by K. M. Scott
IF YOU FIGHT
(CORRUPTED LOVE #2)
K.M. SCOTT
If You Fight
If you fight, will we last?
Serena
All my life, everyone around me made sure I was weak. My father. My sister. And now the man my father forced me to marry. But Oliver doesn’t know what I know. Strength can come even in the hardest times, and if you’re willing to fight for love, nothing can stand in your way.
For the first time in my life, I’m fighting back, and with Ryder by my side, I’m never letting myself be weak again.
Ryder
They want us to be their pawns, but I won’t let them use her like that. I promised I’d protect Serena, and if it costs me everything in this world, I will.
Even if it means returning to the one place I swore I’d never go back to again.
If You Fight is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
2017 Copper Key Media, LLC
Kindle Edition
Copyright © 2017 Copper Key Media, LLC
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Published in the United States
ISBN-10: 1-941594-53-0
ISBN-13: 978-1-941594-53-7
Cover Design: Sara Eirew
Photo by: Sara Eirew Photographer
Adult Content: Contains graphic sexual content
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Click on the covers below to learn more about the series:
Table of Contents
Title Page
About the Book
Copyright Page
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Part Two
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
About the Author
Books by K.M. Scott
Books by Gabrielle Bisset
PART ONE
Chapter One
Serena
All around me I heard silence. Where was I? What happened? I slowly opened my eyes and saw through the haze stark white walls and a window with pale orange draperies pulled closed. Instantly, all that happened flooded into my brain. Fighting with Oliver. Hands pushing me down the stairs. Lying on the floor. Him standing over me kicking my stomach with the point of his shoe.
Emotions swirled inside me as I remembered it all. I looked beneath the white sheet covering me to see a bloody maxi-pad in my underwear, and my heart clenched, aching for what I’d lost.
For what Ryder and I had lost.
I remembered every hateful word that spewed from Oliver’s mouth. Every terrible word he said to me before pushing me down those stairs and taking my child from me.
Before he tried to kill me.
Rolling over, I curled up into a ball and closed my eyes as the tears came and wouldn’t stop. Not when the nurse asked me if I needed anything for pain. Not when she told me I’d be okay and I could have more children. Not when she placed her hand gently on my shoulder and said God knew about my pain.
What God? God hadn’t kept his eye on me not a day of my entire life. If he had, my mother wouldn’t have been sent away from me in the dark of night. If God had cared, my father wouldn’t have auctioned me off to the highest bidder, a man who not a day earlier had threatened to kill me and then pushed me down a flight of stairs.
If God even knew I existed, I wouldn’t have been shown happiness with Ryder only to have it yanked away from me at every turn.
No, God knew nothing of my pain, or if he did, he didn’t give one damn. God wasn’t going to save me from the world I was in. Only I could do that.
I will not die at the hands of my husband. I will not die because I’m merely a female. I won’t let Oliver or my father do this to me.
Over and over, the words repeated in my mind until my lips began to move and the words met the air around me, each one feeling like it clawed its way out of my injured throat, still raw from Oliver’s attempt to strangle me.
“I will not die at the hands of my husband. I will not die because I’m merely female. I won’t let Oliver or my father do this to me.”
I said those words until nothing else came to my mind. I wanted those words to be truth. Never before had I believed in myself enough to take that stand and refuse to be discarded for who I was.
But could I be that strong? I wanted nothing more than to be that woman who could face the monsters all around her and make them fear me like I feared them.
Ryder could. He scared them. He had enchanted my father in ways my sister and I never could, and from that first day, my father respected him. Needed him. Wanted him around.
Watching him do it so effortlessly thrilled me nearly as much as being with him did. Strength exuded from him even as he stood silently staring straight ahead there in my father’s office day after day.
And my husband knew it. He knew Ryder possessed a strength he never would, and it terrified him. I may not have, but Ryder did.
I stared at those ugly orange draperies and repeated my mantra, but slightly different now. I would not let them kill me. I would be strong. Or die trying to be that person.
And from that moment on I would do everything in my power to escape from that world that had trapped me for so long I wasn’t sure I’d recognize life without the manipulation and heartache my father and husband force fed me. But deep down inside where only Ryder had seen, I craved that life away from all I’d ever known.
Drying my eyes, I set my mind to a singular thought. I would survive, and I’d get out. And I’d do whatever I had to.
Trapped in that bed as a captive audience, I watched as my husband entered my hospital room and noted the look of surprise in his beady eyes. Thought you got rid of me, did you? Not so quickly, Oliver. I’m tougher than I look.
Behind him, my father followed, along with Ryder. Overjoyed to see him, I didn’t even attempt to hide how happy I was he’d come to be with me. I’d pretended long enough for a man who tried to kill me.
Oliver spun around to see who had made my eyes light up and brought a smile to my face. Pointing his finger at Ryder, he barked, “Get him out of here! He doesn’t belong here!”
Ryder leveled his gaze on him and didn’t waver, but my father spoke up to defend his presence there. “You should be thankful for him. He’s the reason your wife is still alive. If he hadn’t found Serena in time, we’d be meeting to discuss her funeral instead of seeing her
lying there in that hospital bed.”
Rage simmered beneath Oliver’s façade of worry for me, but he said nothing in response to my father’s dictate, even though I knew how much he chafed under his orders. He turned back to look at me and as if on cue, he played the loving husband act like a pro.
Taking my hand in his own far-too-soft hand, he held it just tightly enough that I couldn’t pull away without causing a scene. “How do you feel, honey? Your father told me the horrible news, but don’t worry. We’ll have other children.”
So that’s how he planned to play it. Would he say it was an accident that caused me to fall down a flight of stairs in my own home while he was there? Or would he claim complete ignorance and continue with the desperately concerned husband act?
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ryder react to Oliver’s words, his eyes opening wide and filling with anger. My father watched Oliver carefully, hanging on every word he said like he wasn’t sure if his son-in-law had been involved in hurting me.
I opened my mouth to speak but only got a few words out before the pain in my throat from being choked made talking almost unbearable. Clutching my neck, I mouthed, “It hurts to speak.”
Like the dutiful husband, Oliver gently patted my leg and said, “You don’t have to say anything, Serena. There’s time for that later. Now you just need to rest.”
I saw in his eyes the terrible fear that I would start talking and tell anyone who’d listen exactly who’d done this to me. But I had other plans for my dear husband.
Forcing the words out, I whispered, “No, I want to speak. It’s important to me that I tell my father what happened before I forget the details.”
Oliver protested my attempts to speak. “You need to rest. We can do this later. Rest now.”
But my father wasn’t interested in his idea of my resting. Eager to know who had done this to me, he stepped toward the bed and asked, “Do you remember what happened, Serena?”
In that moment, it felt like time stopped as I looked from my father to Oliver and then to Ryder. Only I knew what had happened and who had attacked me, and each man waited to hear my answer. I held Oliver’s entire future in my hands, and for the first time in my life, the feeling of real power rushed through me.
It would be nothing to tell the truth about what he’d done. He wouldn’t make it out of my hospital room before Ryder jumped him, and I sensed that my father already had his suspicions and likely wouldn’t have stopped his employee from exacting his revenge.
Oliver would be arrested and out of my life as he sat in prison for attempted murder. I’d get what I wanted and have my freedom. My father probably wouldn’t even give me a hard time about divorcing the son of a bitch.
But as that scenario played out in my head, I knew that would be too easy for him. He might get himself a good lawyer and never spend a day in jail. He might contest the divorce and keep me tied to him for years, and if my father wanted me to stay married to the bastard, then where would I be?
No freedom. Same trapped existence.
No, that wouldn’t do. I couldn’t let that happen.
Reaching out for my father’s hand, I took a deep breath and made the decision to use the power I finally had. “It was an intruder, Daddy. He broke into the house and attacked me. He wanted to kill me.”
With those words, I set into motion my plan for freedom.
A look of true concern settled into my father’s features, drawing his mouth into a deep frown. “You’re lucky you’re alive then. But why would an intruder attack you?”
Knowing my father had doubts why anyone would want to hurt me, especially some unknown assailant, I croaked out, “I think he was looking for Oliver but I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
And with that, the lie made sense. While I, a simple woman who rarely even left the estate, would be an unlikely target for an attacker, Oliver certainly could be. A businessman, he made enemies every day.
Or at least my father would think that since he made enemies all the time through the course of his wheeling and dealing. I may never have had much of a head for business, but I paid attention whenever I could to what my father said about running his companies.
Turning toward Oliver, my father said, “Who would want you dead? We need to figure that out to find out who was behind this.”
In a flash, the dutiful, concerned husband morphed into the outraged husband. Flailing his hands, he said, “It’s outrageous! I demand the security be improved at the estate. My wife and I have lost something precious today. This can’t be allowed!”
From behind my father, Ryder said in a flat voice devoid of emotion, “The security cameras will show us exactly who the attacker was, Robert.”
Oliver immediately grew flustered at the thought that he’d been caught by none other than the man he’d ordered out of my hospital room. “Is he saying you have security cameras in our apartment? Why wasn’t I told about this? Why have you been watching us?”
“No, no, there are no cameras in any of the apartments, Oliver,” my father answered as he tried to ease his troubled mind about being spied on in his own home. “The security cameras are on the outside around the estate. But Ryder’s right. We’ll be able to see anyone who left the area near your apartment in the past twenty-four hours, so rest assured, we’ll know who did this. Don’t worry about that.”
My father’s reassurances did nothing to calm Oliver’s fears, though, naturally since he knew what they’d see on the security footage. The only person other than Ryder to leave our apartment in that time was the very person who’d done this to me.
“Did the man say anything to you?” my father asked, thoroughly convinced some intruder had found a way onto the estate.
I shook my head and took a sip of water to ease the pain in my throat. “No. One moment I was alone in the kitchen, and then the next moment he was coming at me. I threw a glass to stop him, but it was no use. His hands were around my neck in seconds choking me.”
Completely ignoring my father’s interest in my attacker, Oliver asked, “Do you need anything from home? I can go get you whatever you need, honey.”
So now I was honey. He hadn’t called me that once in all the time we were married, and now he’d called me honey twice in the span of a few minutes. Oliver may not have been much of a husband, but he was a hell of an actor.
I smiled like a thankful wife would and answered sweetly, “Just a change of clothes for when I go home tomorrow, please.”
Like he couldn’t get out of that room fast enough, he nodded and announced he’d return with exactly what I asked for. Kissing me goodbye, he said in his kindest voice, “I love you, Serena. I’m so happy you’re going to be okay.”
He had no idea how not okay I was going to be until I made him pay for what he’d done. But I smiled and pretended to be thankful for such a wonderfully thoughtful husband.
“I’m going to go too. You need your rest, sweetheart,” my father said as he gave my hand a gentle squeeze. Another manipulator pretending to care.
“Thank you. I am feeling a little tired, I guess.”
“Well, we’ll get out of here, but you have Ryder to thank once again for the fact that you’re alive. If he hadn’t been there to save you, God only knows what may have happened.”
If God was paying attention, he knew exactly what would have happened.
I smiled at Ryder, and he took a step toward the bed. The troubled look on his face told me he didn’t understand what he’d just witnessed. Confused by my insistence that I’d been attacked by an intruder when he knew full well who had done this to me, he remained silent but tried to smile.
“Thank you again for saving my life. One of these days I’m going to have to repay the favor.”
“I just wish I got there in time to stop him. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
The pain in his voice told me he was sorry for more than that. We’d lost something beautiful we’d created. It was taken away by a hateful man
I swore would pay back someday soon.
I reached out for his hand and took it in mine, soothed by him being there with me. “You saved me. I can’t tell you what that means to me, Ryder.”
“Well, we’re going to leave you to get some rest. If you need anything that Oliver doesn’t bring you, just call me, sweetheart,” my father said as he kissed my cheek and turned to leave.
“I want to talk to Ryder. Give us a few minutes, okay?”
“Okay. Ryder, I’ll be down at the car.”
Happy to get a few moments alone with him, I clung to Ryder’s hand as I waited for the door to close behind my father. When we were finally alone, I didn’t hold back my tears any longer. I didn’t have to.
As they rolled down my cheeks, he pulled me close and held me to him as I sobbed over what we’d lost. I felt the sadness in him and wished I could do more than simply fall apart.
He pressed his lips to the top of my head and whispered, “Why did you lie? You could have outed him right here and been done with him, Serena. Why let him off so easy?”
I leaned back and looked up into those green eyes so full of confusion, hoping he’d understand what I’d had to do. “That would have been too easy for him, Ryder. I couldn’t risk him somehow getting out of paying for what he’d done to me, to our baby, because of some slick lawyer. No way.”
My mention of the baby made Ryder wince, and he turned away from me. “I hate him, Serena. I hate the very sight of him,” he said quietly, his voice cracking.
“I know. I do too.”
“I swear, if I could, I would—” He stopped speaking and sighed as his shoulders sagged. “I hate him for what he did to you. To our baby.”
Tugging on his arm, I pleaded for him to look at me. I needed him to know I wasn’t going to just return to Oliver and that hateful life I had with him.
“Ryder, I want you to look at me. Please.”
He slowly turned his head, and his gaze zeroed in on my bruised neck. “He could have killed you, Serena.”
