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And he wasn’t stopping me.

And if he tried?

If he pushed me to the point of no return?

Then I was going to tell Huntereverything.

All he'd done to keep me safe, all of the sorrow and pain and sacrifices.

He humbled me.

I was on my own until Hunter.

He came into my life and all of a sudden, I had a partner, a true equal who was willing to go down in flames with me.

Someone to pull me to safety.

Someone on my side regardless of whether I was right or wrong.

He made me believe that my happy ever after was still out there – that it was possible.

Just as long as I was brave enough tofightfor it.

Fight for him.

****

When I had both of my duffel bags packed to the brim with everything I owned in this house, I carried them out to my truck, bracing myself against the torrential downpour of rain in a sleeveless t-shirt and shorts.

Of course, the day I finally decide to make a break for it, and it had to be during a fricking Summer storm.

I tossed my bags into the truck, then lovingly placed my laptop on top of them before heading back inside to do one final check through.

I knew once I drove away from this house today, I wasnevercoming back.

Rummaging around in the living room, I sorted through the stack of mail on the coffee table, sifting out anything addressed to me before tucking them into my purse.

When I was done, I mulled over whether or not I should go upstairs and tell Jordan I was leaving before deciding against it.

Walking back into the hallway, I opened the front door, and just as I was about to walk outside, the most horrific banging noise came from above my head.

Frozen in the doorway, I debated just running, but Icouldn’t.

Stifling down a growl, I turned for the staircase and hurried up the steps. When I rounded the door of Jordan's bedroom and took in the sight before me, disgust churned inside my gut.

His black curls were overgrown and limp, his face was covered in a thick, unruly beard of black hair, and he smelled like alcohol and vomit and urine. The clothes he had on were the same he'd worn all week.

He was sprawled out on the floor with his back pressed to the foot of the bed, clearly having pulled himself into a makeshift sitting position after falling off the bed.

It wasn’t his appearance that caused my stomach to wrench.

No, it was the spoon filled with clear liquid that he was slowly sucking up with an syringe that turned my heart to stone.

"You selfish, stupid, son of a bitch," I hissed, glaring at him. "Look at yourself. Look at what you're doing to yourself!"

Jordan didn’t even look in my direction when he said, "Don’t wanna see? Close the fucking door."

"Close the door?" I repeated, appalled.

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