway, he didn’t kill us.
I swallowed.
Back then, he almost killed me.
I simply blacked out.
Otherwise nothing would have stopped Nate.
Holy hell, I did not take that into account — Hades.
I remembered what it had been like: Nate had thrown me into the wall so easily. Damn it, even if we factor in therapy, Nate and Caleb were roughly the same build, but Caleb had martial arts and a particular kind of cruelty added on top.
Damn.
He would kill me and Jess.
Oh, hell.
Hades snapped.
“Idiot. Why did you get involved with this damn psycho?
Stupid, stupid, stupid girl.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and shut all of them off.
I needed only Brain.
Not emotions.
Pull yourself together — Brain.
Copy — me.
Buy time.
God, but how?
Things — Brain.
Right.
I tried to feel around for anything I could defend myself with.
But Caleb would easily intercept it.
He would easily stop anything I tried to hit him with.
Even if it was a vase.
Distance — Brain.
Yes. At a distance, I could throw something. It would not stop him, but it would give me a couple of seconds.
I started calculating.
Dear God, this was Caleb’s apartment. I had not learned my way around here yet.
Bedroom — Brain.
Right.
We kept backing away, and Caleb was starting to lose patience.
He began moving faster.
I screamed.
“Fire.
Fire, fire.
Fiiiiire.”
Caleb turned instinctively.
I shoved Jess into the bedroom.
“No matter what happens, do not leave the bedroom.”
She was shaking.
I had to bypass her victim psyche.
A victim understands only violence — the words surfaced as if on command.
Psychotherapy.
Third year.
I slapped her across the face to snap her out of it.
“Do not come out of here!”
She clutched her cheek and nodded.
I swore and shut the door.
Caleb had already snapped back.
“Come here.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Come here, I said.”
Caleb switched to such a roar that I jumped.
Pull yourself together — Brain.
I nodded.
Come on, Nazokat.
As if this were the first time.
We had crawled out of this kind of hell before…
And suddenly, I felt amused.
No time to be sad.
Everything was fine.
And then the door was broken down.
Phew, boys.
Caleb used the confusion and closed the distance sharply. He grabbed me by the throat and started choking me.
Security immediately dragged him off me.
I gave Michael a nod.
“Hold him.”
“Where is Jess?” — Michael.
I figured stress was making him act like this, but I would still reprimand him later, so he would not dare break subordination.
“She is in the bedroom.”
Michael began to shake.
I realized he was angry at Caleb.
Which meant therapy would fail.
“Michael, send Rixton here.”
He nodded and headed toward the bedroom.
I called after him.
“You cannot take her away.”
He froze.
“But—no.
Miss, please, she needs me.”
I gathered my will into a fist.
God, I did not want to hurt the people dear to me, but therapy was therapy.
My voice turned iron.
“I said:
Send Rixton.
Do not insert yourself here.
Do it immediately.”
He flushed with shame.
And left.
I sat on the bar counter.
Took a deep breath.
And pulled myself together.
Dear God, the things I had to resort to.
I took a bottle and smashed it against the table.
And started screaming.
“Please, don’t, don’t.
Please, Caleb, don’t.”
And at the same time, I started throwing everything off the table,
creating the sound of blows and violence.
Finally, I squeezed my eyes shut.
And sliced into my calf.
Fuuuuuck, it hurt.
Oh Gooooood.
I bit my fist so Jess would not hear me.
“Luke.”
“Miss?”
“You have to hit me.”
He stared at me.
“Listen, I understand how this looks.”
And suddenly I found it funny.
There I was, with my bleeding calf.
Before that, I had been destroying everything in the kitchen like a madwoman, and now—
Dear God.
Because of people like me, rich people get called cuckoo.
“It has to be done, Luke.”
All this time, Caleb was still on his knees, furious.
His arms pinned behind his back.
Blood in his eyes.
Breathing pure fire.
His nostrils flared — he was ready to kill me.
“Luke.
One hit.
To the face.”
I thought of my beautiful little teeth.
“Just not too hard. But hard enough for blood. Aim for the gums. No, the nose. Do the nose.”
“But I can’t, Miss.”
Such a bore.
“Dan?”
His face spread into a silly little smile.
Excellent.
Baby, doesn’t it freak you out that we have someone in security who can hit a woman?
I shrugged.
Sometimes you need that kind too.
“All right, ready?”
He raised his fists.
And then he smashed me right in the nose.
Fuuuuuck.
God.
Owwwww.
Damn.
“Bastard.”
I pulled the non-lethal pistol from his holster and started shooting him in the chest.
“Asshole.”
I got so angry.
“Fucking bastard.
I told you not too hard.”
He lowered his eyes and doubled over in pain.
I spat out blood.
And wiped my nose.
What a piece of shit.
God, it hurt.
“Bastard.”
And looked in the mirror.
Excellent.
Now I was limping, with my face smashed up.
“Jess.”
And I went in to her, supposedly badly injured.
Barely able to stay on my feet.
“Jess.”
She started panicking and babbling incoherently.
She began pacing from corner to corner and muttering something.
I realized the whole performance had gone unnoticed.
Oh, damn.
Well then. We cut ourselves for nothing — Hades.
Yep.
I came closer so Jess could calm down a little.
Rixton came in.
“Miss.”
Phew.
Excellent.
We can begin.
Pull yourself together — Brain.
I straightened up.
Damn, my calf hurt.
My nose was bleeding.
Oh, hell.
Jesss.
Jeeeeess.
She finally turned.
“Listen, here’s the thing. I understand this is not that easy to grasp.”
Meanwhile I thought: how the hell was I going to explain all of psychology and therapy to her in a couple of minutes?
“Just.”
I pointed the edge of my hand toward Jess.
“Just.”
I began rocking my hand slightly.
“Just.”
Then in a whisper:
“Just.”
Even quieter:
“Just.”
And finally, Jess slipped into trance.
Phew.
You absolute beast. You can’t do that — Hades.
Screw off.
I kicked him.
So.
Jess was under hypnosis.
Caleb was furious.
Angry as hell.
Oh, he is so damn sexy like this — Ursula.
Soooo true — me.
Pull yourself together — Brain.
Damn.
I shook my head.
Come on, Ruzik. This is just therapy.
My beloved is not himself right now.
This is not entirely him.
This is just trauma.
He loves you.
He would never hurt you.
This is not him.
We need to get this shit out.
It has been begging to come out for a long time.
Come on, Nazokat.
There is an implant there.
A small chip.
Just rip it out, and that is it.
Come on. You can do this.
I wiped the blood away.
Let’s go.
“Jess.”
I raised my hand.
“Open your mouth.”
She obeyed.
I barely held back a laugh.
“Not literally.
Start talking.”
Caleb flew into a rage.
“Don’t touch her.
I will kill you, you fucking bitch.”
Well. We’re being insulted again — Hades.
Yep.
“So, Caleb, darling.”
He stared at me with a snarl.
“I’ll rip every hair out of your head.
I’ll strangle you.
You will die in your own blood.”
Hmm. And yesterday he said he loved us — Hades was filing his little nails.
“Nate.”
Caleb did not react.
“Derek.”
And he lifted his head.
Caleb’s face contorted.
Goosebumps ran over my skin.
“You bitch, you will answer for everything.”
Oooooh shit.
Oh shit.
Shiiiiit.
Dear God.
Now I would have to guide both of them.
I tried to breathe.
“Hand me the whiskey.”
Rixton handed it over.
I took a sip.
“All right, then.
Derek.”
I took another sip.
“Let Caleb go. First we need to clear out the mess with Caleb’s mother.”
“As you say.”
I understood it was sarcasm.
What an asshole.
Fine. So Nate first.
“Nate, darling.”
Caleb spat.
“You fucking bitch, you are not dear to me, and I am not dear to you.”
“Um. Uh. I see.
Derek.”
His face spread into the kind of smile maniacs have.
I sat on the bar counter.
And lowered my hand,
so Jess would sit too.
“What is it with Nate and his mother?”
“Guess, bitch.”
“I see…”
I tried to breathe deeper.
“You fucking bitch, you promised you would not hurt him. You promised you would not break his heart.”
I swallowed, and tears started pouring down my face.
“It is not my fault.
It just happened.”
“Bitch.”
Caleb jerked and broke free from security.
He immediately grabbed me by the throat.
Security dragged him off me again.
I tried to breathe.
“Derek.”
Tears were streaming down my face.
“I did not want to.
I truly did not want to.”
“Why did you leave him? Why? He loved you so much. So much.”
Tears started running down Caleb’s face.
“It just happened, Derek.”
Tears were pouring down my face.
“Please forgive me.
Forgive me, please.”
I was sobbing.
“You bitch.”
Caleb was sobbing, tears streaming down his face.
I did not know what to do with myself.
Damn it.
“Nate, I’m sorry.”
Derek nodded and disappeared.
Caleb went limp and collapsed.
I bit my lip, trying to hold myself together.
Damn it.
Damn it.
I called Sam.
He said he would come over.
I sat down on the floor and started crying.
Dear God, I was tired.
So tired of these two that I wanted to howl into the sky.
God, I was tired.
“Michael.”
“Miss.”
He was clutching the phone nervously.
“Take Jess with you.
Caleb did not touch her.
I was the one who slapped her. That was all.”
He nodded.
I gestured for security to put Caleb to bed and not take their eyes off him.
They nodded.
They laid Caleb, unconscious, on the bed.
I got so angry
that I started shooting at them.
“Careful, you fucking bastards. You could hurt him.
Damn you all.”
They nodded.
I went to sleep.