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His hold tightened and Asha was starting to see stars flitting across her vision. “You’re my wife, a married Indian woman. Yet you go around with another man. An American,” Ravi answered angrily in Telugu. “You weren’t difficult to find. All I had to do was follow him to you. You disgrace me.”
Before, she would have trembled with fear, waiting for the first blow, which would be followed by many more, leaving her damaged and weeping on the floor. Now, anger began to swell up inside her, a rage for the man who had nearly broken her. “I’m no longer your wife. And I’m an American woman with Indian blood. Let go of me or I’ll have you arrested.”
Fight! Fight! Fight!
For the first time, Asha felt the instinct to fight for her life, for her sanity. At one time, all she had worried about was angering Ravi more, extending her beating. Now she wanted free, unable to ignore the feelings of hatred and fury that she had for the man holding her prisoner.
He laughed bitterly before announcing, “The police are already trying to arrest me. Your friends and family decided to poke their noses into my business, both personal and otherwise. I won’t go to an American prison. I will die. But you will die with me, little wife. You’ve decided our fate.” Ravi’s voice was deranged and desperate, and his breath reeked of alcohol.
Asha’s stomach dropped, wondering what Ravi was saying. Her family had pursued him? Had a warrant out for his arrest? Why? Questions flooded her brain, but her survival instinct was stronger. “I’m not your wife anymore. Let me go,” Asha rasped desperately. She yanked at the arm pushing on her trachea, making it difficult to talk or breathe.
“You die with me,” Ravi answered maniacally. “We married for life. You betrayed me.”
Pulling her arm back, Asha thrust her elbow into his body with as much force as she could muster, hoping to hurt Ravi enough to loosen his grasp. She followed that action with a stomp of her foot on his instep, but she already knew she wouldn’t do much damage without shoes.
“You dare to try to hit me?” Ravi howled, his arm lowering to capture her shoulders and arms in his grip.
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Asha gulped in breaths, grateful for the release of the death grip on her throat…until she felt the sharp edge of a knife nick the skin of her neck.
All the years of struggle, the years in poverty trying to obtain her freedom—all for nothing? This was how it was going to end? She was going to die at her ex-husband’s hand after all?
First, reverting to old habits, she closed her eyes in silent resignation, waiting for the fatal cut.
But almost immediately, she decided her life and the people she had come to love were worth it to at least go down fighting. In a flash, she saw Kade, Max, Maddie, and all the other people who had helped her find value in herself.
She fought for them.
And she battled for her life.
Because she finally felt worthy.
She didn’t deserve to die.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure her resolve was going to be enough.
“What the fuck do you mean? He’s gone? Where?” Kade barked at Travis as he drove, raising his voice in frustration as he talked to his brother on his phone connection from his car.
“We don’t know,” Travis answered gravely. “The police went to pick him up on a warrant and he’d disappeared. Nobody had seen him in days. Obviously he got wind of the fact that he was going to be arrested and fled. We removed the two women he’d raped and assaulted who were in his employ to get them some help. It probably tipped him off.”
“Shit!” Kade slammed his hand on the steering wheel. “We need to find the bastard. He needs to be in jail.”
“He could have flown back to India. We’re looking for him. But he could be long gone,” Travis answered unhappily.
“Asha and those women deserve to have justice done,” Kade replied angrily. “The world would be a better place without him in it.”
“You need to keep a cool head until we find him,” Travis warned sternly. “Are you going to tell Asha?”
Kade gripped the steering wheel hard, his hatred for the man who had hurt Asha out of control. “What? That her ex-husband raped and assaulted two of his employees? Or that he’s running around free after doing it?” He took a deep breath, trying to calm his desire for violence. “Yeah. I won’t lie to her. I’ll tell her the truth. I know her and I know the fact that he hurt other women will haunt her, but she deserves to know.”
“It won’t change anything,” Travis pointed out rationally.
“It won’t,” Kade agreed. “But I won’t have secrets between us. And she’ll probably have to become involved with the case, probably testify.”
“The guy is warped. If he knows the police are after him, he probably knows the original investigation came from us,” Travis said distractedly.
Kade’s whole body went tense, his mind suddenly fixed on a nightmare scenario. “You think he’d go after Asha?” He could barely voice the possibility.