The entire room seemed to shrink to the space between him and Fannie. Bobby moved to protect her, his body a barrier between her and the chaos.
As he untied the gag from her mouth, Fannieâs cries pierced the air. âWhy did it take you so long?â
Her anguished voice shattered Bobbyâs heart. He embraced her, flooded with guilt. âIâm so sorryâ¦â
Fannie gripped his clothing tightly, finding solace in his embrace. The altercation around them dimmed into insignificance for her; nothing else mattered now.
Dulce scoured the room and grabbed an old shirt to cover Fannie. As she approached, one of the men seized her hair. âAh!â The discomfort in Dulceâs scalp ebbed quickly as she noticed Michael had already neutralized the threat.
âThank you, Michael.â
Michael looked puzzled. âYou know me?â
Still flushed, Dulce hurried to cover Fannie with a shirt, her voice filled with concern. âFannie, are you okay?â
Fannie nodded, feeling deeply wronged ever since Bobby had entered the scene.
âFifi.â Bobby gently lifted her. âWeâre leaving this place now.â
âOwââ Fannie cried out, wincing as her swollen ankle throbbed. Bobby glanced down at her ankle, now grotesquely enlarged, and his expression turned stern.
He had desperately hoped that Fannie would be safe. Unfortunately, not only had she been assaulted and nearly stripped by the men, but she was also physically hurt.
Bobby suddenly reconsidered his usual restraint against aggression toward women, realizing it was misaligned with his formidable reputation.
âTake care of her,â Bobby instructed Dulce. The perpetrators were restrained, and although Jett had sustained a cut, he remained silent about it.
Earlier, seeing Fannie weep in Bobbyâs embrace had deeply affected Jett. Despite having hurt Fannie in the past, she had never shown such vulnerability around him.
It was undeniableâFannie never loved him.
Selma was on the verge of slipping away unnoticed. She had snapped some humiliating pictures of Fannie, convinced that these would give her power over Fannie and the rest of the group. As long as Fannieâs reputation mattered to them, Selma believed they wouldnât dare retaliate against her.
Just as she comforted herself with these thoughts, a sharp pain shot through the back of her head, causing her to scream. She couldnât see her assailant before being forcefully thrown against the wall, collapsing to the floor with a thud. The impact made her feel as though her insides were destroyed. Gripping her stomach and coughing, Selma tried to recover, but Bobby approached, his anger palpable after witnessing Fannie gagged and helpless. He was determined not to let Selma off easily.
âYouââ
Selma started to speak, but Bobby quickly interrupted, forcefully pressing his sneaker-clad foot into her mouth, mockingly asking, âComfortable? Hmm?â
The silver details on his sneakers cut into Selmaâs mouth as he pushed deeper, leaving her with a bleeding and torn mouth. Her face twisted in excruciating pain, her mouth stretched to its limits, nearly causing her to gag, before Bobby finally pulled back his foot.
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