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“He sure is.” She winks, rubbing my back as we hit the hardwood floor at the bottom of the stairs. I’m dressed in a pair of dark skinny jeans and a blush silk tank. I just need to throw on my leather jacket and I can head out the door. I wore my makeup a little darker and styled my hair in loose messy waves, dressing up a bit for our first date night in weeks.
“Where’s Daddy?” I ask, stepping into my blush suede heels.
“He wanted to run to the store to grab some things, and then he was going to get some pizza.”
“Oh, that will be fun. Little date night for Mama and Daddy too.” I wink and she shakes her head.
“You’re my daughter for sure. Now hurry up and get going. You drive safe and have fun with that hunky man of yours.” Now giving me a wink, she turns to head to the kitchen.
“Will do. Bye, Mama.”
She waves over her shoulder, and I hurry to reapply some lip-gloss. I take one last look in the mirror, muss up my hair, and then hurry toward the door.
There is a knock on the door, and I curse under my breath. Shit, I’m already late. Grabbing my jacket from the coat rack, I open the door in a mess, hollering for my mother so she can deal with the visitors, because I haven’t even had time to call Kings to tell him I’ll be late.
“Mama! Can you come—” I stop dead in my tracks when the face on the other side of my now open door stuns me.
“Did you miss me, baby?”
“Joel?” I forgot the face of the devil and just how real he can be in the flesh, and now, without warning, I am looking him dead in his lifeless brown eyes.
“Glad to see you haven’t forgotten my name after all these years of you fucking around on me while I’ve been locked away because of you,” he hisses with a hellish smirk. I gulp, frozen and unsure what to do. This is a dream. It has to be. How is he here?
“Baby, what is i— Lana!” My mother gasps when she stops in her tracks, seeing what I was hoping was a mirage.
We all stay still for a minute, my eyes glued to Lucifer himself as his eyes roam over my body, making me feel sick. My heart has stopped, dropping to my stomach, and my body has gone cold. Lifeless.
I finally find enough strength in my shaking hand to move hastily. I hurry to shut the door, when he stops me. Shoving the door open with his strong hand and large boot, he gains control and I fall back, unprepared, losing my heels as I do. He slams the door, and the sound of my mother screaming and moving toward me finally awakens me fully.
Prince. My son. My only mission.
“Mom! Stop, go upstairs, and lock the door! Prince!” I scream, my eyes on Joel towering over me. He looks just like he did all those years ago, just more sinister, more dead inside than before. His tattoos are now dull, his brown hair is hidden behind his snapback, and those boots...they’re the same boots he wore the night he almost killed me. The twisted, sick man wore those boots to finish the job they started. I don’t hear my mother move or say anything, but I hear a thud.
Looking over to see if she left, I see her body lying face down behind me, but what catches my eyes fast is the woman standing behind her.
Hilary?
Two ghost from my troubled past. Two key components in the most damaging part of Kingston’s and my life.
“Mama!” I roll over and drop my head to hers, crying with my cheek against hers. She’s limp, and I can see the blood coming from the backside of her head. I sob harder, but find a flicker of hope when I feel her breath against my nose.
“Mama, wake up, please!” I reach in my back pocket to grab my phone, and as it leaves my jeans, I wail out in pain, my calf burning under the pressure of Joel’s boot. “Please stop! I promise I will do whatever. Just get my mother help!” I look up at him, once again his victim begging for mercy at his feet.
“She’s an obstacle. Hopefully she just bleeds out,” he growls deep in his chest. “Hilary, watch her. If she wakes up, take her out,” he barks, grabbing a fistful of my hair and pulling me from the ground.
I scream, my leg shaking from him trying to crush it. “Joel! Stop!”
“Shut the fuck up. We are going to play a little game.” He drags me up the stairs, and I panic more, not for myself, but because with each heavy footstep of his, we get closer to my son, and I can’t let him do that.
“Please,” I beg, even while knowing it’s pointless.
“Shut up! I won’t tell you again, bitch!” Joel grasps my hair tighter and gives a violent shake as we reach the landing at the top of the stairs. I swear I feel my brain rattle.
I stay silent, knowing from experience what happens if I fight more, and I have to keep Prince safe. I have to protect my unborn child. All it would take is one hit to my stomach, and I will lose everything.
He throws me on the bed, and I wait for him to bind me down, but it doesn’t come as I shake violently face down on the mattress, unable to contain my tremors as I listen to him pace around like a lion stalking a poor, defenseless animal.
“You look so fucking pretty messed up like that. Face down, crying for me,” he growls, stopping just to the side of me, his boots making the hardwood creak.
