Page 156 of Prey for You

“You can’t force me to be apart from him when it’smy life!He hasn’t even been convicted!”

“It’s only a matter of time—”

“No, Jeremy! Would you just take a fucking step back,please!?I didn’t want another order. He’s never hurt me.”

“Are you listening to yourself?”He clawed his hands and shook them in my face like he’d lost all patience. I was about to argue again, but I swallowed it back because there was no way to defend Sam with him. He wasnevergoing to listen. So I folded my arms and waited for him to be done.

And to my surprise, my silence cut through faster. Because Jeremy muttered a curse, clawed a hand through his hair then turned back to me with a voice that was pleading instead of angry.

“Bridget, please listen to me: You always fall for these assholes. And they’re destroying you. Please. None of this is going to get better until you have someonegoodin your life.

Oh the irony.

He leaned down over me, his forehead pinched to lines. “Bridget?”

“Thank you for watching out for me. But I’m fine. I’ll keep doing what I do, right? You know that. This is what we do. When you get this one, I’ll still be there grabbing the next one for you… right?” I said bitterly.

And fucking Jeremy didn’t catch the sarcasm. He fuckingnodded.

“God, you’re blind,” I muttered.

“What?”

“Please leave, Jeremy—”

“Bridget—”

“—and just know, if you ever take Sam from me, I will destroy you. You know I can. You know I will. I don’t want to. But if it’s between you and him, I’m choosing him every time. Don’t make me do it.”

I think it was the first time I’d ever seen him stunned.

Speechless.

“Bridget, youcan’t—”

“Yes, I can. So, don’t push me.”

He looked at the door like there might be someone watching through it, then turned on me, snarling. “I’m going to ignore the fact that you’re threatening me, because you’ve had an awful week. And you know what? No matter what youthinkthe truth is, I’m trying to save you from that fucker for your own good. If you can’t see that, well… my conscience will be clear. I’m not letting you fall so that prick gets loose. You can thank me later.”

He turned for the door.

“Jeremy,you can’t—”

But he yanked the door all the way open and stormed out, yelling at me over his shoulder. “This is a courtesy call, Bridget. Your husband’s going to jail. I’m putting this guy away for your own good, whether you can see that or not.” Then he stopped, whirling to face me and pointing at my chest. “One day you’re going to look back and be fucking grateful.”

Then he stalked off to his car and tore out of my driveway so fast his tires laid rubber on the street.

When he didn’t come back, I closed the door, sank to the floor and cried.

52. Open Your Mouth

~ SAM ~

Even though I knew I hadn’t lost yet, it felt like that. Limbs heavy, heart sore. A cloud over my head.

In the early hours of Saturday morning I’d been stopped by a cop two miles from the house. He had no reason to pull me over, but what was I going to do? Run?

The thing I’d forgotten—completely forgotten—was that the terms of my parole included that I wasn’t supposed to drive between midnight and seven unless it was for work.

---