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“How are you really feeling, sweetheart?” asks Nancy as I sit down at the dining table.
I shrug. “I don’t know. I just feel empty. I don’t think I’ve digested anything yet.”
I watch Nancy in the kitchen plating up enough food to feed the five thousand. I daren’t burst her bubble and tell her I’ve been surviving off the bare essentials at Collinson mansion. It will take me a long time to get used to eating what I want when I want.
“It’s only to be expected. You’ve been through a lot. You need time to grieve. No one expects you just to move on and forget everything that has happened.”
I nod. “I’m hoping some much-needed rest will be a good healer.”
“I think you’re right. But you missed one thing.” I look at Nancy curiously. “My food.” She holds up the plate as she walks over to the table. “Tuck in. I’ll go and find Clark to come and get some too. You both need to eat to keep up your strength.”
I pick up the spoon and stir my soup. It smells divine. I haven’t had home-cooked food for so long. At the Collinson mansion, everything was prepped and stored in their fridge for days at a time. It wasn’t like this, freshly made and ready to enjoy. It was just another thing I hated about living with Colton. The list is longer than my arm, and I could go on and on. I can’t tell you one thing I enjoyed in the whole three years I was with Colton, unless you count when he wasn’t around.
I have to keep telling myself that I’m free for now. I’m safe. I just can’t get out of my head that it could be short-lived. I might not only put myself and my own family in danger, but Nancy and Jared are now targets as well. I feel selfish because everyone is helping me, putting themselves in danger with no thought for themselves. I just want a carefree life. I’d do anything to go back to my childhood. Then, there was laughter and love. I didn’t know what it was like to be hurt. I never could have guessed my life would’ve turned out like this.
My life now is one big train wreck.
I never got a chance to grieve for the babies I lost previously because I had to act normal. I wasn’t allowed to talk about them or shed a tear. Colton wasn’t interested. All he wanted was his precious son to take over his empire one day. The thought of having a son to do such things killed me. There is a god up there who never allowed Colton to get his claws stuck into an innocent child.
Now, I can’t stop the tears. I can’t stop the pain. It’s like every piece of hurt from the last three years has surfaced, and it crashes over me again. I ache. My head hurts. My heart is breaking. Not one part of me feels normal. I’m not sure I’ll ever feel that way again.
Colton wanted to break me for any other man, and I think he might just have succeeded.
Chapter 11
Clark
“What do you mean he’s getting out?” I snap at Clive across my kitchen counter.
I’m glad there’s something between me and Clive because I feel murderous.
“Someone posted bail.”
“My father!” I snap. “I’ll kill that fucker! What am I supposed to tell Kally? She just got home yesterday afternoon. How is she ever supposed to feel safe with that asshole walking the streets?”
“He can’t come anywhere near Kally. It’s a part of his bail conditions.”
“The law is fucked up!”
“You don’t need to tell me how fucked up the law is.” Clive sighs. “I live with it daily. And I say the same thing like a damn broken record. All you need to do is be there for Kally. Let me take care of the rest.”
“Do you really think bail conditions are going to stop him?”
“Don’t let her out of your sight. Up security. I don’t know what else to say, Clark.”
I growl through my frustration. Just when I think we’re getting through this fucking mess, something else comes closing in around us. We’re never going to be free of Colton as long as he breathes. Even dead he’d probably still cause chaos.
“Clark? What’s going on?” asks Kally as she walks closer toward my open-plan kitchen.
I notice how pale she still looks, the huddled way she walks to prevent her stitches pulling, and the pained expression when she moves.
“Nothing, Kal. I was just talking with Clive. Let’s get you comfortable.”
“Tell me.” She waves my hands off her. “I need to know. Sheltering me isn’t going to help me.”
I look over at Clive, and he doesn’t say or do anything. The prick can remain impartial when he wants to.
“Okay. But sit down first. You heard the doctor. Don’t overdo it. You need to be stronger for the funeral on Friday.”
