Page 69 of Every Breath

“Apparently, there’s nothing I can say or do that will make you forgive me. I’m sure I could apologize until my last breath but you won’t accept my apologies, will you?”

“You’re damn right I won’t!”

“Nonetheless, I am sorry, whether you want to hear it or not, whether you believe me or not. Before you go, though, I’ll be picking up Ben on my designated weekends. Not only that, I will be applying for joint custody of him. He’s going to need a positive male role model in his life and there’s no better role model than a child’s father.”

“Didn’t you hear me? I’m not letting you see my son, and I’ll be damned if you get custody of him in any way, shape, or form.” She advanced on him, then stopped short.

“I guess we’ll have to let the courts decide.”

“And I suppose with all your money, you will make sure to paint my reputation black. Nearly destroying me during our marriage was not enough for you, was it? Now you want to take my child away from me?”

“My intention is not to take Ben away from you. My goal is to be a bigger presence in his life. You can carry on your grudge against me if you’d like, but where our son is concerned, it has to stop. Ben deserves the love and support of both his parents. I’m not going to talk about this anymore.”

Karen went red to the very roots of her blonde head and she looked as though she was about to explode. “I would leave the country before you got your hands on him.”

Mason’s temper finally snapped. “You selfish bitch! I’m beginning to think you’re not a competent parent, after all. If I even think you’ll try to keep me from him by pulling a stunt like that, I will slap you with a petition for full custody so fast your head would spin. You might have thought I was a bastard in the past, but you haven’t seen anything yet if you keep this shit up! Now get the hell out of my room!” He made a move to get out of the bed, ignoring the pain.

Karen’s eyes widened before she quickly left. Mason fell back against the pillow and his anger subsided. He wanted to have a good relationship with Karen for Ben’s sake, but he now knew that it wasn’t possible. Her hatred of him was too deep.

He wondered if this meant he would fail his redemption project. The thought made him panic. He couldn’t go back when he had come so far and finally won Brandi’s love again.

He called out. “Paul.”

Nothing.

Where the hell was Paul when he needed him?

Mason knew Rodney would make his move eventually, but he hadn’t thought of something like this, especially with Ben in the car with him. The bastard had to be taken care of. It was obvious that Rodney didn’t care who he hurt.

Mason shuddered to think of what would have happened if Brandi or the kids had been in the car, too.

Brandi.

He needed to get to her and the children.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Brandi woke up in a dimly lit room. She lay in the middle of an old mattress on the floor surrounded by candles. Her shoulders were sore, and she couldn’t think coherently. When she tried to move her arms, she couldn’t. Her hands were restrained behind her back and her ankles were tightly bound together. The last thing she remembered was struggling with someone and encountering an awful smell. She’d been kidnapped and she had a pretty good idea who the culprit was.

Brandi screamed at the top of her lungs. “Help me! Someone please help!”

No response.

“Someone help!” she yelled again.

No one came.

Her heart raced and questions flew through her mind. Where was she? How long had she been out? Was anyone looking for her? What about her children? Were they okay?

Brandi wanted to give into tears but knew they were a luxury she couldn’t afford right now. She had to focus on getting out of here before her captor returned. She didn’t know if he planned on maiming, killing, or raping her, or all three, but she didn’t want to stick around and find out.

First, she had to try and get her hands in front of her. Brandi wiggled her arms behind her back trying to pull them past her bottom. She strained and stretched until sweat beaded her forehead and her shoulders ached even more, but she finally managed to get her hands under her butt.

She took a deep breath and worked to get her legs through her arms, bending, twisting, and contorting in ways she hadn’t thought she was capable of. She almost felt as though someone was giving her the extra push she needed. When her feet slipped through the cuffs and her arms were in front of her at last, Brandi fell back against the mattress, breathing huge sighs of relief.

Being short and petite finally paid off.

Once she caught her breath, she sat up and attacked the knots in the rope around her ankles. They were tight and she broke nearly all of her nails before she was able to free herself.

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