Page 44 of Deadly Vows

Chapter 26

Talia

I sit in the dimly lit living room, staring blankly at the flickering light on the ceiling. It’s late, but I’m wide awake, my thoughts racing, and my body tense. The silence of the house feels like a weight crushing me. Every creak and groan of the floorboards makes my skin prickle. Danny went out to buy beer. I tried the door and the windows, but I couldn’t get them to open. He must have them locked from the outside. I’m trapped.

I lean back on the couch, cradling my baby bump. I hum softly to the baby, pretending that it will keep it calm when I’m the one who has to stay calm. It’s been two days since I’ve been held against my will in this house. I don’t want to believe that atone time, I actually cared for Danny, the man capable of doing this.

The front door clicks softly, and I tense. Slow and deliberate footsteps follow, and my heart beats faster with each one. Danny walks into the room with an eerie calm, his broad shoulders filling the doorway as he looks at me with a gaze that’s hard to decipher.

“Why do you look so scared?” Danny’s voice is smooth as if this were normal, and he’s a doting boyfriend.

I swallow hard, forcing the words. “I’m not scared.”

He smirks, the kind of smirk that used to make my heart skip with excitement. Now, it just makes me feel sick.

“Liar,” he says softly, walking closer, taking his time like a predator stalking its prey. He stops in front of me, towering over me like a giant. I can feel the heat of his body and the intensity of his green eyes as they bore into me. It’s suffocating.

To my surprise, he reaches into the grocery bag and pulls out a pint of ice cream.

“Here,” he says, handing it to me with a plastic spoon. “I know pregnant women like ice cream.” He smiles sweetly and puts the grocery bag on the table. He pulls out a beer and pops open the can, taking a big gulp.

“Why are you doing this, Danny? Why keep me here?”

He crouches down so we’re at eye level, his face inches from mine. For a moment, I feel like he can see everything inside me - every thought, fear, and desperate wish to escape this nightmare.

“You already know why.” His voice is low, dangerous. “You’remine,Talia.”

I shake my head, refusing to let a single tear fall. “No. You keep saying I belong to you, but I don’t understand. What do you want from me?”

His jaw tightens, and I think I’ve pushed him too far. But then he lets out a breath, standing up and pacing the room, his hands running through his hair in agitation.

“You don’t remember, do you?” he says quietly, almost to himself.

“Remember what?” My voice cracks with the frustration and confusion I’ve been carrying for days. “Just tell me, Danny. Please.”

He stops before the window, staring at the dark street with his back to me. He releases a deep breath before he turns to face me again. His eyes are cold now, almost detached.

“It’s not a coincidence that we met,” he begins, his voice flat. “It wasn’t fate or some random twist of the universe. I found you. I looked for years, but I finally found you. I watched you for months before we ‘met’. I knew exactly who you were.”

His words hit me like a slap. I stare at him, shaking my head, unable to process what he’s saying.

“What… what are you talking about?” I whisper. “You’re not making any sense.”

Danny walks over to the armchair across from me and sits down, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Your father killed my father,” he says, his voice cold and even. “And that wasn’t an accident. That wasn’t some mistake. It isn’t something I can ever forget.”

My heart stops. The room spins around me, and I feel like I’m going to be sick. I grip the side of the sofa to keep from passing out.

“No,” I choke out, shaking my head. “No, that’s not… that can’t be true. My father-”

“Your father murdered him,” Danny cuts me off, his voice sharp. “He beat him to death in a rage right there in the street between our houses. I was seven years old, and I watched it happen. I watched your piece of shit father kill my dad.”

The memory crashes over me like a tidal wave. I was three. I didn’t understand much then, but I remember the screaming. My mother had pulled me away, dragged me inside, but even then, I could still hear it - the horrible, sickening thud of fists against flesh, the crack of bone.

And then… silence.

“My father was having an affair with your mother,” Danny says, his voice hard now, full of bitterness. “He thought he could get away with it. He thought he could have everything - a family, a mistress, a life without consequences. But your father found out, didn’t he? And he didn’t let it slide.”

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