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But running back home to my cave won’t scare him away.

However, running into the flames, directly at him, is the only way to protect my family.

Thoughts of Mom tug at my forever broken heart.

I couldn’t save her, but I can save them.

“Tomorrow morning,” I say with a grunt.

The dining room falls into silence and Tate blinks at me, shock evident in his saucer-sized brown eyes.

Dad’s smile is triumphant, and he waves a hand at Tate. “You have time for Jude tomorrow?”

Tate swallows what I hope is dread, nodding once. “Absolutely.”

My family goes back to talking over each other as Jamie brings out a casserole dish. Food becomes the focus of everyone but me and Tate. He visibly trembles as I glower at him.

Good.

We’re going to war, you and I, little boy.

Unfortunately for him. This isn’t my first war…

Tate

Ican’t believe I’m really here—really doing this. A private therapist for such an influential and wealthy family is pretty much a dream come true. Especially now that all my other dreams have been stolen away.

Thinking about Sean always sours my mood.

He took so much from me. My self-worth, my career, my happiness. And because he insists on anonymously sending that horrible video he made to every single employer, he’s taken my dignity too. It’s humiliating knowing they’ve seen me at my lowest. Even sadder is they’re disgusted by me.

I’m disgusted by myself too.

Unfortunately, people who find themselves in abusive relationships don’t always recognize the abuse at first. Further, they may not know how to escape the abuse once they come to terms with what’s happening.

Being a therapist, I’m well-trained in helping abuse victims. Hell, I’m even skilled in helping narcissistic or delusional patients.

But me and Sean?

There was no helping either one of us.

I was caught in his web and he didn’t want to let me go.

He’ll find you eventually…

Ignoring that depressing thought, I give my head a slight shake before spinning around in Nathan’s office chair and surveying the pristine workspace. He’d invited me to breakfast early this morning, where he and Jamie told me a little about each family member and gave me a typed-out schedule for the week. They both agreed Jude would be the most difficult to help.

My first patient, too.

Lovely.

I settle my gaze on a portrait on the wall of Nathan, Jamie, and the twins when they must’ve been ten or eleven. Their happy, smiling faces warm my heart. They’re the family I’d always wished I’d been born into. Instead, I got a single dad who drank away his woes and beat on his only son whenever the alcohol wasn’t enough to mask the pain.

I lived that life and still somehow found myself with Sean.

Thankfully, I can help others much easier than I can help myself. I’m determined to get through to Jude, not only to earn the twenty thousand Nathan’s promised, but also to truly get him to a place where he feels comfortable removing his mask and leaving the family property again. When Nathan told me Jude never leaves their land, I knew it was definitely something to strive for.

When I swirl around in the chair again, passing the time until my patient gets here, I get an icy chill that runs down my spine. I stop abruptly, startled to find Jude standing in the doorway, filling every inch and looking every bit like a horror movie psychopath.