ELI
I could feel the heaviness in the air as the room fell silent, the men watching in tense anticipation. My heart raced, my breath came in shallow, panicked gasps. Damir stood in the center of the room, his gaze flickering toward me before settling on the man who had just spoken. Philip.
"Strip."
It was a command. I could hear the authority in the words, the sick satisfaction in Philip's voice as he issued it, and I knew that Damir didn't have a choice.
Damir's hands clenched at his sides for a brief moment before he slowly began to undress, his motions deliberate, stiff with a kind of resignation that gnawed at my insides. I couldn't look away, though I wanted to. My eyes locked onto him, and I tried to convince myself it was for him because he was my protector, and no matter what, I had to watch him.
Lian was sobbing now, his cries harsh and loud, but I couldn't tear my gaze from Damir. Philip smirked, watching him closely as Damir removed his shirt, his pants, Everything piece by piece, until he was standing before him bare. The sight of him, so vulnerable, so exposed, made something twist painfully in my chest. Damir never showed weakness, never. But now, he was forced to, and I hated Philip for it.
My breath caught in my throat as Philip walked forward, slow and deliberate, his eyes locked onto Damir's body. A cruel, twisted glint gleamed in his eyes as he reached out and cupped Damir's cock , the touch predatory, and my stomach lurched. He was taunting him. And I was the target.
"Look at him," Philip said, his voice loud and mocking, "Look at him, Eli. This is your lover, the man you adore. Is this what you want?" He gestured to Damir, who stood motionless, eyes fixed on the floor, not meeting anyone's gaze.
I felt a lump form in my throat, but I refused to give in. I wouldn't let Philip break me. I wouldn't let him see how deeply this was hurting me. I tried to focus, to think clearly, but everything was falling apart.
But something doesn't add up, the acid….the pain in my throat, the burning sensation that had almost driven me mad earlier….seemed to have dulled somewhat, but the confusion still gnawed at me. If that had really been acid, I wouldn't have been alive. I would've been dead, gone, reduced to nothing but a cold body. It had to have been something else, some cruel trick Philip was playing on me.
But why?
I couldn't even finish that thought before Philip turned his attention back to me, his eyes glinting with malicious delight. "Oh, poor Eli," he mocked. "Did you really think you're so special to him? You thought if he defiled you he would cherish you? He's never cared about you the way you care about him. You're a just a hole to ease the hunger of his huge dick,Eli."
His words were venomous, each one a sharp blade aimed at my heart. I wanted to scream, to fight, to lash out at him for what he was saying, but all I could do was sit there, powerless, as the tears started to fall freely. My vision blurred, my chest tightening as the weight of his words hit me like a physical blow.
"I can see it in your eyes," Philip continued, his voice growing louder, more smug. "You're breaking, aren't you? You thought you had him, didn't you? But one thing damir can never do was forget about me. He was never yours to begin with. He has always been mine."
I could feel the bile rising in my throat. It was all too much, the humiliation, the anger, the confusion. But there was something inside of me, some small flicker of hope, that told me that none of this was real. That Damir would prove Philip wrong. He had to. He couldn't be… like this.
But then, Philip did something that made my entire body freeze.
He took a step closer to Damir, his eyes never leaving mine. He cupped Damir's dick again, this time with more force, his hand sliding down, and I couldn't look away. My body trembled with anger and disgust, and my mind screamed at me to do something, anything to stop this, but I couldn't move. I was paralyzed.
Damir stood there, his eyes still not meeting mine, and I felt something crack deep inside me. Something I didn't want to acknowledge, but it was there…growing, twisting in my chest. Did Damir still care about Philip? Could he still have feelings for him after everything? After all that had happened between us?
Philip's fingers were working on Damir's groin now, tugging at them. Damir didn't resist. He didn't stop him. I could feel my chest tighten with each passing second. My heart was breaking, piece by piece. The man I love, he was letting this happen.
But then, something even worse happened. Philip suddenly stopped and dropped to the ground, his body shaking….he was sobbing and then started crying. And I couldn't even register the shock on his face because all I could do was watch in disbelief.
"I'm so tired of loving you, Damir," Philip sobbed, his voice shaky, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "I tried to move on, I really did. But I can't. I can't forget you." He dropped to his knees in front of Damir, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything."
Damir stood there, frozen, his face expressionless as Philip clung to him, apologizing, his voice laced with desperation. I wanted to scream at him, tell him to stop, to push Philip away, but I couldn't. My words were stuck, frozen in my throat.
And then, to my horror, Philip turned the gun he had been holding in his other hand pointing at me toward his own head.
"I'll end it, Damir. I'll kill myself. You've made me like this," he sobbed, his hand shaking as he pointed the gun at his temple. "I can't live without you."
I knew Philip was broken, but I didn't expect this. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what Damir would do. But in that moment, I knew one thing for sure…Damir was cold-hearted. He wouldn't stop him. He wouldn't care.
I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the sound of the gunshot, for the moment Philip's life ended. But to my shock, Damir did the unthinkable.
He reached forward, grabbing Philip's wrist, and stopped him.
The room went completely still. No one moved. No one spoke. I couldn't understand it. Damir… had stopped him?. He hadn't let Philip kill himself. He hadn't let him go through with it.
My mind spun, everything inside me unraveling at the seams. What was happening? Damir… still had feelings for him. Didn't he?
Lian, who had been watching helplessly from the corner, finally snapped. He sat up almost racing to damir , his voice, raw with pain and betrayal, filled the air like a jagged knife. "WHAT THE FUCK, DAMIR!" he screamed, thrashing against the two men holding him. "YOU'RE STOPPING HIM?! AFTER EVERYTHING?! AFTER WHAT HE DID TO ELI?! YOU'RE A FUCKING COWARD!"
One of the guards slapped him, hard.
"SHUT UP, PRETTY BOY. YOU WILL BE RUINED IF YOU DON'T BEHAVE."
Lian staggered backward, his body thrown off balance by the impact, and a red mark bloomed across his cheek. His face twisted with a mixture of pain and disbelief, but he didn't stop. He didn't let the slap deter him. If anything, it fueled him further.
"You're a monster!" Lian screamed at Damir, his voice cutting through the silence, raw and broken. "You always have been! You've hurt Eli and him You'll never be able to heal Eli, Damir, never!"
I could feel my breath catch in my throat as Lian's words shattered what little control I had left. Since I met him he had always been the one who protected me when I couldn't protect myself. He had stood by my side in the darkest of moments, and now, seeing him like this, seeing him in pain because of me, I felt the weight of it all pressing down on me. The guilt was overwhelming.
Then, as if to confirm everything that had been building, something happened that I could never have prepared for.
Philip dropped the gun.
The gun that had been pointed at his own head. The weapon he had once threatened to end his life with. The weapon that had filled the room with a sense of impending doom. It hit the ground with a hollow thud, and in that instant, everything seemed to slow down. Philip's eyes widened in shock, a flicker of realization flashing through them, but then his gaze turned back to Damir, his face contorting with some kind of desperate hope.
And then he did it…. again .
He stepped forward, his body shaking, and wrapped his arms around Damir's neck. He pulled Damir close with a fierceness that made me sick to my stomach. Damir didn't resist….not even a little. I watched in utter disbelief as Philip kissed him.
The kiss wasn't passionate. It was raw, desperate. It was a kiss that spoke of years of longing, of twisted obsession. It was everything I didn't want it to be. Everything I feared.
Damir stood motionless, as though paralyzed by the moment, his eyes not meeting mine. He didn't stop Philip. He didn't push him away. He just… let him.
My chest constricted painfully as I watched, feeling something inside me crumble into nothing. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. I wanted to run, to escape this twisted scene, but my legs were frozen, my body locked in place. The world was spinning around me, and I was helpless to stop it.
Tears blurred my vision, my body shaking with rage and heartbreak. How could this happen? How could Damir do this to me? He had kissed me, had made love to me, promised me everything, and yet here he was, allowing Philip to kiss him like nothing had ever happened between us.
I was nothing. I was invisible. I was a fool.
But then, just as quickly as it had started, it all came to a sudden halt.
Everything changed in an instant.
A loud crack split the air.
The sound was so sharp, so horrifying, it almost didn't register in my mind. But when I looked again, my heart sank into my stomach, and I felt the world shift beneath me.
Philip fell backward, his body collapsing like a broken doll. His head twisted at an unnatural angle, and the sight of him lying there, lifeless, his face frozen in shock, sent a wave of pure horror coursing through me. My breath hitched in my throat as the reality of what had just happened began to sink in.
Damir had done it.
Damir had killed him.
I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. The weight of it crushed me, and for a moment, all I could do was stare at the lifeless form of Philip, sprawled on the floor like some discarded toy.
My mind raced, trying to comprehend what I had just witnessed. The blood that pooled around Philip's head from his nose and ear was dark and thick, staining the floor beneath him. His eyes were wide open, staring into nothing, a twisted expression frozen on his face.
Damir, still standing, his body tense and unmoving, was the only one who hadn't reacted to what had just happened. His face remained impassive, his eyes distant. He had done it, he had snapped Philip's neck with a single, precise movement. And I could see it in the way Damir held himself now, the way he didn't even flinch at what had just occurred. It was as if nothing had changed. As if Philip's life had meant nothing.
But to me… to me, everything had changed.
The man I had love, the man I had given my heart to, had just kissed another man and taken his life in a blink of an eye without flinching and….I didn't know who he was anymore.
Lian was silent now, his mouth hanging open in shock. The other men in the room were just as still,unfazed as if it's a usual occurrence. The world had gone eerily quiet, as though time itself had paused in the wake of Damir's actions.
And then, finally, Damir spoke.
His voice was low, cold. "He was a problem. And now he's not."
It was as if he had killed without thought, but with emotions. It was as if Philip's life had meant nothing and something to him at the same time.
But that wasn't what tore at me. What broke me in that moment was realizing the truth….the horrible, undeniable truth that I had been blind to.
Damir still cared for Philip.
I was nothing but a fool who had thought he could replace someone who had been in Damir's life long before me. Someone who had been the one Damir truly loved.
And now….?