“Cal put it there,” she says quietly. Her eyes are downcast as a pained expression takes over her face.

“I’m not following you. Put what, where?”

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before bringing her gaze back up to mine. “Cal saw us on the cameras that day. He dug the button out of the trashcan and left it out for me to find. He tainted it.” Her voice drops on the last sentence, conveying her sadness.

Fuck.

Knowing he was watching us—watching her—lose herself with me puts a lead ball in the pit of my stomach. I can only imagine how she feels having him taunt her and try to ruin something that was important to the both of us.

“Don’t do that. Don’t you dare let him take that moment from us. And I’m not talking about when I had you laid out on the kitchen island underneath me either. I’m talking about the day you gave it to me in a frame and claimed my heart. Who gives a fuck if he put it there? That moment was real and he can’t taint that.” I search her eyes hoping what I’ve said sinks in.

“I love you,” she says, walking up to me. Her arms wrap around my neck and she kisses me softly. She leans back with a soft smile on her face.

“I love you, too. You got everything you need?”

“Almost.” She turns and walks to the side table next to the bed. After opening the drawer, she pulls out the frame I was asking her about. She hands it to me and I can’t stop the images that come to mind. When she pulled me to her by my tie, I thought I was going to devour her right then. It was so damn sexy to see her confidence and to act on something she wanted for once. I’ll never forget the first time my hands touched her soft skin, saw her full tits, or tasted her sweet lips. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. “Now I’m ready,” she says, pulling me out of my daydream.

We’re just about to walk out of the bedroom, when I hear the front door open. We both freeze.

“Elizabeth!”

“Oh, God,” Elizabeth whispers.

“I thought you said he was gone?” I whisper back.

“I-I thought he was.” She looks pale and I can hear her heart racing in fear. “This is just like last time,” she says as she stares straight ahead. I know she’s thinking about the last time she was going to leave.

“Let’s go.”

Shit.

We only have seconds

“We can’t go through the door.” Her voice trembles.

“We’re not.” I pull her to the window.

“I-I can’t.” She’s frozen. We don’t have time for this.

“We don’t have a choice.” I lift the window and look back at her. “We’ve got to move,” I urge her.

I sit on the ledge and swing my legs over. “I’ll catch you. I promise.” I say as I look back at her.

She nods her head, still shaking.

“Elizabeth?” I hear Cal shout out again, only he’s closer this time.

She gasps and her eyes go wide.

Dammit.

Quickly, I brace my hands on each side of my hips, and turn over so my stomach is resting on the ledge. I inch the rest of the way out until I’m hanging by my hands then let go. Once my feet hit the ground, I crumble and roll to the ground to help distribute the impact of the landing. I get up quickly and glance around, glad that we’re on the back corner of the house. I look up in time to catch Elizabeth’s bag she throws down. I toss the bag to the ground, then glance back up to catch her. Except now the window is closed.

No.

Please tell me he’s not in there with her. Fear travels up my spine and takes hold of my whole body. I’m not leaving without her. I’ll blow this whole investigation and go in after her if I have to.

ELIZABETH

I HEAR FOOTSTEPS down the hall and know I’ll never make it. I close the window and lay on the bed just before he enters the room.

“I called for you,” he says annoyed.

“Sorry, I was sleeping.” My heart is beating so frantically in my chest that I’m afraid he can hear it. Taking slow breaths, I do my best to act casual, but a sense of déjà vu has me trembling, afraid I’ll never make it out of here. This feels like history repeating itself. Cal caught me just minutes before I left last time, and here I am now, holding my breath, praying this attempt won’t be ruined too.

“Of course you were,” he grumbles in disgust. “It’s not like you have anything important to do each day. God, what a waste of space.” His eyes travel up and down my body like I’m the most repulsive thing he’s ever seen. Like my very existence pisses him off.

“I can’t really go anywhere with these bruises on my face,” I remind him. “I wouldn’t want to be photographed like this.”

His jaw ticks, no doubt upset with my attitude. “Isn’t that the kind of thing that got you smacked around in the first place? You need to watch who you’re fucking talking to, or do I need to remind you?”

My mind automatically drifts to him hitting me in the face. It felt like an explosion had gone off right on my cheekbone. The ringing in my ears was deafening, and I struggled to maintain consciousness as I fell to the floor. I was so disoriented I couldn’t make out what he was screaming at me. It just sounded like a constant, muted roar. Right when I started to regain my bearings, he landed a kick to my ribs, knocking the air out of me. I know I downplayed it to Alex, but in that moment, I was afraid for my life. I don’t know what is going on, but each day Cal becomes more and more unhinged, and I’m terrified of him.

I shake my head in response.

“That’s what I thought.” He walks to the door to leave and I am just about to let out a sigh of relief when he turns back around. “Oh, by the way, I won’t be home tonight.”

“Work stuff?”

“Not that it’s any of your business,” he chastises, “but it’s not work related. I’ll be fucking Mona all night long if you really want to know. You can’t expect me to sit here and stare at your horrific looking face, now can you? Hell, I couldn’t get a hard on if I tried with a fucked up face like that.”

I swallow hard and will the tears to go away. I’m almost there. I’m almost free. I chant this over and over in my head. As soon as I’m in Alex’s arms, none of this will mean anything. I dig deep and search for something other than hurt and humiliation to hold on to.

Anger.

It fuels me, causing me to look that bastard in the eye and pour out all the hate I feel for him. How dare he say that to me when he’s the one who busted my face up to begin with! I will not be made to feel embarrassed or ashamed. I did not do this to myself and I’m sure as hell not letting him make me feel like I did.

He waits a beat to see if I’m going to respond, but I don’t. I just need him to leave so I can get out of here, and telling him what I think won’t accomplish that. After he’s satisfied I’m not going to talk back, he turns back around and leaves the room.

My body sags with relief for a second before I spring up and go back toward the window. I hope Alex is still there waiting for me.

ALEX

I CAN’T WAIT any longer. I’m going in after her. Right as I’m about to go around to the back of the house, I hear the window open. I blow out a long breath when I see her coming out feet first. Rushing back over, I hold my hands out and wait to catch her. She hangs by her arms off the ledge for a few seconds. I’m about to tell her to let go when she releases her grip. She hits me hard and fast, knocking the wind out of me as I take the brunt of her fall before we tumble to the ground. “Are you okay?” I ask barely above a whisper as I struggle to catch my breath.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

I quickly get up and help her do the same before grabbing her hand and running over to the back corner of the yard where there’s some trees to hide behind. Once we’re out of plain sight, we stop, both of us breathless from the short sprint and the adrenaline pumping through our bodies.