Page 58 of No Longer Safe

I looked over the pile of things in the middle of the room. I didn’t even need my clothes in the closet. I wrapped my arms around the clothes there and left them in a huge pile in the center of the room. They were nice and professional clothing but nothing like the quality of clothes Carina bought me. There was no point in even bringing them back with me to her home. I could donate it all to the church around the corner. I deleted the listing of items and, instead, dialed the church’s number before thinking better of it. As soon as I called the church,book clubwould be called immediately and the whole town would know I was leaving.

Everything I actually wanted took no time to be loaded into the car. I jogged back to the apartment complex and knocked on the office door on the first floor. Mr. Aims opened the door and blinked at the sunlight. “Ms. Wilde, how can I help you?”

“I’m going to call the church and donate all of my belongings to them in a bit. When they come, can you let them in?”

“What if they don’t take everything or make a mess?” He pushed his wireframe glasses up his nose and squinted down at me.

“I don’t need my deposit back,” I shrugged. I was ready to be done with everything.

“Thank you for being such a good tenant. I’m guessing you won’t be renewing your lease next month?”

I shook my head. “Thank you for taking care of this for me!”

Just as I was rounding the corner to get to my SUV, Brian came into view. I almost slid to a stop. My hands shook as I wiped them down the front of my jeans. What the hell did he think he was doing? I hadn’t answered his calls for a reason. I was planning to break things off on my way out of this place.

“Hi,” He straightened up. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his suit was wrinkled. His eyes searched my finger for the ring that exploded in the sky. “I’ve been trying to call you.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled at him. “I thought Ace told you to never talk to me again.”

He looked down at his shoes. “Yeah, he did. I didn’t think he would tell you about that.”

I shrugged. “He just told me what he said to you, nothing else.”

His eyes flicked to the backseat of my vehicle. “Are you going somewhere?”

Why was this so hard? Why did it matter? He’d hurt me and alluded to doing it again if I didn’t start doing what he said to do. I didn’t want this man. I hadn’t wanted this man in a long time. I wanted this man because I thought I needed him. I wanted this man because I thought my time was up and that this was all I had. Now that Carina wasn’t in this small town, it no longer mattered to me. My parents and siblings left a long time ago and didn’t look back. The only thing that kept me here washimand he couldn’t even give me an orgasm. That was almost more important than anything else.

“I’m leaving.”

“Me or this town?”

Here we go.

“Both.”

He nodded his head and I took a hesitant step away from him, afraid he would swing at me or try something stupid out of anger. The man I thought I knew didn’t exist. “I don’t think I loved you.”

A laugh escaped me. “What the fuck?”

His lips screwed up, disgusted. “I definitely didn’t love that mouth.”

I wanted to rear back and slap the hell out of him, but instead, I shook my head and laughed again. “Okay, Brian. I hope you find the nice, obedient wife you always wanted.”

He went to say something and I held my hand up to stop him as I unlocked my car and got in the driver’s seat. If he tried anything, I would hit him with my car. “I don’t need to hear it. I’m over it. I’ve been over it. You suck in every aspect of your life except maybe your career. I don’t know. What I do know is that you are terrible in bed and you hit like a bitch.”

He stared at me as I slammed my door closed and started my car. He gaped at me like a fish. “What about the ring?” He shouted on the other side of the glass.

I rolled down the window just a little bit. “Oh, that fake piece of shit? It’s in pieces covering the Cristof’s estate in New York. I’m sure if you go up there to try to piece it back together, they’ll kill you.” I shrugged. “But what do I know?”

Without looking back, I drove straight to Carina’s mom’s house. I hoped she would let me spend the night or I would be driving to New York earlier than I planned. I hit the number to the church and Mrs. Mareen answered.

“Oak View Methodist Church, how can I help you?” Her southern drawl almost melted my cold interior.

“Hi, Mrs. Mareen, this is Audrey Wilde, I was calling to let you know I have an entire apartment of clothes, shoes, and furniture to donate.”

“Oh! Ms. Wilde, are you moving in with Brian so soon? Do you have a date picked out?”

I let out a breath. “Actually, Mrs. Mareen, Brian is a piece of crap and I dumped him this morning after he hit me last weekend and left bruises all over my face.”

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