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My hand flew before I could stop it. The slap cracked across his cheek. His eyes widened in genuine surprise, as if no one had dared to lay a hand on him that way since he was a child. Then all emotion disappeared from his face, replaced by a predatory focus that sent ice through my blood.

He grabbed my wrist with bruising force and slammed me back against the wall. The impact rattled my teeth and sent a violent jolt of pain exploding through my spine.

His powerful body pinned mine completely, crushing the air from my lungs as one large hand shot up to clamp around my throat. His fingers dug in, cutting off my breath in an instant. The world narrowed to the burning pressure at my neck, the way my pulse hammered wildly against his palm, and the dark satisfaction gleaming in his eyes as he held me there.

We both knew he could end me right there with nothing more than a slight twist or squeeze, crushing my windpipe and erasing me from existence as easily as he had ruined everything else in my life.

Time stretched into an agonizing eternity while black spots crowded my vision. My hands clawed uselessly at his forearm, nails scraping against unyielding muscle, but he didn’t budge. Panic flooded through me alongside the lingering rage and grief from moments before, creating a toxic storm that made my trapped body thrash weakly. My lungs burned. My vision blurred. I thought about Seth and Luke upstairs.

Please, don’t let it end this way.

Just as my lungs screamed for air and my knees began to buckle, he released me.

I slid down the wall, my legs trembling and barely able to support me as I gasped desperately for breath. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks, mixing with the sweat on my skin while my throat throbbed with raw, pulsing pain.

He studied me for what felt like forever. Then that calculated, terrifying smile returned.

“Fine,” he said. “You can leave, Samantha.”

He stepped past me and opened the front door with a courteous little gesture. Then he bent down, lifted my suitcase, and held it out to me as though he were nothing more than a devoted husband helping his wife leave for a weekend trip.

The casual kindness made my stomach turn. I snatched the suitcase from his hand and hurried to the car, my legs trembling so violently I nearly stumbled. I threw it into the trunk, climbed behind the wheel, and backed out of the driveway before I could second-guess myself.

Once the house disappeared from my rearview mirror, I called Grant.

“He came back,” I said as soon as he answered. “He knows I was leaving. He attacked me, and the boys are still inside with him. What am I supposed to do?”

“Keep driving to the motel,” Grant said. “Do not return to that house.”

“But you said officers were going to get them.”

“They will. Richard knows you left, so we have to change the timing. I’ll wait until he leaves again and get the boys out safely.”

“What if he hurts them?”

“He wants control over them, Samantha. Right now, going back would provoke him. Reach the motel, lock the door, and call me from the room. I’ll handle everything else.”

I wanted to turn the car around. Every part of me screamed to go back for Seth and Luke, but I had already confronted Richard and made everything worse. Grant was the only person who knew where I was going. He was the only person offering to help.

“Please bring them to me,” I whispered.

“I will.”

The call ended. A broken sob tore out of me, and soon I was crying so hard I could barely see the road.

I had spent nine years beside Richard, sharing a bed with the Brentwood Butcher without ever knowing the monster lying next to me. The memories wouldn’t stop. I saw my father’s smile the last time I had seen him alive. Then I remembered Richard wrapping his arms around me after his death while knowing he was the one who had stolen him from me.

I thought about his lies and apologies, every kiss we had shared, and every time I had convinced myself he was still the man I’d fallen in love with.

God, how could I have been so blind?

The tears refused to stop. The road blurred beneath the headlights as I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and forced myself to keep driving.

Seth’s face filled my mind. I remembered how carefully he had held his little Impala while Luke chased after him, desperate to keep up.

Grant promised he would call as soon as Richard left the house again and the boys were safe.

Once they arrived, we would finally be free from Richard Kincaid.