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“Ian, think about what you’re doing. Wouldn’t we both be happier if we got divorced? I don’t even want child support. Maddie and I will disappear, and you’ll never get mad again because I did something wrong.” Weary. She was just so weary of fighting him. But she shifted, trying to stay out of arm’s reach, while waiting for him to strike.
“We took vows. They mean something. Whether or not you believe they do, you stupid cunt,” he snapped and smacked her across the face.
The blow snapped her head back. Her ears rang from the impact, and pain exploded in her cheek. She shook her head, trying to keep her mind sharp, even with the agony pounding in her jaw. She needed to keep Ian’s focus on her and off Maddie. She prayed this was one time Maddie would stay behind her and not move.
“And you betrayed those vows every time you hit me,” she yelled at him.
Ian prowled near and spat, “You needed to know your place. It ain’t my fault that you mouth off.”
“And it’s not my fault that I had to pretend I enjoyed it every time we had sex. But you didn’t see me complaining,” she snapped, her fury rising at his insistence to make her pay for imagined slights.
“You bitch,” he roared and flew at her with fists. She ducked a few, but he got in a few strikes right to the kidneys and another one on her chin. It snapped her head back.
Pain blossomed in her body. Hello, old friend, we meet again.
It wasn’t the first time she’d taken a beating. But she’d forgotten how much it hurt. Time had dulled the memory. And in the past, she would have cowered against the wall until he stopped. Not this time. She went after him with her fists raised. She knew it was likely fruitless. In a physical contest, he’d win every time. But that didn’t mean she was going to make it easy for him.
“That’s right. I am a bitch. And I can’t do this anymore, Ian. Let us go. We’ll all be happier without each other. You won’t have cause to get mad all the time.” Although he was a sociopath and should be behind bars, but she kept that little tidbit to herself.
“Why, so you can go back to your lover?” He got in another hit. “How many men did you run around with? Is the brat even mine?”
“I was always faithful to you until you tried to hurt Maddie. The moment you did that, it was over for me.” It had been over well before that time, but it had put the nail in the coffin of their relationship for her.
“It will never be over.”
“Yes, it will be. It is. You can beat me. You can try to take us back to Georgia. You can try to send me to prison, but I have video evidence of you beating me, and my lover is retrieving it from the safe deposit box where I kept it stored as proof of your insanity.”
“Lies,” he screeched. And got another jab into her midsection.
Holding her side, standing between him and Maddie, she spied fear in his eyes for the first time. “No. I’m not lying. My lover has a family member with the FBI. I bet after he watched the video, he went straight to him. And I—”
“Bitch,” he roared and knocked her to the floor.
Maddie wailed behind her on the bed. Freya held her throbbing cheek, trying to figure a way out of this where at least Maddie survived. Her life didn’t matter in the long run. The only good thing she’d ever done was having Maddie.
And the short slice of time she had with Jasper. She’d tasted a little bit of heaven with him. She wished she’d had the courage to tell him how she felt. Because she loved him.
Over time, she might have even earned his love in return. But those were all just fantasies that cut her like a knife.
Terror grabbed her by the throat. She stared in horror as Ian grabbed his gun. He shifted and pointed the barrel at Maddie. She didn’t think. She shoved to her feet.
Time slowed, taking on a surreal quality. She jumped and launched her body in front of Maddie. The cabin door slammed open with a violent thud.
Ian fired.
The loud boom echoed in the cabin with the acrid scent of gunpowder filling the room.
Pain tore through her arm. In the distance, she heard the police shout and order him to drop his weapon.
Oh god, she’d been hit. But even with agony riddling her body she didn’t stop. She huddled her injured body over Maddie, shielding her. Gunfire erupted in the cabin. Maddie screamed as she held her close. Something large thudded to the ground.
Her body shook over her daughter’s as she fought to remain conscious. She had to keep protecting her. She couldn’t pass out. She lifted her bruised face. Police officers and FBI agents in tactical gear swarmed the tiny cabin. She fought to remain lucid, but blood oozed from her gunshot wound.
With her gaze wavering, a man she recognized from the wedding reception entered the cabin.
“She’s been hit. Get a medic in her on the double. And cover that up.” He jerked his head toward the body lying in a pool of blood on the floor. He turned her way. “Freya, do you remember me? I’m Asher Munro with the FBI. Is Madison injured too?”
“No. Just me.” Her head swam. “I don’t feel so good.”
