“Don’t fucking lie to me, sissy.” Aaron takes a step off our rickety old porch. The weathered wood creaking painfully under his weight.
“Look around you, Aaron, I’m not exactly rolling in cash now, am I?”
“She thinks I’m an idiot.” He turns around as his druggie buddies step out of the house.
“Come on, baby girl, just give Aaron here what you owe him, and we’ll get out of your hair,” one of them—the jumpy one—says.
“I don’t know, I quite like the scenery. Maybe we can stay a while longer.” The other one rakes his lewd gaze over my body making me sneer in response.
“I don’t owe him anything and you’re not welcome here. In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re trespassing.”
“Don’t you?” Aaron’s hand appears out of nowhere as he grabs a handful of my hair, pulling my face toward his. The softcrunching of snow and the bitter cold biting my skin a welcome distraction from the present.
His skin seeps with whatever cheap alcohol he drank last night, and I can barely hold in the gag. I can’t show he affects me in any way. It would just make things so much worse. Trust me, I’ve tried that route before.
“You owe me fucking everything, Aurora! You stole everything from me!” he screams into my face, his spit flying in every direction as his eyes take on that crazed look.
“Aaron, please, let go of me. I help you as much as I can. I really don’t have any money right now.”
“Fine, you don’t want to do this the nice way, I guess I’ll take what I need myself. Guys, hold my bitch sister,” he calls out, and my heart starts racing.
I start thrashing against Aaron’s hold on my hair, trying to wiggle out before his goons come over but my brother has my hair in a death grip, his addiction fueling every ounce of power he’s got.
The long, thin scar on my chest tingles as the heart behind it rams harder and harder against it.
It wasn’t supposed to be there, it knows it wasn’t supposed to be there, and every time it’s looking for an escape from my shitty life.
Stay calm, Aurora. Emett is in the car; you need to stay calm and get out of this situation.
“Aaron! Do not touch me!”
“Give me the money!”
“I don’t have any!” I scream back just as four strong hands wrap around my arms.
“Stay away from my mom!” I hear Emett cry out just as I stomp the heels of my feet against my brother’s friends’ who are now holding me as Aaron paws all over my clothes, looking for any cash.
“Oh, look, the little rat is here too!” My son’s presence doesn’t bother his uncle in the slightest.
“Emett, get back in the car right now!” I shout.
Somewhere from inside the house I hear soft thuds, like someone is banging on the door.
“Aaron, stop it! Let go!”
But of course, he doesn’t. The bastard doesn’t even care that I’m his sister, pawing over my whole body—every part of me…and if I wanted to gag before, it’s nothing comparing to the nausea swirling in my stomach now.
But I’d take that every time over hearing my baby boy cry in the background. Cry and scream for these idiots to let his mother go. He doesn’t deserve to see this. He doesn’t deserve to live like this, and I get lost in fighting them off.
I wiggle and thrash against their hold, fueled by something much stronger than drugs. I’m so busy trying to escape I don’t hear someone else approaching.
I hear yelling for Emett to get in the car but it’s not my voice I register. It’s one I can’t immediately place.
Exton? What is he doing here?
I don’t even realize it’s happening until my arms feel free and a split second later, Aaron is clutching his nose with a pained cry as blood pours down, staining the soft, white snow with it.
“What thefuckis going on here?”
