Page 41 of The Marine

Then the door came flying open and Mom stood there with a baseball bat and phone. “I’m calling the police. You need to leave.”

Kael dropped me and I fell to my knees, desperately drawing in air. Black and white spots filled my eyes, and all I could do was focus on breathing. Next minute, I heard a car screeching away and my mom dropped down next to me.

“Yeah, well, you saved me,” I say quietly into the phone as I lean against the wall at Savannah’s house.

I’d left an hour later in an Uber with my throat throbbing, knowing I’d have a bruise.

“You have to press charges.” Mom tells me.

“You never did.” I bark back, then regret it. “Mom, I’m sorry. I just have to do it my way. Kael is...”

Dangerous.

More dangerous than anyone realizes.

I’m so glad I never got pregnant. I knew the moment I had a scare one month that I had to leave him. If he ever hurt my child, I’d probably kill him.

I will not let my kids go through what I did growing up.

“Please be careful,” she says, and I hate that because of me, another violent man is in our life.

I rub my neck and remember Aidan’s reaction. I need to make sure he never meets Kael. He could mess this up for me royally. That can’t happen.

Kael will give me this divorce after the wedding, but if he thinks there is another man, he will make my life hell.

In fact, I might not live to find out.

His entire focus is on controlling me, and I’ve watched him teeter on the edge of sanity a few times.

Two more dates.

That’s all I have to get through.

Unfortunately, one of them is the wedding, so I need to keep Aidan away from Kael, as he will be there.

He’s one of the groomsmen, so we will both be busy. I’m confident that the two aren’t exactly going to end up drinking buddies on that night.

I say goodbye to Mom and go back into the office where Savannah and I have been going through her schedule for the next month.

“Sorry.” I indicate my phone.

Savannah looks up from the contract. She’s glancing over at her desk, not interested at all in what I’ve been doing. Which I’m grateful for.

“So listen to this,” she starts. She’s been offered the female lead role in an action film that starts six months after she gives birth.

“Six months. What if I can’t tone up?”

“You will. Get a trainer and all the nutrition people the stars use,” I say, sitting down and crossing my legs.

“I don’t even know who they are.” She sighs, sitting back in her chair and rubbing her belly.

Savannah has only been a star for a few years. One of her first movies hit it big and then they did a sequel. She’s retained her humble nature, which is rare in this business.

Not many see it.

But those of us close to her do. That circle is small since her family and best friend betrayed her. She doesn’t trust easily and neither do I. Perhaps that’s why we’ve become friends.

We’ve gotten much closer in the past few months. However, because we work together so closely, that doesn’t always translate to hanging out socially. But there is a bond between us.

---