Page 32 of Absolution
He still hasn’t said he loves me, and I don’t think he ever will.
But I’m at peace with that. His possessiveness and protectiveness are more fiercely powerful than any love I ever imagined before meeting him.
I accept my psychopathic husband for all that he is, even the dark parts. I have enough love in my heart for both of us, and he seems greedy for it.
My love for him swells in my chest to the edge of pain, and a silly, girlish urge overtakes me. I use the purple scallop shell to carve our names into the sand and manage to take a quick picture before the surf washes it away.
You will remember every detail about this day.I recall Dane’s fierce command when he claimed me on the porch.
It’s not stormy today, but I intend to imprint every aspect of this beach onto my memory.
I decide I need a wider view of the vista, so I walk back up to the boardwalk and climb the stairs.
My heart leaps into my throat when I see Ron striding down the aged wooden planks, making his way toward me. His round features are fixed in a boyish smile, but fear spikes through me despite his disarming expression.
“What are you doing here?” I try to demand, but my throat is too tight.
I’m utterly alone out here with a sexual predator.
He lifts his hands in a show of contrition as he closes the distance between us. “I just want to talk. You’re a hard lady to pin down.”
My phone is still in my hand from taking pictures, and I immediately find Dane’s contact information. The call connects, but I only hear it ring once before Ron lunges at me. He bats it out of my hand, and the phone goes flying. It cracks as it clatters on the boardwalk, several feet away from me.
He grabs my upper arm, preventing me from reeling away from the sudden, shocking attack. His fingers dig into my flesh hard enough to bruise, and I cry out in alarm.
The friendly smile has dropped from his face, and his lips pull back from his teeth in a snarl.
“Where’s my brother?” he demands.
My mind whirs, and I try to wrench my arm from his cruel grip to no avail.
“Ron’s been missing for weeks,” he growls. “Your friends said you had an altercation with him, and your boyfriend is protective. You know something, don’t you?”
“What?” I can’t make sense of what’s happening. “Let me go, Ron!”
“It’s Billy, you dumb bitch,” he growls.
He yanks me closer, and I smell stale cigarette smoke on his breath. My stomach churns at the visceral memory of the last time this scent suffused my senses: when he cornered me in the laundry room and kissed me.
“What happened to Ron?” he shouts in my face. “I swear to god, if you hurt my brother, I’ll fucking kill you.”
A twin.My fear-soaked brain puts the pieces together.
I’d been shocked to see that Ron was still alive when I ran into him at my building. But it wasn’t Ron at all; it was his brother, looking for him.
My phone is hopelessly out of reach, and even if I could get to it, Dane won’t arrive in time. He doesn’t even know where I am.
I have to save myself.
I’ve done it before. I gather my courage and step closer to Billy so that I can bring my knee up sharply between us.
He’s not prepared for my sudden aggression, so he doesn’t block the blow. He chokes when I kick him squarely in the balls, and his grip loosens on my arm as he doubles over, clutching at his crotch.
I stumble away from him and then break into a sprint. My bare feet pound the boardwalk as I race for the house. I might be able to find a phone inside and call 911.
My breath saws in and out of my lungs, burning my throat.
An unsteady thudding rhythm starts up on the boardwalk behind me, slow and lurching. Billy is coming after me.
