“You’re fucking delusional. You think I’ll let my daughter end up with someone like you? The trash I’ve spent my whole life sweeping off the streets? Youwon’ttouch her.”
“Unless it’s over your dead body, right?” I scoff, folding my arms over my chest. “By that logic, you should’ve dropped dead weeks ago. Hailey’s mine. Either get on board or get out of the fucking way.”
The air between us crackles with hostility. I know this won’t go down easy. He’ll do everything in his power to separate us the moment she’s safe.
I’m not arrogant enough to take his silence as an admission of defeat. Men like Vaughn don’t turn the other cheek whenthey’re slapped, but he’s out of options, so, at least for now, I have the upper hand.
“Now...” I say, forcing him to choose a path. “Get.Me.A.Phone.”
7
HAILEY
TWO DAYS EARLIER
Ipuke, swallow a bite of sandwich and puke again.
My stomach riots against food, fear twisting it so tight I think it might be wrapped around my spine, but I eat. Curled around the toilet I take a bite, chew, swallow, and immediately let it out. Cold sweat breaks out on my back, hot flushes shake me from the tip of my head down to my toes...
But. I.Eat.
Not because I’m hungry. I eat because I’m scared of what Darius will do if I don’t fulfill his orders. That fear sloshing inside me like dirty water stops me keeping the food down.
It’s a closed circuit, but, ignoring the pain, the dryness in my throat, the acidic taste of bile, I eat because the room and the bathroom are under surveillance. A small camera on the wallfollows my every move, pointing right at me. The diode blinks in the corner, letting me know I’m being watched.
I’m dressed in the pink monstrosity, not a dress by any definition, not even a night dress. It’s sheer lace, so short my ass is showing, so see-through it leaves nothing to the imagination.
I take another bite, swallowing puke as I chew. Flushing it down the toilet will probably cost me... puking it all out probably will too, but I can’t hold the food down.
The bathroom door flies open and Darius enters, two wrinkles creasing his big forehead.
Locked in my own misery, I’ve blocked out all sounds, but now the murmur of conversations filters in, letting me know I no longer have the room to myself.
“Leave it,” Darius orders. “You’re obviously not hungry and you need to give the others a chance to wash up.”
He grips me by the elbow, pulls me up, and shoves me toward the sink, snatching the half-eaten sandwich from my hand. “Brush your teeth.”
My legs are utterly useless. It hurts to bend my knees. Every step feels like it might be my last, like exhaustion will win and I’ll pass out at his feet.
I can’t pass out.
God only knows what he’d do while I’m unconscious. At least if I’m touching base with reality, I can think.
I can fight.
I can... I can’t.
It’s so obvious Ican’t.
My body’s shaking like a baby deer on ice. Fear that Darius will fulfill his promise to rape me shrinks my stomach and makes my guts crawl up my esophagus.
I shove the toothbrush into my mouth, struggling to brush my teeth while nausea triggers my gag reflex.
“You’ll be no fucking fun on your knees if a toothbrush makes you gag,” Darius scoffs. “You’ll find my cock is much fatter.”
I shut my eyes, wishing I could turn back time.
I want Nash. I want his calmness, the safety of his touch, those dark eyes frantically checking me over for even the smallest injury...
