He snorts. “Always so dramatic.” He takes a step forward, then another—unsteady. I back up fast, trying to pivot toward the door before he reaches me.
I don’t make it to the door before he grabs my wrists and spins me around, pressing me against the cold metal. His grip is too tight, fingers digging into bone.
“I just want to talk,” he says, voice deceptively calm. “Stop being difficult and listen to me.”
His breath hits my face, hot and wet and sour with whiskey. I gag. The alcohol fumes twist my stomach. I have to breathe through my mouth to keep from throwing up.
When he drank, everything got worse—his moods, his unpredictability, the things he’d say.
“Okay.” I slip into that voice, the one I always used when I had to make it stop. “Okay. If you let me go, I’ll listen.”
He hesitates, studying my face. “You promise?”
“Yeah. I promise.”
His grip loosens slightly, and I turn around to face him. His face is flushed with bloodshot eyes and pupils so huge they’ve swallowed most of the blue. He’s high on something that makes his jaw twitch and his mouth stay slack. I don’t know how he even drove here without killing someone.
“I miss you, Kelly.” His voice cracks, then slurs. “I want you back. I need you.”
I would rather die. The thought hits me like a punch. I’d actually die than go back to this life. Back to walking on eggshells, back to making myself smaller, back to being afraid of every sound in the night.
“You know I can’t do that, David.”
His face twists into something ugly. “You left without giving me a chance to fix things.”
“You can’t fix this. You hurt me too many times.”
“Hurt you? I loved you! I gave you everything and you threw it all away.”
I try to step sideways, but he blocks me with his arm. “David, please. Just go home.”
“You’re mine. You don’t get to just walk away from me.”
“There is no us anymore.”
He grabs my shoulders and pushes me back against the door. “Nobody else is going to want you. You’re too much work, too broken. But I love you anyway. You need me. You’ve always needed me. You’re going to get in that car with me right now.”
“No.” The word slips out before I can stop it. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
His face goes completely blank for a second, then twists with rage. “What did you say?”
“I said no.” My voice is shaking, but I force myself to meet his eyes. “I’m not getting in that car.”
“You don’t get to tell me no!” He grabs me by the shirt and yanks me up, then throws me down hard.
I hit the concrete, my head cracking against the pavement. Everything goes white, then black around the edges. Pain explodes through my skull and radiates down my neck.
“Look what you made me do! I didn’t want to hurt you, but you never fucking listen!”
My vision swims. The world tilts sideways, and I can’t focus on anything.
Is this it? Is this where it finally goes too far? All those nights I lay awake wondering if this moment would come, if he’d snap completely because I finally left him. I always thought I’d fight harder, that I’d be braver when it mattered. But I’m just lying here like a broken thing, just like always.
Alexei was teaching me how to feel safe again, how to believe someone could actually protect me instead of hurt me. I wish he was here right now. He’d make David pay for every single thing he’s done. But he can’t be everywhere, can’t shield me from everything, even though I know he’d try.
“I gave you everything. A home, love, protection. And you threw it all away.”
I try to say something, but the words won’t come. Everything feels distant and muffled.
