Page 139 of Anything To Be With You

Than Life Itself

Dani

Three weeks later

I shoot up in bed. The doorbell is going off like mad. "It’s almost one in the morning, who in the fuck is here?" I mutter as I grab my phone and check the camera App.

"For fucks sake." I don’t bother reacting when I Josh, the cameras are recording everything. The ringing stops and I lay back down.

—Crash—

Glass shatters somewhere downstairs and I jump out of bed, racing to my bedroom door and locking it. I text Mason, telling him to stay in his room. He won’t get it until the morning. That kid can sleep through a nuclear blast and his door is always locked.

—Bang, bang, bang—

"Open the door, whore!" Josh roars from the other side.

I scramble for my phone and hit call on the first number in my recent calls list. "Go away or I’m calling the cops!"

More banging. "The fuck you will! Let me in!"

I hear whoever answered call my name. "I’m giving you ten seconds to get out of here Josh."

—Bang, bang, crash—

My bedroom door is hanging off its hinges. Josh storms into my room, grabbing me by the arms. All I can smell is beer. Like it’s oozing out of his pores.

"Drop the lawsuit." He demands.

"I don’t fucking think so." I spit back.

"I did nothing to you and you fucking know it!"

"Just like you’re doing nothing to me now."

He brings his elbow up quick, connecting with my nose causing pain to fire through my face as blood runs down into my mouth.

"Bullshit! You’ve always played the victim!" Josh yells, his spit hitting me in the face. "You had everyone believing that I was the bad guy!" he moves to hit me again, but I avoid the blow to the head.

Barely.

"I never played the victim; I was a fucking victim. Of your abuse, your manipulation, your gaslighting and love bombing! I want you to pay for what you did to me! What you’ve probably done to who knows how many other women."

"It’s all in your fucking head! You hurt me by blaming me and turning everyone against me! You even had my cousin believing that I hit you. My own fucking family!"

He slams against the wall, my head ricochets off the wall, making me see stars. I lift my knee and connect with his nuts. He drops and I take off across the hall to Mason’s room, banging frantically on his door.

"Dani!" Josh yells as he stumbles out of the room and lunges, knocking us down the stairs.

I throw my hands out to stop from hitting my face on the floor, but they slide when they connect with the tiles, my right wrist twisting and cracking and I smash my face off the ceramic flooring at the bottom.

My head is swimming, my jaw is throbbing, and my vision is blurry as I scramble up the stairs. I bang on Mason’s door again and it opens this time. He takes one look at me, and fury transforms his sweet face into something frightening.

"Ma?"

"Dani!" Josh hollers.

Mason pushes me behind him just as Josh reaches the top of the stairs. "Move, son." Josh snarls.

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