Page 133 of Deliverance

I hand my margarita to Zander as we approach one of the doors leading up to the balcony section where our booth is. “Let me use the girls’ room before the film starts, okay?”

“I’ll wait for you here.” He takes the glass and his gaze follows me into the crowd.

Before turning the corner, I toss one last glance at him over my shoulder and my heart gives a kick in my chest.

I want to stop time and freeze this image of him. Tall, powerful body. Soft, sensuous features. Flecks of gold in his hair from the ceiling lights.

Part of me still doesn’t believe it, but deep down, I know that he can be mine. Wholly, irrevocably, forever mine, if I have enough courage to give him all the things he deserves.

The thought causes my anxiety to rush back in and I have to pause for a moment. I have to will my mind not to go there, not to overthink every small detail.

Just let it play out, Drew. Let things fall into place.

Taking a long, calming breath, I start walking toward the sign indicating the restroom. Then, out of nowhere, a hand comes around me. My body is yanked and dragged several feet down the corridor, my back slammed into the wall.

Everything happens so fast, the reality of it doesn’t register in my mind until I’m pinned against the cold surface, a large, rough palm wrapped around my neck. A palm that’s all too familiar.

Rhys.

My spine and my left shoulder scream with pain. My stomach twists and I feel like I’m falling into a void.

“Hey, baby,” he says, pressing his heavy form to mine. The smell of his cologne pushes all the horrible memories to the surface.

I blink past the blur and stare at him, my panic raging, my manicured nails clawing at his wrist. His face hasn’t changed much except for the beard and a few extra lines in his forehead. He’s thinner, but his eyes are the same.

Dark, empty, violent.

“You think some piece of paper is going to rid you of me, Andrea?” He brings his lips to my cheek and my gag reflex makes itself known. I feel acid, wine, and breakfast making their way up my throat.

His grasp on my neck tightens and my mouth falls open in a pathetic attempt to get more oxygen, but there isn’t any.

Ignoring the scratch marks I’m leaving on his skin, he shoves his weight against me again. His other hand wraps around my waist, squeezing, exploring. “Remember our vows?” A sickening grin flashes across his lips when he pulls back to look me in the eye. “Til death do us part, right?”

“F—fuck you” is all I’m able to say. My gasps are coming out in short, raspy bursts. My windpipe groans from the pressure of his hand. Blackness colors the edges of my vision.

“You look really nice. I like the new hair.” Rhys drops his head into the crook of my neck and sniffs loudly, his knee parting my legs. The fabric, the whisper of which against my skin I admired only a few hours ago, strains so much, it stings and burns. Then there’s a thin ripping sound.

I don’t know if it’s the damage he’s done to the dress I bought specifically for this event or the damage he did to my body over the course of our marriage, but all my boxing lessons with Roque and all my self-defense classes finally erupt in my head like an explosive in a minefield.

I thrash against his hold. I thrash wildly.

The heels of my shoes scrape against the floor and I’m praying for someone to show up. A security guard. A guest. An event staff member.

“I don’t remember you being this feisty,” Rhys whispers as his fingers slip down to my hip.

My stomach heaves.God, no.I jerk to no avail.

Pain blooms between my thighs and ricochets through my entire body, my legs buckling and my chest spasming from lack of air.

“You think a new name is going to make you a different person, Andrea?” His whisper is ugly, threatening. “You’re still a pathetic whore…my whore…”

No, no. I’m nobody's whore.

My adrenaline kicks in and I bite him. I bite the first thing I see. The shell of his ear. There’s hair and skin in my mouth. And a nauseating metallic taste. It’s blood. His blood and skin on my tongue and teeth.

He growls.

Then I hear a voice from down the corridor. And footsteps.

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