Page 114 of Break

I’m surprised when she stands up and looks directly at me. Mina always looked away when I was angry, but now she seems just as furious at me as I am at her.

It enrages me that she’s pissed, so I hiss out, “You have some fucking nerve being angry at me.Ididn’t put us into this situation. This is all onyou!This isyourfucking fault.”

She shakes her head, then flicks her eyes down to the knife lying on the floor between us. “I didn’t do this to us, Danny. It was you. You have a temper and want to control everything. No one can live like that.”

My head jerks back.How can she think that?“You’re wrong. I only ever wanted a perfect life for us. I wanted us to be happy together. Start a family together. You had the perfect life, and I’vealwaystreated you well.”

This bitch fucking laughs at me. She fucking laughs.What the hell did they do to her?My mind starts spinning, and my breathing picks up.Fuck, I can’t catch my goddamn breath.Why the fuck is she laughing at me?

“You… You’re delusional! Our life wasawful. You wereawful, and you’ve never treated me any way other than to tolerate me. Danny, you have to listen to me. This needs to stop now. Let me go before you get into even worse trouble. Just let me walk out the door, and I’ll let them know that you only wanted to talk.”

It feels like shards of glass are stabbing my brain. I can’t process any full thoughts, as she keeps begging me to let her go.

Gripping my hair, I scream into the room. “YOU FUCKING CHEATED ON ME!”

“I didn’t. I never cheated on you. Not once.”

Lies.

All she does is spout lies and false promises.

“You fuckingdid!You fucked them. I know you did.”Christ, why the hell are my eyes watering?It fucking guts me that they took away what was mine. Mina has always been mine since the day I met her. I spent years keeping them away from her, but the second she slipped out my door, they fucking took her.

It barely registers that she is inching toward me. “Danny, Ididn’tcheat on you. You and I aren’t together anymore. We aren’t in a relationship any longer. That ended when you hit me, and I walked out the door.”

I can’t hold back my sob. “Wearein a relationship. We’re fucking married, and I have the papers to prove it! That doesn’t go away just because you say it does.”

She’s crossed half the distance that separates us. “A paper doesn’t mean anything if the marriage is done.”

My body jerks forward when she drops to the ground, and I realize she’s scrambling for the knife. Roaring out in rage, I lunge for her and slam her body to the ground, her fingers just grazing the blade before her body is shoved back a few feet.

The force of her body hitting sends air gusting across my face, and I know I’ve knocked the wind out of her. Snarling, my spit hits the side of her face. “Youdon’t get to decide what a piece of paper means. You’re my wife, and you’ll always be my wife.THEYwill never have you!” Picking her up by her shoulders, I slam her back down. “DO YOU FUCKING HEAR ME, WIFE? You’remine, goddamnit!”

“Stop! Danny, pleasestop!” Her pleas only serve to piss me off more. I have every right to fucking touch her. To have her with me. My eyesight narrows to a pinprick as she tries to smack me away and shove me off her.

Rearing back, I stay straddled across her stomach and swing my arm back before slamming it against the side of her face. I just want her to stop freaking out so she’ll listen.Why won’t she just listen?

“For fuck’s sake, Mina, would you calm the fuck down?” I yell at her, smacking her hands away like they’re annoying gnats each time they fly toward me. “This is what you always do! You always turn a tiny issue into something life or death.”

Hitting her again, I’m relieved to see that her hands start to lose their power. “This is what you make me do.”Smack.“You push and push me until I snap.”Smack.“If you’d just apologize, maybe we could actually get somewhere without you being so exhausting. You’reexhausting!”

My fist curls, and this time when I hit her, landing a solid blow. Her head bounces against the floor with a satisfying thud.

Finally.Finally, she submits. Her hands drop to her sides, and I study her, breathing heavily where I’m perched on her body.

Damn. I knocked her out with that one.

Closing my eyes, I try to catch my breath and slow down my rapidly beating heart. It’s like it’s trying to break free through my chest and it fucking hurts. Rubbing my hand over the spot, I squeeze my eyes shut at the pain. I feel like I’m having a fucking heart attack.

The thumping of my pulse is slowly dissipating in my head, and I feel like I can finally think straight. She always pokes and pokes at me, knowing exactly what buttons to push.

Looking down at her, I frown.

Fuck.

She’s still knocked out. There’s no way I hit herthathard. Tapping the side of her face, I try to rouse her. “Mina, you need to wake the fuck up. We’ve got more shit to talk about, and then we’re going to leave.”

Looking up at the ceiling, I wait for her as I sit here, poking the knife into the tip of my finger. Obviously, we aren’t going to be able to go home again. I’m going to have to move us out of state until Mina is able to retract her statements and fire her attorney. When my parents told me she was trying to serve me papers, I lost it.

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