Page 6 of Wounded Hearts

Chapter 3

Mara looked in the mirror,smoothing the tight-fitting dress over her flat belly. In the last year she’d lost over ten kilos. The loss hadn’t been intentional, unless you counted the desperate need to disappear from your own existence intentional. Her hair still shone in long glossy waves as it fell artfully down her back. Her pale complexion was still clear and almost radiant, though if you looked closely you could see the dark circles around her eyes that she’d hidden with make-up.

She looked like the epitome of health and happiness, until you looked into her dark chocolate brown eyes. They held so much pain and hopelessness that she could barely look at herself in the mirror anymore, so stark was the anguish she saw there. Turning from her reflection, Mara sat on the antique wooden bed and eased the silver beaded sandals that cost more than she’d earned in a year as a physio onto her feet. Standing, she settled the long navy sequin sheath dress around her, grabbed the small satin silver clutch from the bed, and walked to the door of her suite.

Putting her hand on the brass handle she paused to take a breath, steadying her nerves. A shiver wound down her spine, as if someone had walked over her grave. A sense of apprehension skittered over her and she couldn’t for the life of her pinpoint the reason—at least not any more than usual.

For a moment she considered adding a shrug to the spaghetti strap dress she wore but thought better of it. Brayden would want as much of her on show as possible. After all, this was what tonight’s party was about, showing off his sparkly gems and she was just another one of those shiny things he owned.

Once again Mara squared her shoulders, took a deep fortifying breath, and composed herself. She’d survive this. She said it over and over in her mind like a mantra, but each day she believed it less. Each blow, each cruel word, each gentle touch followed by a brutal beating chipped away at her. The space in her head where hope lived shrank each day until she wasn’t sure how much she had left before the darkness swallowed her entirely.

Pulling open the door she nearly jumped when she found Brayden leaning on the wall beside her door. He looked dashing in a black tuxedo with his dark hair swept back from his head. He was handsome until you looked closer, past the superficial into his cold, calculating eyes. His smile caressed her skin as he moved forward, and it took every ounce of strength she had not to shrink away from him as he took her hand and brought it to his lips.

“Darling, you look ravishing as always. You’ll outshine every woman in the room.” His words were sweet, the caress of his warm lips on her knuckles soft, but she knew all too well how it could change. A perceived slight on her part and he’d be using those same hands to hit, those lips to bite her skin, as he taught her a lesson for her misdemeanour.

She schooled her thoughts. “Thank you. You look very handsome tonight, Brayden. I am very lucky to have you.”

She said the words he expected to hear, hoping she’d put as much fake emotion into them as she could. He assessed her for a second, looking for a lie, or a reason to doubt her. Mara felt her heart begin to pound, her belly cramping in fear, and then he smiled and tucked her arm into the crook of his elbow. The miniscule sense of relief washed over her for just a second before her guard came back up.

“Come, Mara, I have someone I wish you to meet before the party begins.”

Mara stayed beside him as they descended the wide oak staircase with the intricate carvings in the wood, the sun shining off the stained-glass windows to the grand foyer below. The red and gold patterned carpet was soft beneath her heels as they crossed the large space to a spacious meeting room with its parquet flooring polished to a high shine, ornate high ceilings, and dark red antique couches. A fire was lit in the room, giving it a warm, welcoming feel and cutting the chill from the early autumn air.

The room, the house even, was truly beautiful, but Mara couldn’t enjoy the space. Not with Brayden. He tainted every single thing he touched. Her eyes fell on the slim back of a woman. Her blonde hair pulled into a tight, perfect chignon at her nape. She was around 5 feet 6 inches tall and as Mara looked again, she realised slim wasn’t the correct word, she was practically skeletal. The bones of her shoulder blades poked out from taught, tan skin.

Mara shivered as they approached, a feeling of abject fear whirling in her belly. Every instinct in her was screaming at her to turn and run from this woman, from this place. The hand on her arm stopped her and she tried to reign in the fear this small woman caused her.

There was a power coming off her that sent chills down every nerve in her body. Pure evil filled the air around her, so much it practically crackled with it. Then the woman turned and inclined her head as if she sensed what Mara was feeling and was pleased by it. Their eyes locked and the woman, who was perhaps in her early fifties, seemed to peer into her soul, holding Mara prisoner in her gaze. Just as Mara thought she couldn’t stand it another second, the woman looked away and smiled at Brayden.

“Brayden, darling, how good to see you.”

The woman moved forward, and Mara was relieved when Brayden let her go to embrace the other woman and kiss her cheeks with a familiarity that left her in no doubt that these two had been lovers. She hoped they would reaffirm that, maybe he’d leave her alone then.

“May I introduce you to my lovely fiancée, Mara.” Brayden pulled her to his side, a warm but fake smile on his face as the woman turned to her, offering her hand. Mara let her take her hand and the cold seemed to seep from this woman into her veins. Mara began to feel weak as if she was leeching every ounce of strength from her.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mara. I’m sure we will be fast friends.”

Hell no, they certainly would not.

Brayden smiled down at her. “This is my very good friend and business associate. She has very kindly offered us her help with your little problem and will be staying with us at the house until it’s sorted.”

Mara ignored the lack of a proper introduction, Brayden played at being a civilised gentleman when in reality, he was anything but. Not that she cared. She had no desire to know the names of the people he considered friends.

His spoken words were innocuous, but the accusation and threat were barely veiled. Her problem, as he’d put it, was the fact that she couldn’t get pregnant. Little did he know that in the last year he’d beaten two pregnancies from her ravaged body. Babies she’d already loved and barely had the chance to know before he’d ripped them away.

She’d never tell him, never give him that. He didn’t deserve to know, and she’d never share her grief or her love for them with him. The pain she felt over losing them was mired by the guilt over her relief that those innocent children would never know the hate, the fear, or the pain she endured. Her babies were far better in heaven than they ever would be living and growing up with Brayden as a father.

Now as the woman offered her a cold smile, she knew the time was coming. She needed to find a way to escape this man, this prison, or she’d die here. Her mind went to her family, knowing they would be of no help and not wanting to risk it.

If there was a way to run, to hide, she’d take it. Closing her eyes briefly, she prayed for a miracle for once in her life willing to beg the universe for help. Mara opened her eyes to the cold feminine gaze of the other woman watching her with a calculation that made her spine tingle.

If she stayed, she’d die.