Page 15 of Intertwined Hearts

“What took you so long to get here?”

“Do you remember the police coming in?” I asked. She shook her head as her eyes widened.

“Well, they did. They stopped me from beating every bit of life out of that no good excuse of a man who was in your place.”

“Landon,” she whispered. “What happened? I remember you coming in and yelling, but don’t remember much after that.”

“You must have gone into shock.” I retold the details that happened from the time I had arrived. She lay in the bed and shook her head; her body rocked and shuddered more and more as I told her the details. I wrapped her hands in mine and continued to tell her about me trying to stomp Landon’s liver through the floor when the police came in. When I tried to pull her in to me to comfort her, she resisted.

Jackie

I was happy Hunter was there, that he had come to see me, but the amount of shame I felt was unbearable. In my wildest imagination, I never could have expected anything like that to happen to me. In one night, Landon had returned me back to the same place he left me eight years earlier – completely destroyed and in hell.

Everything I had worked for, every positive step I had taken, was erased in a matter of minutes. My parents never knew the indignities I suffered at the hands of that foul man. No one did. I was too ashamed and embarrassed to talk about it with anyone. I thought I was past him and had finally left behind the horror of our last three months together, but he had proven I would never be free. I could never escape him.

Hunter didn’t need to have someone like me in his life. He didn’t even know the worst about me. Landon, and everything about the final months of our year together, was the absolute worst. Landon was the devil. And he wore no disguise.

When Hunter tried to hug me, I pressed against his chest and refused to fall into his arms. I wanted to, but he deserved so much better than me. He was a fantastic man. I loved him with every fiber of my being. I hadn’t told him, but I did. But part of loving someone is knowing when to let them go. And this was the time.

“I think we need some space between us,” I whispered. The words didn’t even sound right coming out of my mouth.

“What do you mean, space?”

“I think we need to take a break. Spend some time apart.” I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.

“Jackie, no. Don’t do this to us.”

“I think it’s best for both of us.”

“You’re what’s best for me. Don’t you know that? I love you.” His eyes were glassy with unshed tears.

“Please, don’t say that. Not now.”

“When should I say it? I’ve loved you since the day I met you. I told you I needed you and couldn’t live without you. Why would you push me away?”

I had no answer. I loved him too. I didn’t want to push him away, but the life I had been living was shattered. I couldn’t bear the thought of telling him about my past and him walking away from me after hearing the whole story. It was best for this to end right now.

“We aren’t meant to be, Hunter. I don’t deserve you,” I somehow managed to choke out through my tears and tight throat.

He stood from the bed and walked over to the window. I could hear him mumbling to himself. Then he turned and faced me. “Are you sure this is what you want? I know I don’t. But I can’t force you to be with me.”

“It’s what’s best, I think.”

He lifted the half-full water pitcher off the bedside table and threw it with enough force to shatter it when it hit the wall.

Hunter stared at the tiny pieces of plastic that littered the floor and the water puddles and splatter, then turned to me. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s best,” he said.

He stormed out of my room, rushing past the nurse on her way in, and my heart broke into a million pieces.

Chapter 13

Hunter

I sat in my truck in the parking lot, pounding on the steering wheel so many times and with such force I thought for sure I’d knock it loose. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. One day my life was perfect, the next it had all gone to shit. I was living a nightmare.

I took the scenic route past Jackie’s house as I drove back to my place. I decided to stop and make sure everything was cleaned up for her when she returned home. Don’t ask me why I did that. I was trying to make sense of everything I’d seen and been through. Nothing made any fucking sense.

The door was shut, but had been left unlocked. I entered and took my time cleaning up the blood, vomit, and everything else that was out of place. I even found a couple of teeth that I had knocked out of that piece of shit’s skull. I noticed the clock and saw it was nearly midnight. Getting up in the morning would be hell. I threw the old food she’d been cooking in the trash and continued to tidy up everything. I even washed all of the dishes she had left in the sink.

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