by Elle James
“I figured I’d be happily married by now with one or two kids.” Kinsey snorted.
“Same here.” Becket’s lips twisted. “We play the hands we’re dealt. How long have you put up with the abuse?”
“Too long.” Kinsey stared out the window. “The beatings started when he signed on with the NFL. He’d take me to parties. When his teammates paid too much attention to me, he’d get jealous, drink too much, and hit me when we got back to our place.”
“Why didn’t you leave him then?”
“In the morning, he’d apologize and promise not to do it again.” Her lip pulled back in a sneer. “But, he did. Eventually, he stopped taking me to the parties.” Her life would have been so different had she left him the first time he hit her. She’d been a fool to believe he would stop.
“Couldn’t you have gone to your family?”
“Each time I mentioned leaving, Dillon flew into a rage and threatened to kill me. Then he took away my car. He said it was for my own good. The car was too old, and needed too much work to drive.” At first, Kinsey had thought his action was out of concern for her safety. But her checkbook and credit cards disappeared, and he blamed her for being careless, forcing her to live off whatever pittance of cash he gave her. Without a job, she had no income and became a prisoner in Dillon’s home. “He told me I was a terrible driver and shouldn’t be on the road. That I’d probably end up crashing into someone.”
“The man’s a dick.”
“Tell me about it.” Kinsey bit her lip to keep it from trembling. “I think part of the reason he stopped me from driving was that I’d go to visit my parents. Like he was jealous of how much I loved them, and liked spending time at home. By taking away my car, he left me with no way of getting there. Mom and Dad came up to visit me in Dallas when they could, but after they left, Dillon would stomp around the house, sullen and angry. He’d accuse me of being a mama’s girl. If I defended myself, he hit me.”
“Your parents were good people,” Becket said. “I was sorry to hear of the accident.”
Tears slipped from Kinsey’s eyes. “They were on their way to visit me, since I couldn’t go to them. I think they knew I was in trouble.”
“Why didn’t you tell them what was going on?”
“I was embarrassed, ashamed, and scared. By then, Dillon was my world. I didn’t think I had any other alternatives. And he swore he loved me.”
“He had a lousy way of showing it,” Becket said through tight lips.
She agreed. Along with the physical abuse, Dillon heaped enough mental and verbal abuse on Kinsey, she’d started to believe him.
You’re not smart enough to be a nurse. You’ll kill a kid with your carelessness, he’d say.
When her parents died, she’d stumbled around in a fog of grief. Dillon coerced her into signing a power of attorney, allowing him to settle their estate. Before she knew what he’d done, he’d sold her parents’ property, lock, stock and barrel, without letting her go through any of their things. He’d put the money in his own account, telling her it was a joint account. She never saw any of the money—never had access to the bank.
Several times over the past few months, she had considered leaving him. But with her parents gone, no money to start over, and no one to turn to, she’d hesitated.
Then, a month ago, he’d beaten her so badly she’d been knocked unconscious. When she came to, she knew she had to get out before he killed her. She stole change out of Dillon’s drawer, only a little at a time so he wouldn’t notice. After a couple weeks, she had enough for a tank of gas.
Dillon settled into a pattern of drinking, beating her, and passing out. She used the hours he was unconscious to scour the house in search of her keys. She’d begun to despair, thinking he’d thrown them away. Until last night. He’d gone out drinking with his teammates. When he’d arrived home, he’d gone straight to the refrigerator for another beer. He’d forgotten he’d finished off the last bottle the night before and blamed her for drinking the beer. With no beer left in the house, he reached for the whiskey.
With a sickening sense of the inevitable, Kinsey braced herself, but she was never prepared when he started hitting. This time, when he passed out, she’d raided his pockets and the keychain he guarded carefully. On it was the key to her car.
Grabbing the handful of change she’d hoarded, she didn’t bother packing clothes, afraid if she took too long, he’d wake before she got her car started and out of the shed.
Heart in her throat, she’d pried open the shed door and climbed into her dusty old vehicle. She’d stuck the key in the ignition, praying it would start. Dillon had charged the battery and started the car the week before, saying it was time to sell it. Hopefully, the battery had retained its charge.
On her second attempt, she pumped the gas pedal and held her breath. The engine groaned, and by some miracle it caught, coughed, and sputtered to life.
Before she could chicken out, before Dillon could stagger through the door and drag her out of the vehicle, she’d shoved the gear shift into reverse and backed out of the shed, scraping her car along the side of Dillon’s pristine four-wheel drive pickup, and bounced over the curb onto the street.
She’d made it out, and she wasn’t going back.
About the Author
ELLE JAMES also writing as MYLA JACKSON is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of books including cowboys, intrigues and paranormal adventures that keep her readers on the edges of their seats. When she’s not at her computer, she’s traveling, snow skiing, boating, or riding her ATV, dreaming up new stories. Learn more about Elle James at www.ellejames.com
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Or visit her alter ego Myla Jackson at mylajackson.com
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Also by Elle James
Iron Horse Legacy
Soldier’s Duty
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Montana SEAL Daddy (#7)
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Smoldering Desire (#3)
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Show of Force (#2)
Full Force (#3)
Driving Force (#4)
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Three Courageous Words
Four Relentless Days
Five Ways to Surrender
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Mack’s Witness (#2)
Ronin’s Return (#3)
Sam’s Surrender (#4)
Take No Prisoners Series
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SEAL’s Obsession (#4)
SEAL’s Proposal (#5)
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SEAL’S Defiance (#7)
SEAL’s Deception (#8)
SEAL’s Deliverance (#9)
SEAL’s Ultimate Challenge (#10)
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Navy SEAL Captive
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Thunder Horse Heritage (#2)
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