Page 6

Two Days Ago

Frankie has been holed up in his office all day.

After he helped himself to my broken body this morning, he told me he had a business deal he was working on and that he didn’t want to be bothered.

I learned my lesson a few years ago about interrupting him while he’s working—a lesson that took me weeks to heal from.

It was my fault. I should have known better. He’s busy running his company, and important men like him shouldn’t be bothered.

I wince as I walk slowly down the hall, thankful that Rosemary is keeping the kids on the other side of this cold, cold house.

I don’t have to hide behind the happy face I put on for them.

There’s no way I’d ever let them see the hell I go through on a daily basis.

They’re happy. At least, that’s what I try to tell myself.

They smile and laugh. Lovelyn is just a quiet soul, and Legend is my little tough guy, always watching the world with a sharp eye.

Most days, he reminds me so much of his father that my heart aches.

Sometimes, though, I catch the way they both watch me quietly. The way they assess me. I see the way they grow meek in the presence of my husband.

Those are the days when I can’t help curling up in the tub in the middle of the night as tears leak from me. Those are the nights when I dream of running. When I beg for the strength to take my kids away from here. Then the next morning, Frankie reminds me why that’s never going to be possible.

It’s okay.

As long as my kids never have to feel his anger, then I can handle it.

I can handle anything as long as they’re okay.

Sharp pierces of agony shoot between my legs, and I bite down on my lip so hard that the taste of copper fills my mouth.

Just a few more steps.

I finished the breakfast he demanded me to make. He’d told me to come get him when it was ready.

This time, his office door isn’t shut all the way, and I hesitate, knowing that no good will come from eavesdropping.

Yet, there’s something that holds my hand in the air to keep me from knocking against the wood.

It’s a building of dread in my stomach that warns me of change being thrust upon me again.

It warns me of danger, but it also urges me to stay and listen.

“The contract doesn’t go into effect until the girl reaches her eighth birthday. That gives you a little over a year to come up with the five million required for her purchase.”

I’ve heard Frankie cold before. His words flay me repeatedly when beats me, but I’ve never heard this depth of evil or fucking glee in his voice.

What girl?

“You’re going to sell your daughter for only five million?” the voice on the other end asks, laughing.

Cold spreads through me quickly, and I have to bite so hard on my lip that my teeth cut through the skin under it. Blood seeps down my chin as I hold my words in.

My body trembles as I wait, needing to hear this through to the end.

Frankie laughs harshly. “My daughter? Neither of those brats are mine. They’re merely tools to keep my wife in line.

She allows me to let my monster out on her as long as I don’t harm her precious babies.

My wife is mine, and those children are in the way of having her completely.

I might as well get some money out of them for the time they’ve taken away from me.

What is that they say? The enemy of my enemy is my friend?

She belongs to me, not them. Not him . Me.

Five million and she’s all yours on her eighth birthday. ”

“And the boy? What will you take for him?”

“Oh, the boy will grow into a fine soldier. He’ll do whatever is needed to protect those females in his life. I made my first kill around his age. It’ll be easy enough to turn him into a monster to match mine.”

I must have made some kind of sound because the inside of the office goes quiet before my husband’s evil chuckle reaches me.

“I’m going to have to get back to you on this, my friend. It seems I have a little birdie listening in.”

Adrenaline spikes as my limbs start to shake.

The monster is coming for me.

As soon as the squeak of his chair moving crashes into me, I take off. My bare feet slap against the tile floor, the sound echoing through the cold mansion as I search for somewhere to hide.

I don’t know why I thought I’d be able to escape my demon this time when I haven’t been able to since that day Pope showed up at our house five years ago.

A sting stabs through my head as he grabs a handful of my hair and pulls me to a stop. A scream rips from me before I can swallow it down. He throws me against the wall, my head smacking against it before his fingers wrap around my throat and cut off my air. His nails dig in, breaking the skin.

I stare into the eyes of the devil, only seeing the reflection of my impending death waiting for me.

There was a time when I swore those eyes looked at me with nothing but love. Now, it’s only death, possession, and cold madness that ever gazes back at me.

I’ve never had to fear for my children’s lives around him because, as he told the person on the phone, I’d let this monster do whatever he wanted to me to protect them. But staring into the emptiness in his eyes now, I’ve never feared for them more.

Frankie rips my leggings from me, taking my underwear with them.

“Not here,” I choke out. “The bedroom. Please, not where they can see.”

He laughs cruelly, leaning forward and biting me on the cheek. “They need to understand what happens when they don’t follow orders.”

For the first time in a long time, I fight back, because it’s no longer just my life I’m fighting for.

When he takes a break from beating and raping me, I find time to get a hold of the sister I haven’t talked to in so long and make plans.

The evil has finally touched my children, and it’s time to run.

Even if it costs me my life.