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Asigh escapes me as the hot water begins to do its job.Thewater sluices down my face, washing the dried blood away, turning the water a garish, dark pink as it runs in little rivulets down my body.Thecolor clashes with the freckles that liberally dot my entire body.

Idon’t dare linger, especially sinceIhave no clue ifRobertis still home.Showersex is one of his favorite things because of the easy clean up.Grabbinga towel off the counter,Irefuse to look in the vanity mirror asIwearily walk passed it to focus on the task at hand.Igingerly begin to clean myself up, ignoring the slight tug of the delicate chain that connects my nipples, navel and hood piercings together.Somethingelse that was forced on me byRobert.Itwas his way of reiterating that my body doesn’t belong to me; it belongs to him, and it is his to do with as he chooses.

ThepunishmentRobertmeted out against me last night is one of the worst in a while.Especiallysince he has aguestcoming over tomorrow, and more specifically, sinceI’llbe the entertainment for the night…and if he wants, possibly the entire weekend.It’salways hard to tell how longRobertwill allow his friends toplaywith me.Thesick bastard gets off on letting his cronies rape me in front of him.

AllIcan think is that his temper got the best of him last night.Henormally refuses to let anyone see me looking less than perfect.Thethought that he is willing to allow others to see me in this state is alarming to say the least.Becausethere’s no way any of the swelling in my face or body is going to dissipate it the next twenty-four hours, it means things are changing, and that never ends well for me.

Lately,Roberthas been acting like he no longer cares to keep up his charade in front of his lackies.Ifhe is allowing them to see me like this, then he has far worse plans in store for me.Possiblymore abhorrent than whatI’veendured for the entirety of our farce of a marriage.

There’sno wayI’mgoing to continue to exist like this.Ijust can’t do it anymore.ThesituationI’min now may be my own fault, asRobertis just one of the many bad decisions in my life, but he is slowly, insidiously killing me.Ithink he’s growing tired of me, and that could be good or bad.

Thevery thought makes my stomach cramp in disgust.

HeknewI’dnever tellRubywhat was happening to me, especially sinceIdid everything in my power to keep her from his sphere of influence.Hehas tortured me for years with the threat of tracking my sister down … making me watch as he broke her in front of me.Theonly thing that has stopped him is my continued obedience and the fact that he hasn’t quite figured out how to pull off having a wife and a mistress, while also keeping his flawless “family man” public persona yet.

Ifhe were seen with another woman, it would drastically affect his poll numbers during elections, and the only thing he loves more than sexual torture, is power.

So,Ifinish my shower, dry myself off, and put on my softest, comfiest pajamas.ThenIclimb into bed, praying that he is gone for the day and thatIcan get some rest.

Reachingfor my cell phone that is on the bedside table,IrealizeRobertmust have picked it up from where it landed after he grabbed me.Igather what little bit of courageous spiritIhave left and do something that, if he finds out, will either make him kill me or beat me within an inch of my life.Idownload a texting app and send a message to the only person in this world that really, truly loves me.

Asteenagers, we had a safe word.Ifwe were on a date and a guy was making us feel uncomfortable, all one of us had to do was call and say the word and the other would come immediately, so this is a message onlyRubywill understand.EvenifRobertis still tracking my phone usage, he shouldn’t have been able to see this brand-new app or this one short message thatI’lldelete once it’s sent.Isend up a prayer thatRobertis not monitoring my phone.

Themessage simply says:BoudreauxandThursday.

ChapterThree

ROWAN

It’sThursday,a day that has become synonymous with pain, degradation, and betrayal.Imust sayIhateThursday; it’s the worst day of the week by far.Mostfolks hateMondays, but not me.Theyare a day of reprieve after my weekend, which begins most of the time on a fuckingThursday.

AsIlay here in bed, basking in the early morning sunshine streaming in through the bedroom window, it feels like a lifetime has passed sinceItalked toRubyonTuesday.Aftermy punishment,Robertroughly woke me up as he slid into bed that night, telling me that he would allow me to stay in bed all day the next day,Wednesday, to “recover and think about whatIhad done toearnmy punishment.”

Howkind …Not!

Thankfully,Robertwas far too busy today with his political duties to watch over me, and the help isn’t permitted in our bedroom while he’s out of the house.Thathas certainly worked to my advantage, sinceIlook and feel like death warmed over.Notto mention this quiet time has allowed me to once again try to find a way to escape this hell without endangering my sister further.

Duringthe early years of our marriage,Roberthad duplicated my phone on various devices that only he had access to; specifically, his smartphone, tablet, and laptop.Forwhatever reason, roughly eight months ago, he removed that other tracking software, only monitoring my phone calls now.

Ifhe was still tracking my phone on any other level, he would have already confronted me about the textIsent toRubyyesterday.SinceIhaven’t seen or heard from him sinceTuesdaynight, it’s safe to say that he’s unaware of whatI’vedone.Thankfully, his side of the bed was cold and empty whenIfinally got out of bed yesterday morning, and again this morning.Although,Idid hear him in the hallway earlier instructing the staff to leave me alone, only to be interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone.

Ashe was walking away,Iheard him say that he will be out of the house for an hour, maybe two, this evening and that they could do as they wished with me.Theonly person he would grant that kind of carte blanche power to is his best friend,Mark.Thismeans he’ll be gone for part of the festivities, andMarkis not nearly as intelligent asRobert.Iclose my eyes as his words sink in; the one momentI’vebeen praying for is finally in front of me.JustwhenIknowIcan’t take it anymore, this path is laid before me.Iknow this will be my one and only chance to escape.IfIfail and get caught,Robertwill surely find a way to dispose of me secretly.

Maybethere is a higher power, andI’mfinally getting a bit of good luck after all the years of shit.Robertalienated me from everyoneIloved years ago.AnyfriendsIhad before our marriage are nothing more than a fond memory now.Robert, at that time, gently told me that they were not quite up to his level in society, andIneeded to start cultivating new friends with the wives of his business associates.

Thatendeavor did not go well, much toRobert’saggravation.NoneofRobert’sclosest friends were married and the more respectable congressional representatives wouldn’t allow their womenfolk to associate with me.Theyknew something was amiss withRobert, they just didn’t know what, so they took extreme measures to ensure that their women were never left alone with myself orRobert.

It’sstill early enough in the day thatIwon’t seeRobert, or anyone else for that matter, for several hours.Traineddog thatI’vebecome,IknowRobert’sschedule forhisThursdays.Ishould be left alone until midafternoon or early evening.Itjust depends on when the festivities are to start, somethingI’mnever allowed to have any input in.

Whatit did though, was make it easier for me to make preparations for tonight.Iknow my sister is coming to get me, as evidenced by her dot on the map getting closer to me as the day progresses.Thisbeing the case,Idon’t have any time to lose.Imust get everything in place well before she gets here and beforeI’msummoned.

Throwingthe covers back,Icarefully ease my battered body out of bed, testing my mobility asIdo.Excludingmy ribs, eyes and lips, the rest of me is in fairly good shape, even ifIam covered in bruises in various states of healing.However, the slight wheeze at the end of my breaths is moderately concerning.Myregulatory medicine isn’t relaxing my bronchial tissue like it’s supposed to.Thisbreathlessness, while annoying, is my normal asthmatic response when my body has suffered too much.

Imake myself go through the motions today as if it were a regularThursday.Ican’t afford for anyone to guess whatIhave planned, not ifIwant to succeed.EspeciallysinceInever know who is onRobert’spayroll and who truly feels sorry for me, as all the workers always look the other way whenIapproach them.Withthat in mind,Iselect a dress thatRobertwill find appropriate for me to wear this evening.That’sto say, onlyheand his filthy companions are the ones who would find dresses like this to be appropriate outside of the bedroom.

Thatchore done,Imove on to the small collection of comfy clothesI’mpermitted.JustasIam rummaging through the drawers, a small, soft, black bag with white writing on it catches my eye.It’sthe little cloth bags that you get at large events, for grab bags and such.Iremember keeping this because it’s one of the few happy memoriesI’vehad over the last few years.Arare occasion thatRobertlet me out of the house to go do somethingIenjoyed, andIhad taken full advantage of his good humor.Theliterary event had been a bit of a drive down toTennessee, and the trafficawful,but it was one of the most wonderful experiences.

So.