AllFreeNovel
Share Us
PROLOGUE
Teal
He would stopat nothing to find me.
And if he did, my unborn child and I were as good as dead. I couldn’t let that happen.
What I needed right then was to save us both, because the monster wasnotgoing to hurt my baby.
Even if hewasthe father.
I used to believe I needed to protect myself from the world outside my own home, but it was the inside I feared most. And yet here I was, standing frozen at my front door scared to walk away, my body shaking with terror and my mind filled with doubt.
But my window of opportunity to escape was closing.
He told me many times there was nowhere I could go that he wouldn’t find me. That I was nothing without him and would never make it on my own. Just as he told me if I tried to leave, he would kill me.
I believed him.
I just didn’t know that I believed in myself.
As a cop, my husband's reach was far and wide, the arsenal of help he had at his disposal, vast. He had people who would do anything for him—no questions asked.
I hadnobody.
Nobody but myself.
I hesitated as my hand twisted the knob slightly and a knot in my stomach formed, nausea swirling in my belly as I tried to get myself to move. Tears flooded my vision as the nightmare that brought me to the decision to finally leave filled my head.
“Do you think I wouldn’t notice you flirting with the neighbor, you little whore?” he spat with pure hatred.
Chills raced down my spine at his words, along with the venom seeping from his pores. That and the bottle of whiskey he’d already consumed that night. I knew what was coming and I had something fragile to protect. My hands instinctively went to my belly.
“I-I didn’t do-o anything,” I stammered. “He was just asking me about what restaurants are close by since he and his wife are new to the area.”
His eyes were glossy, his pupils filled with rage, and I could tell he didn’t believe the truth I spoke. I was in trouble.
That was when the first blow landed on the side of my face and I hit the counter, my arm knocking glasses, his empty bottle, and dishes to the floor, just before I crashed down onto the kitchen tile. Then a strong grip grabbed a handful of my hair and I screamed out in pain. He pulled hard and leaned down so his face was inches from mine, his eyes demonic.
“You are mine, bitch. Don’t forget that or I will end him and you, right along with that thing in your fucking stomach. It won't see the light of day!”
Spit flew from his lips as he yelled. After yanking my hair one more time, he released me. As he walked away he snapped, “Clean up your fucking mess.”
It was right that second I knew he didn’t care about my baby. I wouldn’t say his baby, because he didn’t want it and there was no love in how my little one was conceived. He wasn’t ever going to stop and think the next time he hit, kicked, or beat me bloody, that he could take my child from me.
He certainly never thought twice about raping his own wife either.
Turning the knob the rest of the way, I yanked open the front door and walked out into the cool morning air. With the sun just starting to rise, one small bag hanging from my shoulder, and an intense sense of determination that had risen inside me, I shakily put one foot in front of the other as I headed for the bus stop.
I had to get as far away as possible.
Two lives depended on it.
ChapterOne
KACE
Looking downat the swell of her stomach, pain and protectiveness slammed into me, as if I’d just been hit by a tsunami and was drowning in a sea of utter confusion. I was experiencing two feelings I didn’t want to have because they brought back memories I wanted to forget.
