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Chapter Twenty-Nine

Now

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” his voice says, the sound so vile that I shiver.

A small part of me is frantically praying that this is just a dream but I know it’s not. The pain in my shoulders from my hands being restrained behind my back tells me all I need to know. It’s not a dream. He’s here and I’m living the nightmare now.

My mind drifts to Nix, even a vision of him in my memory giving me the strength to fight against the monster I was going to marry. Nix and the babies are all I can think about. I need to get back to him and I need my little ones to be safe.

“Come on, Em. Open up those gorgeous green eyes of yours.” His tone has gone all sugary sweet and it makes me want to vomit. He’s fucking delusional, talking to me like we’re anything more than victim and abuser. I hate him but I won’t let him win. I won’t let him take my strength away from me again.

Slowly, I peel open my eyes and glare at him with all the loathing I feel for him.

“Ah, there she is. I knew you hadn’t lost that feisty spirit, baby.” He runs his fingers across my cheek and I jerk away.

“Fuck you,” I spit. Glancing around the dark room, I take everything in. He’s got me tied to a chair in the middle of the room and I’m dismayed to find that there isn’t anything else in here. How the hell am I going to get out?

“Baby, why do you treat me like this? All I’ve ever done is love you and you treat me like shit on your shoe.”

I laugh. I can’t help it. What he said is so ridiculous that all I can do is laugh. “Are you serious right now?”

His face morphs into one of anger and his jaw ticks. My laughter dies immediately. I know that look. My body knows that look. It tenses in preparation for whatever pain he’s about to inflict. His hand closes around my throat and he squeezes. My eyes widen with a mixture of shock and fear.

“Listen here, you little bitch, you will show me some respect,” he growls, increasing the pressure of his hand. It’s becoming difficult to breathe and tears sting my eyes. I nod my head, praying that once I do he’ll release me. For once, my prayers are answered as the pressure of his grip disappears, and I suck in air, tears running down my face.

He crouches down until he’s face-to-face with me and his expression softens. “Why are you doing this, Emma? We could be happy again, baby.”

“We were never happy.”

His hand snaps out and smacks my cheek, pain radiating through my entire face. I don’t cry out. I don’t even flinch. I just hold his stare, refusing to back down.

“Stop doing this. We were happy. We’re together again. I finally got you back so we can be just as happy as we used to be.”

“It was all a lie, Ryan.”

Shooting back up to a standing position, he roars in frustration. He runs his hands over his short hair and grits his teeth as he paces. After a couple seconds, he stops in front of me, pulls his foot back, and kicks me in the shin. I cry out in pain and he rears back and kicks me again.

“Why do you have to be such a fuckin’ bitch?!” he yells, kicking me again. This time, when his foot connects with my leg, the bone snaps and I scream at the incredible pain. Tears pour down my face as I sob and Ryan seems to reach some kind of clarity.

Just as he opens his mouth to say something, someone cuts in. “Ryan, I need to talk to you.” I look over to the door and gape when I see Detective Nelson standing there.

What the fuck?!

“What, Evan?” Ryan growls.

“Just get your fuckin’ ass over here.”

It all clicks into place. They have been working together the entire time. That’s why he wouldn’t take my statement and that’s how Ryan was able to get to me. Evan is the one who tied Chance up.

“I’ll give you a little time to think about everything,” Ryan says and leaves the room with Evan. I’m so disgusted with this whole thing that I can’t even bring myself to call him Detective Nelson anymore. What kind of sick, demented person does something like this?

My mind drifts back to when they took me and I shiver. It all happened so fast but I can remember every moment with excruciating detail. From waking up face first in the grass after Ryan tackled me to kicking him in the balls and sprinting back for the house. The splinters from hanging onto the screen door with all my might still sting my fingers. My entire body aches after everything I’ve been through tonight and I want nothing more than to crawl into Nix’s arms and go to sleep.

God, Nix. Thinking of never seeing him again fills me with a pain that I’ve never known. It leaves me breathless and my heart physically hurts. I have to find a way back to him.

* * * *

Ryan strolls back into the room with a smile on his face. I have no idea how long I’ve been here but it’s long enough that my eye is almost swollen shut from the blow he delivered earlier. I watch him warily, as best as I can with only one eye. He stops in front of me, sitting down in a chair he brought with him.