Page 2 of Where You Belong

My body goes rigid. He rears his head back, staring down at me. The look on his face says it all. He can’t believe I’d have the audacity to recoil from his touch.

“I said come here,” he orders.

I take a step toward him, closing the distance between us. I force myself through the movements, pressing my hand against his chest. Despite our proximity, it doesn’t escape my notice how distant we feel from one another.

He’s no longer the man I married.

My heart doesn’t race when he kisses me. My breath doesn’t get caught in my throat when he touches me or looks at me from across the room. I don’t even remember the last time we kissed or made love, let alone felt an ounce of passion behind it when we did.

My heart aches at the thought of living like this forever, of our son growing up and not seeing love between his parents.

“I’m fuckin’ sick of you pulling away from me whenever I try to touch you. What kind of wife are you? Don’t you understand I have needs?”

My eyes narrow, and unlike my restraint a moment ago, I don’t attempt to shield my disgust. My lip curls, and I shake my head, but I’m not the least bit surprised.

“Why don’t you ask yourself the same question, Atlas? What would make you think I’d want to be touched by you?”

His nostrils flare, and his face reddens with anger. His large hand pushes against my chest, and the force behind it sends my body crashing against the doorframe, causing me to cry out in agony.

“You need to remember who the fuck yer talkin’ to, do you hear me? If yer not gonna let me fuck you, I’ll have no problem findin’ someone who will.”

His words are jumbled together from the alcohol in his bloodstream.

He shoves his forearm against my chest, and my body collapses on the floor, recoiling from him and his touch. The look of revulsion on his face as he stands over me in a display of dominance lets me know it could’ve been much worse.

“Leave me alone,” I spit out.

He clenches his jaw, shaking his head.

“Now, Atlas. I’m not fuckin’ kidding anymore. I’m done! Leave. Me. Alone.”

It’s the first time I’ve ever uttered those words to him. The red-hot rage was apparent on his face.

“Who do you think you are turnin’ me down? You’d be nothin’ without me, you hear me? You’d have nothin’! If you try to leave me or take my son from me, I’ll make your life hell. You understand?”

I never knew what hell was until I met him.

Chapter One

Haelynn ~ Ten Months Later

I guess I’d consider myself superstitious. You’ll never find me walking under a ladder, crossing the path of a black cat, and if I see a penny on the ground, I will always stop to pick it up.

These days, I could use all the help I can get regarding a stroke of good luck.

I never expected at twenty-four years old I’d be packing up my life in a couple of hours while my husband was at work to take our son and move us to Arbor Creek.

I’ve spent the past four years married to a man who no longer resembled the one I fell in love with. People change as they grow older. We go through hard times, and each lesson learned makes us wiser.

Hell, if I’m being honest, I don’t think I recognize the woman I see in the mirror either. I can’t fault him for changing, but I blame him for the darkness he showed me as time passed.

I saw my opportunity to get out, and I ran like hell while I had the chance.

They say bad luck comes in threes. It started with finding out our dog had to be put down when a tumor in her spine ruptured to learning Atlas started the process of filing bankruptcy without ever telling me. The icing on the cake was finding out all those late nights at the office included stops by the strip club.

I was a stay-at-home mom to our son. Who knew that was the place where businessmen met up to talk about investments?

If the old wives’ tale is true, I'm due for some good luck to show up.

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