47
Summer trailed her fingers over the scars on his back. “See those scars? Those are my marks. I have superb skills with a whip. Don’t I, Gage? He’s weak, Isis. Gage started this game, and I finished it. He had to bring his sick fetishes into our bed. It sickened me. How he begged me to submit and play his sick games. Until I realized something. He didn’t have to have to be dominant. He would do anything to keep me as his wife. I saw his weakness. Family. I could be the one to take control by threatening the one thing he cherishes most.”
Summer stood manically, running her hands together, watching him bow to her again so easily.
Isis kneeled next to him, running her hands over his back and pulling down his shirt to save him some humility. “You beat him? Did you abuse your husband? You did this to him?”
“It scared him to try things that brought real pain. His silly notion about not hurting people unless in the ring. He's too scared to be a man. I taught Gage what genuine pain is. He loved the pain I brought him. Even though he would cry like a child when my leathers met his burning flesh. I gave him what he wanted. All he had to do was switch the roles. And sweet Isis, he did so so willingly.” Summer smirked, toying with Isis’s emotions.
“Summer, that is not how it works. You abused him. Gage knows how to control his urges. You’re just a monster. Being submissive and dominant must be about trust. Not to want to hurt the one you’re with. You didn’t love him. You used him. When you were done with him, you moved on.”
“I needed a real man, Isis. Not this week pathetic, nothing.”
“We have what you’ll never know. Love. That’s what Gage and I have. You’ll never understand that.”
Summer grabbed Isis, pulling her up by her hair, from the floor.
“You are just as weak as he is. I should make you my sub, too. I would enjoy using my whips on you. I bet you make a good canvas for my art collection.”
Seeing Summer hurting his queen, Gage pushed through his trauma and shoved the woman to the floor. Struggling forward, he grabbed Summer by the neck, ready to hit her, drawing back his fist.
“Gage, no! It’s what she wants. Don’t do it.”
Summer laughed and threw up her foot, kicking him in the face with her stiletto heel. Gage fell backward, grabbing his nose as Isis ran to his side, trying to stop the bleeding.
“It’s okay, Gage. I’m here.”
Summer started for her, and Gage shuffled to his feet, standing tall between them. Taking on the role of a fierce protector to stand for his queen. He had to muster up the strength to stop the pain she was witnessing. The real Gage came from deep within him. He realized he was a changed man now. Isis changed him; for the better. Regaining the strength he once had, Gage walked up to Summer, blood gushing down his face as if he felt no pain.
Her eyes turned to fear when Summer saw his menacing expression. This was not the Gage she had worked so hard to destroy. This was a man protecting the one he loved.
“I’m no longer under your control. I belong to no one. I own no one. I give the one thing that you tried so hard to destroy, to that woman.” Pointing at Isis. “My heart belongs to her. This is over.”
Summer tried to keep a facade of power. For the first time in her life, she felt fear in Gage’s presence. In a shaky voice, she tried to hold her ground. “Look at you both. Pathetic.” She started toward him.
“Stay away from him. He won’t hit a woman, but I sure as hell will.” Isis stepped between them, finding strength she didn’t know she possessed. She was protecting what was hers.
Breaker walked in behind Summer, rubbing his hands together. “Do I get her, Master?”
Summer huffed. “Take her. Gage is no threat to me.” She said the words but was afraid that was no longer true.
Breaker went to grab Isis, and Gage lunged, knocking him to the ground. Punch after punch, the men fought.
Summer stood watching like it was just entertainment for her. The truth was, she didn’t want Gage. She just wanted to hurt him. Keep control over him so no other woman would want him. Once she heard he was dating someone else, Summer’s jealousy took over.
Isis tried to stop the fight. Screaming for help. “HELP! PLEASE? SOMEONE HELP!”
Isis tried to pull Breaker from Gage, and the Justice crew ran in with Wraith and Cyrus behind them. They had been waiting outside in case Gage needed their help and heard Isis’s shrill screams echo down the halls. Everyone in IWX knew how abusive Summer was verbally, but not to the full extent of how far she had gone to destroy who Gage once was. No one spoke of it, but it was clear Gage had endured a lot during their time together.
The men stopped the brawl, and Breaker pulled away from their grips.
Cyrus rushed over, helping Gage from the floor. Seeing his friend was bleeding profusely, but somehow seemed stronger than he had in years, he said, “I got ya, buddy.”
Before anyone could react, Breaker was on his knees, bowing in the same fashion Gage had moments before at Summer’s feet.
Cyrus looked at him like he was crazy. “What the fuck?”
Davis stepped in, seeing the commotion. “What the hell is going on here?”
Isis ran to Davis in a frantic plea for his help. “She —”
Gage stopped her. “Isis. Please. It’s okay.”
Isis looked over her shoulder at him, and Gage shook his head no. She understood. This humiliation would be more than he could handle if people heard about what just transpired.
Gage stepped forward, holding his nose to stop the bleeding. “Summer and Breaker. He let her in.”
Davis narrowed his eyes, looking down at Breaker, then back to Gage. He patted him on the shoulder as if understanding what was happening. “I’ll take care of it, Gage. She’s not getting by with this again. It’s on IWX time. I can take care of things from here.”
“Thanks, Davis.”
Davis’s bodyguards were at the door, and he instructed them to escort the intruders from the room.
Isis looked around the room, full of men, in utter disbelief at what just happened. Watching Gage, he looked like he changed somehow. Bloody and battered, but at peace.
He looked at her and dropped his eyes. He could only imagine what she must think of him now.
“Can you all leave us? I need to tend to Gage.” Isis straightened her shoulders, ready to do what she needed to do. Take care of her man.
They all nodded and left the room.
Wraith and Cyrus stopped next to her. “You okay?”
“She attacked us. Breaker, too. Just go make sure this doesn’t happen again. Tell Jacob and the guys it wasn’t their fault. I’m sure they’re worried.”
The brothers hugged her and walked out, closing the door behind them. Isis went to Gage, pulling him to the shower room to clean up. They said nothing to each other while she tended to him over the bathroom sink.
Once the bleeding stopped, Gage couldn’t bring his eyes to meet hers. His nose was swollen and eye bruising was nothing compared to the embarrassment he felt. The thought of the woman at the center of his world, seeing what she had just moments before, was killing him.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Gage. She abused you. You have me now to care for you. We have each other.”
“You must think I’m weak. I let a woman beat me. I never fought back because —,” he shook his head in disgust.
“Because you don’t like to hurt women. I understand. You were trying to keep your marriage together. No one can blame you for trying to make a marriage work. Abused people don’t always know how to fight back. You can be tough, but in that situation, no one knows what they would do. Men become abused too. It’s not your fault she wasn’t willing to meet you halfway.”
“Almost every day for over a year, she tried to destroy me. She took my sexual desires and turned them into something evil and disgusting. All I wanted was to bring something exciting into our marriage. She treated me like I was some sort of deviant,” Gage sighed, still looking at the floor.
He was afraid if he looked at Isis, the shame he felt would make her want to walk away.
Isis lifted his chin. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to think I was less than a man. I allowed it because I never believed in abusing a woman. I loved her back then. She did everything to destroy me because she knew I loved her. I would take whatever she dished out just to have a family. It was not just physical abuse. It was emotional too. Once she found out about my fetish, she used it against me. She threatened to expose me if I ever defied her. My family. My friends. IWX. They would have been humiliated because I couldn’t control my sexual desires. I had to protect them. The media would have been relentless. I’m so sorry, Isis. Please don’t leave me. I know I’m a fraud. I never lied about loving you.”
“You are not a fraud, Gage. You are everything to me. I’m yours, always. When one of us hurts, we both do.”
“I never knew what actual love was until I met you. You changed me, Isis.” Gage tried to blink the tears away.
Isis touched his cheek, gently kissing each tear away. Gage fell into Isis’s arms, holding her as if she was his lifeline. In many ways, she was.
