Page 2 of Breaking Conviction
Therapy. This was a good thing. He’d never offered that before. Maybe… maybe that would help.
Naomi lifted her head to see the pale brick building. Inside was the Sasha Saves crisis center, her safe haven. But her heart lodged in her throat at the thought of opening the doors to her defenses and spilling her secrets for everyone to see. Once she did, the path would be set for her and she’d have to see it through, ending life as she knew it. Ending the dream of a happy family, just like the one she grew up in and craved again. Ending any possibility of a fairy tale of her own.
She was about to break free, so why did she feel more trapped than ever?
Chapter One
Getting treated in the Sasha Saves clinic went by in a blur, both literally and the time she spent there. When Naomi finally gathered the courage to go inside, her eyes were so swollen she could barely see. Thankfully, she’d been escorted through the thrift store to the medical room by the nonprofit’s manager, Nora, a chatterbox who talked like Twitter and was even smaller than Naomi’s five feet, two inches.
Each moment that passed, Naomi couldn’t shake the feeling that her body was acting on autopilot. It was the oddest sensation, watching from outside her body, and she wondered briefly whether she’d been concussed. But no… this felt emotional, maybe even mental, not physical. A break from the present. She didn’t hate the numbness.
Nora asked questions. The clinic medic, a giant namedDevilof all things, gave her ice and cleansed her wounds with surprising gentleness for a man with his size and name. Thea screeched at the top of her lungs. It was chaos, but she barely registered it.
On the outside, she was doing just fine answering questions and going through the motions. Inside, she was still in shock that she was in a fucking domestic violence clinic.
How did I let this happen? What am I doing here?
Thea’s little body clutching against Naomi’s legs finally broke down the courage she’d shored up in the car.
Maybe that’s why she lied.
“Can you tell me what happened? Who did this to you?”
The pretty blonde who’d taken Nora’s place, Ellie, snapped Naomi back into a conscious state of awareness. She was only a few hours into her attempt to get help for the first time and already she hatedeverything. That stupid question, the kind young woman asking the stupid question, her disaster of a fiancé for putting her into this situation.
At least Thea had finally calmed down and sat on a beanbag in the corner of the room, eyes glued to an iPad. Unfortunately, her screeches still played on repeat in Naomi’s head, drowning out reason.
“Bike accident.”
Lie… Lie. Lie. Lie. Please see that I’m lying.
Damn it all, she might’ve hated everything at that moment, but what she hated most was herself. She had this chance to finally regain control over her life and here she was,wastingit.
Why the hell can’t I tell her the truth?
In absolutely no world would anyone believe that her obvious black eyes and fingerprint bruises on her neck were due to a fuckingbike accident. Like… what the actual fuck was she thinking? The main character in the horror movie she was watching was making a grave mistake, and the only thing Naomi could do was internally shout at the screen.
At this point, she just wanted to get the extra-strength ibuprofen and leave. Her head was pounding so hard she seriously considered skipping the medicine and instead taking Devil’s pen and stabbing it into her temple to relieve the pressure inside.
Ellie was obviously trying her best to convince her to open up, and honest to God if she was going to share her fears and burdens with anyone it’d be this angel in front of her, but Devil didn’t seem to want to let it go.
“Numerous contusions… petechial hemorrhaging… lacerations… closed fist… swelling… orbital areas…”
Each word another punch right to her chest. She desperately wanted to scream the truth, but whoever was in control had apparently decided to waste everyone’s time, and once again, the words bubbled up without her permission.
“It was anaccident.”
Ellie tried to reason with her, but Naomi was on a self-destructive roll and she argued back again, coming up with even more nonsense for the bullshit story.
“Thea and I were ridin’ our bikes and… uh… hers swerved into mine. I crashed onto the ground.” She hated the way her voice lilted up at the end, like she was questioning herself. But the more they pushed, the more she instinctively felt the need to shove back.
An indecipherable look flashed over the giant’s face before he spoke, his large hand scrubbing his short strawberry blond beard. “You have the opportunity to get help for you and your daughter, don’t you want to take it?”
There wasn’t any judgment in his tone, only concern, but the words set off a boiling hot rage. It burned underneath her skin, as if every emotion she kept hidden from Dean finally had a chance to explode in this controlled environment, despite the fact these people didn’t deserve it.
Even knowing on some level he was just doing his job, just trying to do what’s best for everyone, fear of the consequences, lack of control, and instinct to protect her life as she knew it, took over.
“Are you sayin’ I’m a bad mother?”
