Page 95 of Safe and Sound

“What about it?”

“That’s what I’m going to name her.”

“Seriously?” Nick asked.

With a nod, I replied, “It’s important for a girl that she not only has a strong voice, but she isn’t afraid to use it.”

Smiling, Dad replied, “You might regret encouraging that when she becomes a teenager.”

“Probably,” I laughed.

“So is it Piper Chloe Carras?” Mom suggested. It didn’t escape me that she included my last name and not Dare’s.

I shook my head. “Piper Helena.”

Mom’s hand flew to her mouth. “You want to name her for me?”

“You’re my mother. Who else would I name her after but the most important woman in my life?”

When a sob choked off in her throat, Dad wrapped an arm around Mom’s shoulder. “It’s a well-deserved honor.”

She swiped her cheeks. “Truly.”

In that moment, I once again told myself that I was making the right decision for myself and my daughter by not allowing her a place in her father’s dangerous world.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Dare

Three Years Later

As I flipped through the blouses in my closet, my eyes zeroed in on those with a high neckline. I wasn’t sure I possessed one that would cover everything I needed it to. One that would hide the multi-colored bruising from where I’d been forcefully choked.

My hands froze as the memories from two nights ago assaulted me. A shudder reverberated through me when Ithought of his hands and mouth on me. The terror was just as fresh today as it had been that night.

When I caught my reflection in the closet mirror, I shook my head. How the fuck had I gotten here?

Growing up, many abusive men had come through the doors of Taverna by the Sea. Although their faces all ran together over the years, I explicitly remembered their wives and girlfriends. How they walked on eggshells around them. How they always wore extra heavy makeup. How their hands shook as they reached for their wine.

As a young girl, I’d vowed to never, ever be one of those wives or girlfriends.

Yet here I was.

Truthfully, I owed so many of those wives and girlfriends an apology. I always judged them for staying. What I hadn’t realized then was they’d probably tried to leave. But no matter how hard they tried to escape the abuse, their boyfriends and husbands wouldn’t let them.

Just like Wesley Stayton wouldn’t let me.

Pinching my eyes closed, I tried shutting his image out of my mind. His friendly smile juxtaposed with his menacing glare. He was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde incarnate.

When Dare shattered my trust, I’d closed myself off to men. After Piper’s birth, single motherhood had me so tightly in its clutches that I didn’t have time to think of dating. Even if I hadn’t been so busy, no one was more important than my daughter. Everything revolved around her and her needs.

But six months ago, I realized we’d shifted into a different phase. One where Piper didn’t need me as much as she previously had. It was then that I allowed myself to step my toes back into the dating pool.

As cliche as it sounds, Wesley seemed like a dream come true. Even Nick, who was my hardest dating critic, liked him.The first month was perfect. He wooed me with flowers, dinner and dancing, and hung onto my every word.

Then we had our first argument.

My right cheek ached with phantom pain from the crack of his palm. And even though I’d ended it immediately and cut all ties with him, he wouldn’t let me go.

In his eyes, I would always be his.

---