Page 46 of Breaking Conviction
But this time she had the eye on the prize, a game plan. If she fought back, it would only delay her freedom.
“You just had to be faithful, you ungrateful bitch, and I woulda doneanythingfor you. But you had to go fuck with theenemy. You think they’re gonna be able to protect you when you’re found out?”
She closed her eyes, willing her ears to stop listening to his screaming nonsense.Protecther? Hell, the only person she needed protecting from was him.
He struck her again on her side, making her collapse to her knees. She clutched her stomach and curled into a ball on the floor to protect herself. Dean bent low and snatched her chin in his fingers, forcing her to stare into his dead winter eyes.
“Go ahead and leave, bitch. See how well you’ll do without me. I don’t know where you’re thinkin’ you’ll go. You have no one who’ll put up with your shit. Your own momma turned you out for gettin’ pregnant.No one wants you.”
He gave her a cruel smile before shoving her head back down to the ground, causing her temple to bounce off the linoleum.
“You’ll come crawlin’ back. You always do.” He walked over her and opened the door to the garage before appraising her with disgust.
“And if you don’t come back, don’t think I won’t find you, sweets. Wherever you are, wherever you hide. I’ll find you. God help you when I do.” He spat on the floor beside her and slammed the door behind him. His Corolla fired up soon after and she listened in silence as he left, relaxing as he took her tense fear and panic with him.
She breathed deeply through the pain in her stomach, but she’d felt those blows before. He hadn’t hit anything major.
The cold floor soothed her aching temple as she gained strength to get up. She had to get to Thea before Dean, but she seriously doubted he’d go pick her up in his state. Besides, there was no way in hell the church day care would give up her daughter to a man who smelled like the inside of a whiskey barrel. At least she hoped not. It was that last fear that made her pick herself up with a groan.
The door behind her swung open and she cowered at the shadow there, flinching at the pain in her stomach and in fear of receiving more blows. How long had she lain there? Was Dean back so quickly?
“Fuck! I knew we took too fucking long.” At Wes’s soothing baritone, Naomi relaxed. When his hands flowed over her, checking for injuries, the juxtaposition of his light touch versus Dean’s made her choke back a dry sob. “Shit, did that hurt? I’m so sorry, Naomi.”
That word. She didn’t hate it when he said it. Maybe because he always meant it. Maybe because he was apologizing for things that weren’t his atonement to bear. God, the difference between the two men in her life was stark and it made her wonder what the hell she’d been thinking all these years.
And now it’s over.
The sob slowly turned into laughs and she lifted her eyes to see concern in Wes’s blue eyes turn into confusion which only made her laugh even harder.
“Naomi... love… are you okay?”
“Snake, that asshole might come back—shit.” Hawk, the guy who’d driven Wes home last time, filled the light in the doorway.
“Hawk, call Devil... I think she’s in shock or something.”
She wanted to reassure them, but hell, was she in shock? Maybe. But she didn’t care.
“I don’t know. I don’t know. All I know is… I’mfree, Wes.” Her laughter grew manic and understanding mixed with the concern on his brow.
Slowly sitting up, she hissed at the throbbing in her side, but that ache was nowhere near the amount of relief she felt from the weight lifted off her chest.
He’d crossed her line. She was listening to her instincts and soaking in the new cleansing breaths of oxygen in her lungs. Done, she was fuckingdone.
It was going to be hard, she knew that. With Thea… old feelings… saying goodbye to a dream that’d never be a reality. But no matter what, she’d remember this feeling. The one when she’dfinallybroken free of her monster’s chains. They were finally gone and she’d never felt lighter.
“I’m free, Wes,” she gasped the words again, still unable to fully grasp them. “He tried to break me again. But this time... this time I’m gone and I’m never comin’ back here. I’m gonna get Thea and we’re gonna go…”
Like an anchor dropping on her chest in slow motion, she felt the words drift out of her mouth as the haze of relief lifted from her eyes.
Dean was right. She had nowhere else to go. After having a child out of wedlock, her momma cut ties with her, something she was sure as hell her daddy never would’ve allowed if he were alive. On top of that, she’d lost all contact with her friends from college.
Maybe she could call Sophie? No, that’d be so shitty to use her after only just reconnecting. And Sophie was dealing with her own shit. There was no way Naomi could bring their drama to her doorstep.
Sasha Saves had safe homes… but she knew for a fact they were all in use at the moment. Plus, Dean had his ways. He worked security, for God’s sake. He’d be able to find her with no problem. The weight of her reality collapsed back on her, making her chest tighten.
“No... no, no, no, no. This can’t be happening.” Why hadn’t she thought of all that before? Every avenue for survival flew through her mind quicker than she could understand. None of them worked. She hadn’t thought this through. She hadn’t—
“What, Naomi? What’s wrong? Talk to me.”
