Jace's arms stiffened as he gripped onto my chin and forced me to look into his eyes. "Tell me," he demanded. "Who is she?"

I closed my eyes and let out a soft cry. "She's my aunt," I cried. "My father's sister."

Jace pulled me against his chest as my body trembled in fear. He ran his hands over the back of my head and pressed his lips against my hair. It made me want to cry even more. "I won't let them hurt you again," Jace said stiffly. "I promise," he whispered, his lips pressed into my hair.

I felt my heart stop at his words. I looked up into Jace's eyes as he reached down and wiped the tears off my cheeks. I wanted to believe it. I really did. "I wish I could believe that," I whispered.

Jace just sighed and held me closer.

"Oh… is that right?" The sloppy woman crushed her face against mine while pressing her sharp fingernail into my forehead. She suddenly pressed with so much force that it caused my neck to bend into my father’s shoulder. "You little bitch," she spat. "You owe me some damn money. That shit is not cheap."

I stiffened up and flared my nostrils as my father tightly gripped my hair and yanked me into the side of the bed. I attempted to reach out for the bedpost, but missed and ended up landing on the floor with my face pressed into the frame of the bed. I let out a soft cry as the pain shot through my body and caused my body to quake with fear. "Aunt Pam," I stammered. "I'm sorry."

Aunt Pam gripped a handful of her stringy hair and shook her head back and forth. Then she bent down on one knee and looked me in the eye. Her eyes seemed distant and lifeless. "I don't give a shit." She turned away to face my hopped-up father. "Henry, I told you that you should've aborted that little bitch in the first place."

Then next thing I knew her rough hand connected with the right side of my swollen face. "I will get you back someday. You will pay for this shit one way or another.

"Avery."

I shook my head, in a daze, and looked up to see Stacy standing just inches from my face. She delicately brushed her blond curls from out of her worried eyes and then reached out to grab my arm.

Not wanting to be touched, I shook her arm off and ran my hands over my face. I was too shook up to handle being touched. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

Stacy pursed her pink lips and placed her hands in the front of her apron. She stared at me for a few moments before she pulled her hands out of her apron and held out the crumpled up letter. She looked down at it with a pained look on her face. "I'm sorry, but I needed to know what this letter said. You're my friend and I care about you."

My heart raced and I wanted to vomit.

She smiled weakly and placed the letter into my open palm. "What does that mean," she questioned. "The letter said 'they know where you are and you will always belong to them. Love Aunt Pam.' please tell me. Are you in some kind of trouble?" she questioned, with frightened eyes. "I'm here for you."

My eyes wandered down to the letter and my heart dropped down to my feet. At least that was what it felt like.

"I can't...," I mumbled. Then I ripped the letter up and shoved it back into the trash. I pushed it down to the bottom of the can and made sure that it was lost in the mess forever. "It's complicated and probably not worth your time. Just forget about it," I demanded.

"But-"

"I mean it." I cut in, looking up to see Winston poking his head out from the kitchen. His white hair covered most of his face as he attempted to hide. He thought he was slick. "I'm fine and we have work to do." I put on a fake smile and nodded my head. "We have a lot to do today. It's almost rush hour and Jace is depending on us."

Stacy gripped my wrist and pulled me over to the corner by the waitress station. Then she grabbed my chin with her other hand and forced me to look her in the eye. "Listen here. You can resist all you want, but I won't give up so easily." She paused and tilted her head to the right. "I care about you. Jace cares about you. You will tell me what is wrong," she demanded.

I forced my gaze away from Stacy's intense stare and looked down at my feet. I had never in my life had someone be so damn persistent and I wasn't sure how to handle it.

Suddenly, my heart started aching. It felt as if it was being crushed. I didn't know what to do, so I freaked out. "You want to know what's wrong?" I shouted. "I'm a worthless piece of crap that came from a worthless family. Don't waste your time on me. You're too good." I paused to choke back the tears. "Jace is too good"

Stacy's eyes went wide as she reached out and attempted to wipe the tears from off my face. It almost looked as if she were about to cry. "Avery-" 

"No! Don't," I breathed. "Don't worry about me. I've always known that this is all that I’ll ever be. Just a nobody." I slammed my fist onto the counter and then reached over, grabbing my purse off the waitress station, palms sweaty. "I'm out of-"

"Avery."

My heart stopped and suddenly it was hard to breathe. His voice always had that effect on me. It was like poison slowly running through my veins killing me bit by bit. Like a drug that I couldn't get enough of even though I was almost down to my last breath.

Jace took a step forward and grabbed my hand. He slowly trailed his fingers over my face and backed me into the wall. My heart stopped again if that was even possible. "You can't leave," he whispered. "I need you." His warm breath kissed my lips as he bit his bottom lip and placed both of his hands around my face. They were warm and soft to the touch. Too big for my fragile face, although I wanted to bury myself in them. "Breathe. There is no one here but the two of us. Breathe," he whispered.

I slowly took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut. I just wanted to disappear. I shook my head back and forth and fought back the tears. I hated looking weak. "I have to go," I said breathless. "I need to get away from here. You have to understand."

Jace pushed me harder into the wall so that I couldn't move at all. He took a deep breath and ran his thumb over my lip. "I can't let you leave," he stammered. "Not now that I have you closer to me than I ever thought to be possible. I want to take care of you." He pulled his hand away from my face and squeezed his hand into a ball. He looked as if he wanted to punch something, but he didn't.