Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 80969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
And that dirty money that he gets paid, which he can’t put in the bank, as it would raise questions, he keeps in the safe that he has hidden in the desk in his office.
The safe he thinks that I don’t know about.
But I do know.
And that’s going to be my way out of here.
I don’t want to take his money. I wish I didn’t have to.
I wish I could be ethical and moral, but I don’t have any other choice.
I don’t have my own money.
Neil has never let me work. At first, I thought it was because he loved me and wanted to take care of me.
I quickly realized that it was just another way for him to control me.
If I didn’t have money, then I couldn’t leave.
So, I’m taking his money, and I’m leaving.
Neil gets up from the table. I see the gun on his belt, like I do every day, and it still makes my stomach tighten.
Neil gets his suit jacket from the back of his chair and puts it on.
I stand and follow him to the front door, as I do every morning. Because I’ve been conditioned to do so.
But not after today.
Never again.
He stops at the door and turns to face me.
I brace myself.
His hand lifts to my face.
I flinch.
The satisfaction in his eyes slithers through me, and I hate him more in this moment than I’ve ever hated him.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Annie.” He grips my chin with his thumb and forefinger.
I tense up as I watch his eyes trail over the bruise on my cheekbone. My split lip.
Once upon a time, there used to be remorse in his eyes.
Now, there’s nothing.
“I got carried away last night. Stay home today. I’ll pick dinner up on my way home tonight.”
“Okay,” I answer.
“Good girl.”
He presses a punishing kiss to my lips, the cut on my lip stinging painfully, but I don’t react to the pain, and I hide the revolt inside me. The sick feeling I get whenever he touches me.
I just respond to his kiss as I always do. It’s more important right now more than ever not to screw up. I don’t want him to get a scent of anything being different with me.
He steps back, releasing his hold on my chin.
I hate you.
“Have a good day.” I smile. Forced but practiced.
He opens the door to leave. “I mean it, Annie. Don’t go out today.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
Just go.
He steps through the door. Anticipation lifts my heart rate.
Then, he stops and turns back to look at me over his shoulder.
My stomach tightens with fear.
Not for myself.
I stopped fearing for my own life a long time ago.
When you no longer fear death but wish for it, you have nothing to lose. But, now, I’m having a baby; it’s not just my life anymore. I owe it to my child to give him or her the best chance in life.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he speaks in a harsh voice, brow raised.
Fudge. Fudge. Fudge.
“I love you,” I tell him, swallowing nervously.
He stares at me for what feels like forever, his expression questioning.
I hold my face and body as still as possible, wishing my heart to slow down its racing beats.
Then, finally, after what feels like forever, he speaks, “I love you, Annie. Till death do us part.”
“Till death do us part,” I echo the lie with ease.
Never, ever again.
The door closes behind him.
I let out a quiet breath. One that I’ve been holding all morning.
I stand here, listening. Waiting.
His car engine starts.
I hear it pull away.
I wait a beat to be sure he’s definitely gone.
And then I spring into action.
I run upstairs and dress quickly into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and then I slip my feet into my sneakers. I grab my old beaten-up brown leather duffel bag from the closet. The one that I brought my clothes and memory box in when I moved out of my foster home at eighteen and moved in with Neil.
I don’t have any family. I’m a foster kid. I was taken from my drug-addicted, prostitute mother when I was a baby and placed in foster care. It was never known who my father was. Probably one of her johns.
I guess that’s why I fell into Neil’s arms and lies so easily.
He was older. Mature. And I was desperate for stability. A family of my own.
I was eighteen. Fresh out of school and hoping to start community college. I was mugged one night, walking home from the subway. Neil happened to be walking past when it happened. He was off-duty at the time.
He caught the guy and arrested him. I got my purse back and a date with an older, handsome cop for the following night.
I moved in with him a week later.
My nightmare started six months later when he beat me for the first time.