Page 58 of You Saw the Best In Me

I pull the weapon out of my jeans now that I know she’s safe and slowly walk into her apartment.

Everything is trashed. Her cabinets have been raided, the plates and coffee mugs smashed on the floor, along with what seems to be broken glass.

Her trash can has been dumped, the garbage scattered along the hardwood floors in a way that seems deliberate.

I check every room, and it’s clear, but I don’t want her to see her apartment this way.

The asshole dumped all the clothes in her room, ripped down every piece that was hanging in her closet, covering every inch and emptying every drawer.

I make my way back through the mess, close the door to her apartment, and knock on mine, telling Karina it’s safe.

“What happened?” she asks, holding her cat.

April will be staying with us, too, I assume. The cat hisses at me as I take a step closer, and she’s just as stubborn as Karina, I see.

“You don’t want to see it, baby girl. It’s not good,” I warn her, but she’s a firecracker.

She pushes right by me, slamming her door open, and I watch as she takes it all in.

“What the fuck!” she screams, jumping into action and kicking trash out of her way as she surveys the damage.

“It’s okay. We don’t need to clean it right now,” I tell her, but she isn’t listening — she’s making it worse.

I watch from the hallway as she shatters any unbroken glass on the floor, sending shards through the air with reckless abandon. She throws, smashes, and destroys anything she can get her hands on.

I let her go for a few minutes, but finally, I rush in and stop her. I almost get whacked in the face with a picture she had hanging on her wall, but I take her hands and make her look at me.

“Karina! That’s enough. It’s done, okay? Come on,” I urge, dragging her back to my apartment.

She breaks down, screaming into my arms, and there’s nothing I can do but hold her.

“Listen, baby girl. We need to call the detective,” I say, and she wipes her eyes.

“I lost my shit. I’m sorry,” she picks our dinner off the floor and tries to wrangle her cat.

“It’s okay. Don’t apologize to me. Let’s have dinner, okay? Forget about this for at least a few minutes,” I tell her, and we sit down to eat.

“Is it okay if April stays? I can’t leave her alone again,” she asks in between bites of her sandwich.

“Of course. I’ll call from the hallway while you grab everything you need, okay?” I kiss her on the forehead, and she leans on my shoulder.

I’m pissed about this, more than I’ve let on to Karina. The cops said an officer would be outside our building, but somehow, this guy broke into her apartment.

It makes no sense, and I’m trying to keep it together for her sake, but when I get the detective on the phone, I’ll give him a piece of my mind.

This is the last time he’s allowed to hurt her, and if I catch Asher around here again, the cops will wish they’d done something when we asked.

I’m done seeing Karina cry because of him.

KARINA

Ican’t cry sad tears anymore; my only emotion is anger.

I’m fucking infuriated.

Hours after I filed a report, we come home to see my apartment destroyed. My belongings that I spent so much time shopping for, and carefully choosing to make this place feel like home have been ruined. It’s demoralizing.

My poor cat was terrified, waiting for me to rescue her, and our safe space was broken.