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“I can’t wait to see the kids. I missed them.”
“I did, too. I’m really starting to like it here so much. I wish we’d found this place sooner,” Val said.
“I wish for a lot of things, Val, but mostly that we’re safe and happy here in Salvation. I just want to give Kenny the best chance at a good life. No more fears or pain, just love and happiness like he deserves.”
* * * *
“You’re going to do this or I’m going to take my fucking kid and put a bullet in your cop sister’s head. You got me, Lois? I’m not fucking around. Cornero wants you delivering the money.”
Lois was shaking so intensely. She felt like vomiting. Caden stared down at her. He towered over her by a foot and then some. When he stared down into her eyes and looked her body over, she felt disgusting, used, like she had no control or rights. Caden took them all away from her. He made her feel like she was a possession, an item to be used when he needed. Meanwhile, he hadn’t even come around to see Kenny.
He grabbed her face and she gasped.
“Don’t fuck this up.” He licked his lips and then pressed closer and kissed her. She pushed at his hands and his body, but he was relentless. He instantly held her hands behind her back and squeezed.
“Caden, please,” she cried out, the tears rolling down her cheeks. She saw his tattoos, felt his powerful muscles and the solidity of his body. He was a soldier, a lethal weapon gone bad.
“Don’t let that slimy fuck touch you, either. I know he wants to fuck you. He wants what’s mine still.” She shook her head and he gave her a shake.
“You’ll always be mine. Don’t fucking forget that.”
She felt the tears roll down her cheeks. He was a manipulative bastard, a batterer, a womanizer, and a pig. How dare he say she belonged to him still? After more than a year’s time of never showing up. Was this what her future would entail? Her life owned and controlled by this man?
He shoved her back and she nearly fell.
“Fix yourself up, and remember what I fucking said.”
Her back hit the wall and he stomped toward her. She instinctively covered her face and head with her hands, waiting for the strike to come like always. Instead, his hand landed on her hips and then his mouth was against her neck.
He whispered to her as he used his hands to explore her body and press between her legs.
“I own you. Every part of you, always. You’ll never get away from me. You’ll never be able to keep my son from me, or to stop me from having you when I want you. You’ll do this job, and if you fuck it up, you’ll wish you were dead.”
She shook with fear, her heart hammered inside of her chest, and her eyes remained closed.
“Touch me, Lois,” he ordered, and when she didn’t comply he shoved his forearm against her throat, locking her against the wall so she couldn’t move.
He clenched his teeth and held her gaze as spittle hit her lips while he spoke to her.
“Touch me right now.”
Lois awoke in a cold sweat, panting for air. She looked frantically around the room and sighed as she remembered where she was and that Caden was no longer a threat. He was dead. Then she thought about that night and about Cornero.
Things were different. Cornero said things to her, hinted about wanting to help her take care of Kenny. Oh, God, what Valentina would do if she ever found out about the drugs and money.
Lois had made that decision to steal it and hide it without really thinking things through. She had figured Cornero would assume that Caden and Don ripped him off and took the drugs to sell themselves. That maybe he would have them killed or roughed up so good they would be scared. She’d never expected Caden to come to the apartment that night in a fit of jealous rage. What had Cornero told him?
She closed her eyes as the flashbacks began to start. This was her nightly routine. One thought after the next, her guilty conscience blaming everything on her. Would she ever feel safe?
“You’re mine, not his. I know he wants you. I know he probably said he would take care of my son. My son!” Caden yelled at her as he struck her across the mouth. She could hear Kenny crying and she didn’t know what to do. Valentina was banging on the door from the bathroom, trying to get out. Lois rocked back and forth on the bed and hugged herself tightly. She felt each strike from Caden and then him ripping her blouse and
tearing off her skirt.
“No, Caden, please. No!” she exclaimed, but he didn’t care.
“You’re mine. Mine and no one else’s.”
Lois jumped up and paced the room. She felt like a caged animal and she couldn’t stop the memories of his vicious attack. She was sobbing and she looked at the bedside table, seeing it was almost time to get the kids up for school and to head to Dora’s. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of the hoodie she wore. She was always cold. Always needing to cover herself up and hide.
