Page 32 of Wicked Refusal

Then he whips out his gun.

My heart jumps in my throat. “Yulian,” I plead. “Don’t do it.”

“He’s a piece of shit,” he says. “He hurt Eli. He hurt you.”

“And you’re better than him,” I beg. “So let him go.”

He gives me a dark look. One that says,Don’t be so sure.

But he still holsters his gun. “Last time,” he warns. “Last fucking time I let him live.”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

He crouches down and lifts me. His arms are warm, strong—safe.“Need anything else from here?”

I don’t think about the laptop. I don’t think about anything but my children. My son, waiting for me downstairs, and the child in my belly.

“No,” I croak. “I’ve got all I need.”

He carries me downstairs. Through the threshold. Into the backseat.

And then we’re driving, Brad’s house growing smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror until at last it’s finally gone.

10

MIA

I can’t believe it’s over. We’re safe.Actuallysafe. Out of that house, away from Brad and his cruelty.

“Are you okay, munchkin?” I whisper, reaching out to stroke his hair.

At first, he says nothing. Just sits next to me, fiddling with his too-big seatbelt.

Then the dam breaks.

He starts crying suddenly, but quietly. Fat tears roll down his cheeks as he fights to keep himself from sobbing.

“Oh, honey?—”

“I’m sorry, Mommy!” he bursts out, then throws himself into my arms. “I didn’t want to s-stop talking to you, but Dad said you lied, and I was so mad!”

My heart breaks in a million tiny pieces. I stroke his back, trying to calm him down, even though all I want is to break down right next to him.

Yulian’s gaze flicks over to us from the rearview mirror. Our eyes meet.

I won’t butt in,he seems to say, silently, with that look alone.But I’m here for you. For both of you.

It gives me the courage I need.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I whisper. “I shouldn’t have lied to you.”

“Lies are bad,” he hiccups. “But Dad—he was bad, too. He was so bad, Mommy.”

I feel like the worst mother who’s ever lived. For not making better choices when I was younger. Forlyingto him about it. If I hadn’t done that, Brad would never have been able to manipulate him.

This is all my fault.

“I’m sorry, Eli.” I hold him close as he cries, blinking back tears of my own. “It’s over now. He won’t be able to hurt us anymore.”