“It’s too late. Ellie doesn’t want anything to do with you.”
He stood up, slinking closer, while her heart thumped a machine gun rhythm in her chest.
“I don’t care about your defective kid. I want a cut of the extra dough you’re getting from your blind boyfriend.”
“There is no extra dough. I worked for Mr. Knight and got paid a salary. I live paycheck to paycheck, trying to cover Ellie’s medical bills. And I think you should leave before I decide to sue you for the child support you’ve never paid.”
His eyes rolled up to the ceiling. “You expect me to believe that billionaire isn’t paying you a little extra for his booty calls?”
Steam spewed out with her words. “There are no booty calls. And why would you think I would ever give you a dime, anyway?”
With a blur of movement, her wrist was cinched in his painful grasp. “Either you pay up, or I’ll tell him all about you. I’ll tell him what a slut you are. I’ll tell him how you wiped out my savings account.”
“I told you a thousand times, I never cheated on you. And I used our savings to pay some of Ellie’s medical bills. That’s all.” She jerked against his relentless grip, so tight it brought tears to her eyes.
Evil gleamed from his eyes as his lips spread to expose his teeth. A shiver rippled down her spine. He’d been so sweet and romantic when they were dating. How could this dark personality have been so well hidden? Was it obvious all the time, or did he change after they married?
“That’s not the way I remember it, baby.” Ripe and foul, his hot breath hit her face.
“It doesn’t matter.” She tugged again, to no avail. “I quit my job. I’m moving away tomorrow.”
The corner of his lip twitched. Suddenly, her arm was wrenched down and around, behind her back. She cried out in pain, but he lifted it high, forcing her head down. She couldn’t take a deep enough breath to scream for help.
“You’re not leaving here until you pay me back. You married me and slept around and took my money. Did you think I’d let you get away scot-free?”
“I don’t have any money.” Her voice came out a barely audible gasp, the pain in her arm intense as she waited for it to twist out of its socket.
“We’ll find a different way for you to pay.”
“No!” Her rasping protest sounded almost as terrified as she felt.
He’s out of his mind. Totally crazy.
Her arm bent further, pushing her to the floor. Adrenaline surged through her system as she watched for an opportunity to fight back. His weight fell on her back, trapping one arm beneath her and squeezing the air from her lungs.
With her arms pinned, she could only flail about, the clunky boot on her foot impeding her efforts. Then his weight shifted. He flipped her over and trapped both arms over her head, sending stabbing agony to her shoulders. Her legs were still trapped, but her mouth and lungs were free.
One deep breath later, she screamed for all she was worth and prayed Laurie would call nine-one-one. When his hand clamped over her mouth, she opened her jaw as wide as possible. A finger slipped inside, and she bit, hard. He answered with a shriek of pain, his wild eyes growing even wider. Something that felt like a chunk of lead impacted the side of her head and, for a second, she saw stars.
All at once, his weight lifted, and he gave a yelp of surprise. His body tumbled sideways to the floor. In his place stood Branson, chest heaving, expression dark with fury.
“Mommy! Mommy!” Ellie bounded over and fell to her knees beside Stephanie, tears streaking her face.
Steph scooted and crawled, backing as far as possible away from Jeff, who was already climbing to his feet, his cheeks red, veins pulsing on the side of his face.
Hopefully, Jeff would take one look at Bran, with his formidable height and bulging muscles, and decide to make a run for it.
“What’s wrong? Afraid to fight someone your own size?” Bran jeered. “One of those guys who beats up on women because he’s too chicken to fight a real man?”
“Bran. No.” He was taunting an insane man. He could get himself killed.
As she backed against the wall, Steph maneuvered onto her feet, a difficult task with her air cast in place. She whispered in Ellie’s ear and sent her running for help.
“Are you the guy who’s been sleeping with my slutty wife?” Jeff gave a harsh laugh as he marched up to Branson, giving him the once over. “Believe me, she’s not worth fighting over.”
“Maybe I disagree.”
Bran stood like a target, a sitting duck, hands at his side. Stephanie didn’t know what to do. If Jeff beat him up, it would be her fault.
Relaxed and smiling, Jeff shook his index finger at Stephanie. “I’ll come back to you in a minute, babe.”
In a blink, Jeff’s head snapped backwards, and his body teetered, tilting to the rear. Then, Branson sent a side kick to his belly, and he folded, landing with a thud.
Bran rubbed the knuckles on his right hand. “No, you won’t.”
Steph tiptoed closer to Jeff’s unmoving body, wary that he might jump up at any minute, brandishing a knife or a gun, as in every action movie she’d ever seen. From a distance of ten feet, she could see his chest rise and fall and decided she’d come far enough.
“I can’t believe you knocked him out. He’s alive, though.” She fanned herself with her hand, pushing her sleeves up to her elbows. “I was so scared when he got close to you. I thought he might kill you. Why did you taunt him like that?”
“Thanks for the ego boost. Thought, after all this time, you wouldn’t expect so little from me, just because I’m blind.” His eyebrows knitted together, and his jaw flexed. “If you really want to know, taunting makes an opponent talk. It’s a lot easier to hit my target while he’s speaking, especially if I’m aiming for his chin.”
“Oh. Right. Uhmm… makes sense.” The complete awkwardness of the entire situation settled in. Other than sending a single text asking for “space,” she’d ignored Branson’s attempts at communication. In an effort to avoid him at all costs, she’d located a short-term, low-rent sublease in Monee, a suburb of Chicago, where the three of them could stay until she made arrangements to go to New York. That was assuming everything worked out with Finn, whom she hadn’t yet contacted.
Now she felt like a complete heel, even though she’d pushed him away for his own good. She didn’t even know if he’d come down with the stomach virus. The last two nights, she’d laid awake with nothing but Branson on her mind. When morning came she would crawl out of bed, splash water on her face, and struggle through the day, explaining away her bloodshot eyes and dark circles as a cold. From the way Laurie reacted, pressing her lips together and watching her with a sympathetic gaze, Steph assumed she wasn’t buying the excuse.
As if I didn’t owe Branson enough already, he went and saved my life, or at least saved me from a horrible experience. I have to say something.
“Thanks for… coming to my rescue. Thought I could handle him, but he’s never been like that before. Maybe he was on something.”
