TW: This chapter contains content that might be upsetting, including mention of toxic behavior, torture, and abuse. Read at your own discretion.

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Roxanne knew what awaited her as she unlocked the door with her key and stepped in. Her heart was sinking already as her heels clicked on the floor, announcing her arrival.

Not long after, her brother came out and she flinched, expecting him to grab hold of her and break her like a rag doll. But surprisingly he did nothing and when she noticed what he was holding, her face paled further.

"What is this?" He threw the papers in her face, eyes blazing as he saw her pick them up.

It was a copy of the contract she had signed with Tim.

He had probably gone to her room in her absence and found it. It made her angry that he had no sense of her privacy but she tried to keep herself calm, thinking of how to handle the situation in the least damaging way.

But any way with Romero was going to end badly for her. She knew that very well.

"A contract... So that is why he wouldn't leave you alone even though I warned him so clearly. You had him bound by a fucking contract!"

She straightened, holding the papers in her hands. Her voice was nonchalant as she remarked, "it's a simple contract, Rom. I'm not fucking him."

"You are pathetic. When you realize you couldn't have someone close to you, you bind one with a wretched contract," he shook his head deliriously, "pathetic..."

"It's not like I asked him to be in love with me just for the sake of appearances. This relationship benefits us both, he can keep me safe and I can secure an alliance between our companies," she remarked, brushing off his accusations, "and we're not fucking around. I haven't even kissed him. I told you whether or not I ruin him is what I decide and guess what, I don't want to ruin him."

"Why?" He demanded, edging closer to her and her eyes darted around to assess if there was something close to her that she could use to defend herself with if he attacked. "What need do you even have of a bodyguard? You are my sister, who would dare endanger you?"

"What a shame, I'm your sister yet the biggest danger in my life has always been you," her words were venomous and the sting showed from his face.

He had not been expecting her to say that.

"So are you saying you picked him to protect yourself from me?" The idea in itself seemed ridiculous to him, thinking of the Wayne boy standing up to protect Roxanne from him.

"No," she placed the pages aside at the table but he yanked her away, his hand closing onto her hair and roughly pulling her back, "I picked him to protect me from someone else who still thinks it will be fun to mess with Romero Donnelley's sister. I've been receiving death threats for the past month."

He paused, "what?"

"But I didn't tell you because I wanted you out of here... Out of my life. For good," she pushed him off, freeing herself from his grip, "so just leave as soon as whatever you're looking after in Gotham gets done with. I don't want anything to do with you."

"You can't say that," his eyes pierced through hers as he took another step closer. Roxanne stepped back, making sure her hand was close to the glass vase she was intending to throw at him if he did anything.

"I should have said that years ago," she seethed, "I'm sick of you, Romero, sick... I wish you would leave me alone just like you have left Colin and Anya. I wish I only ever have to see you once a year or even less. Or even better, never at all."

Those words cut through him and just like every time he was angry, his hand gripped her arm, yanking her towards him, "you can't get rid of me, Roxy. You can't push me out of your life. Even after all I've done for you and you behave like a selfish, ungrateful brat."

She tore her arm out of his grasp, grabbing the glass vase and holding it up threateningly as she backed up, slowly edging closer to the door, "me, an ungrateful brat? You're the man-child who can't even stay with his own family because you're scared you'll end up hurting them."

A low growl escaped him and he closed the gap between them despite the vase that she threw at him. Blood trickled down his forehead as he plunged out the glass shard, twisting her arm painfully behind her back to hold her still.

"How dare you..."

"You know what, do us all a favor and kill me," she spoke but then a derisive laugh escaped her, knowing he couldn't do that, "but would you really be able to do that? If you killed me, who else would you go to when you need to take out your anger? Who else would you torture? You... You're pathetic, Rom, not me."

His jaw was clenched and she could feel the rage coursing through his veins. His grip was of steel as his hand dug into her arm, leaving yet another bruise on her fair skin.

She was used to it. It hurt but she knew it would fade, only to be replaced by new ones.

But then the glass shard dug into her back as he dragged it down leaving a cut starting from her shoulder and going down diagonally to her waist. Tears filled up in her eyes as she tried to suppress the pain, training her mind to focus on the things in her life that could distract her from the pain.

And unlike earlier, she wasn't able to find anything to focus on. The pain was very much real and she couldn't hold in the gasp as the shard was positioned over her throat next.

Romero's hand was cut up too but her words had driven him off to the edge, his teetering self-control evaporating. "Maybe I will kill you... What good have you been to this world?"

"Kill me and then Anya will be next, then Colin... You will kill us all, you monster!"

His anger made him blind and she knew that very well. Provoking him by bringing Colin and Anya into that situation enraged him and she took one last chance to free herself from him.

Digging her heel into his feet, she freed herself from his grip, pushing him back. Even she was shocked at her own reaction as he fell back, crashing through the coffee table.

She could hear police siren's in the distance and her eyes widened in shock to see what she had done. Romero was trying to get up but he was injured and her vision was getting blurred as she was losing blood too from the deep cut on her back.

"I won't let you go, Roxy... I will get you back for this!"

His voice echoed around her but she stumbled out of her heels, making a run for the exit. She pushed open the door to see police vans parked outside. Close by was Tim's car and seeing him, her pace quickened.

He had quickly come forward to catch her before she could fall, his hands feeling the blood trickling down her back and eyes widening in alarm. The police teams entered the residence while Tim carried Roxanne to the car, seeing that she had fainted the second she had the assurance that he was holding her and would keep her safe.

Tim knew it was a bad idea to send her back to her brother when he would clearly have been seething in anger and it showed from the way she had been treated. He had called the police though he knew he was taking a huge risk and if things weren't the way he suspected, he could get in trouble for complaining against a civilian without proof.

But his assumption had turned out to be right. Romero had been hurting her and if he hadn't shown up, things could have gotten worse.

Looking down at her in concern, there was only one thought stuck in his head. 

He had to take her to the hospital.

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