Broken and Powerful

Chapter 21

JEDA POV

I don't know how it happened, but it did.

Everything seemed to go so slow, but fast at the same time.

One moment we were talking about our dark pasts, then the next minute his lips were on mine.

It was the best kiss I had ever experienced and made me feel something I didn't think I would ever feel. I wasn't sure what it was, but there was a knot in my chest and my stomach fluttered whenever I thought about it.

"You seem very interested in that plate," A deep voice says next to me and I jump. Looking over I see Richard sitting in the chair next to me. I look back at the empty plate and then back at him.

"It's just a really pretty plate," I say as my face heats up. He laughs at me and then looks over to where Stefano was talking to someone in the hallway.

After we came down, he heated me some leftovers from what everyone had for dinner. It was some chicken stir fry and it was so good I had another plate. Either that or I was just really hungry from not eating.

"Are you still hungry?" Richard asks and I look up at him again. He had a large bruise on his cheek and was leaning forward awkwardly.

"No, I'm good," I tell him slowly then remember what happened in the woods and glare at him.

"Shit," he says running a hand through his hair, not dropping eye contact. "I was hoping we were going to skip the whole being mad at me for drugging your thing."

"Nope, I'm fucking pissed," I state in a harsh tone. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself down but it didn't work.

"You fucking gave me a date rape drug! What the fuck is wrong with you?" I scream at him while standing from the chair.

"I'm sorry, okay?" He says putting his hands up while standing in front of me. I cross my arms over my chest. "I just wanted to get you back here safely so you would hear the full story and consider staying. And look, you are staying!"

"For now," I spit back at him while glaring hard. I saw Stefano coming over but ignored him and kept staring daggers.

"Hey, if anything I'm the victim here. Look what you did to me!" He says pointing to his face and then lifting his shirt to show a big purple bruise over his ribs. My eyes landed on it and I froze.

It looked exactly like the one Jerad gave me.

"I'm sorry," I say in a near whisper then look away from him. I grab my plate and then walk out of the dining room into the kitchen. Placing my plate in the sink, I grab the counter and squeeze my eyes closed. I stand there for a few minutes before I hear chatter enter the room.

Turning around I see a group of men entering the kitchen. They stop when they see me.

"Hey, it's Jeda right?" One of the guys asks and I nod my head.

"We're going to watch a movie, do you want to join us?" One of the guys asked while opening the fridge door and taking out a beer. His face was badly bruised...

"Uhm," I say avoiding eye contact and trying to find something else to look at.

"If you're avoiding eye contact because of my face it's alright. I would have done the same thing if a bunch of people cornered me," he says with a laugh and I look up to meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry about that. I just freaked out," I say rubbing my neck. He smiles at me and walks closer, extending a hand.

"I'm Liam," he says and I shake his hand with a small smile. "That's Josh and Alexander."