by Jp Grace
Steven wouldn’t bother her as long as the game was on. Heaven forbid he should miss a single play.
She sat through two endless football quarters and served him two more drinks before Steven got up to use the restroom.
Sighing with relief, she cleared the dishes and took them to the kitchen to escape the oppressive atmosphere in the den. And so she could check on her hiding place. Having Steven roaming around without knowing what he was up to was unnerving.
After putting the dishes in the dishwasher, she straightened and casually glanced around for Steven. She breathed a little easier when she didn’t see him.
Lifting the lid of the coffee jar, she spied her stash. She stuffed the items in her bra along with the keys. She was a little lumpy, but she didn’t think he’d notice.
“What are you doing?”
Bree stifled a scream and whipped around to see Steven leaning against the wall, his eyes glazed from the alcohol.
“I was going to get the coffee ready for tomorrow,” she stammered.
“When do you ever do anything beforehand?” he asked.
Bree held her anger in check. If he only knew what she could do.
“I thought it would be nice if the coffee was already brewed when you got up in the morning, since I haven’t been around to see to your meals.”
Steven didn’t answer and she turned around to get the coffee ready lest he think she was lying.
“Want to tell me what this is?”
Her spine stiffened and she knew without looking he had discovered her secret.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
PIVOTING slowly, she lifted her eyes to see her purse negligently held in one hand, the bank bonds in the other.
Oh God. How could she explain why she had them?
She tried, opening her mouth to spit out another lie then stopped. Why bother? She couldn’t explain it. Hell, she couldn’t even defend herself when she was innocent. So she said nothing, choosing to wait him out. She had nothing else to lose.
“You must think I’m really stupid if you think I’m not going to notice my safe has been opened. Cleaned out, too by the looks of it.”
He rattled the sheaf of papers in his hand and for a moment, she hoped that’s all he thought she had stolen from him.
He stalked closer, the lines around his mouth tightening. He kept coming until her back was pressed against the counter and any hope she had went flying out the window.
“Lying ungrateful bitch. I’ve given you everything and you were just going to leave and steal from me while you were at it. What about Beth and Josh, hmm? Were you going to leave them behind or bring them along for the ride?”
Bree looked away from the crazed hatred in his eyes, unable to answer even if she wanted to. It was clear Steven was beyond criminal; he was insane, full of righteous anger and bent on destroying her. Why had she stayed so damn long? Why hadn’t she seen it in his actions towards her? Towards others?
The endless questions hurt her head and were pointless to boot. The reason why didn’t matter. What mattered was getting out of the house before he hit her again. The abuse would end tonight, even if it was the last thing she did.
She raised her head and glared at him with all the repressed anger and hatred she had hoarded and nurtured in her heart for twenty-two long years.
Fury blazed back at her, reflected in the narrowed slits his eyes had become.
“What are you going to do now? Can’t leave without money and I’ll make damn sure Beth and Josh won’t be going anywhere with their Mommy,” he spat.
Bree snapped. There was no other word for the rising tide of rage bubbling up from her stomach, traveling through her heart, and exploding out of her mouth before she could stop it.
“How fucking dare you use our children as a weapon in this war you have waged on me for the duration of our entire marriage!” she shrieked, moving forward until she was inches from his face, fear replaced by something else, something far stronger, that of a mother finally stepping up to protect her children. “I have spent my life serving you, and to what end? So I could be slapped, beaten, and hospitalized by your hand. The man who promised to love, honor, and cherish me. Yeah, fucking right! You honor me with your hands bruising my skin, you cherish with words designed to cut me to the core, and you love me by using my children as a weapon. Fuck off, Steven, I know what you did.”
Bree shoved him and whirled away, running for the garage and her life, knowing she had gone too far. She had to get to the car.
She reached the door before he caught her by the arm, twisting her around in one smooth practiced move before slamming her against the nearest wall.
Her head snapped back, hitting the wall with a dull thud.
“Stupid cunt. You don’t know anything.”
Dazed, Bree smiled at him.
“How do you know?”
He stilled, the bands of steel his fingers had formed on her arms slackening for just a brief second. One second was all she needed.
Ducking down, Bree broke his hold on her and ran.
Surprise kept him from coming after her long enough for her to twist the doorknob and scramble into the garage, slamming the door behind her.
It wouldn’t protect her for long and sure enough, just as she reached the car, the garage door flew open and hit the wall with a loud bang.
She didn’t waste any time, jumping into the driver’s seat and slamming the door closed behind her. Her fingers frantically searched for the automatic lock, not relaxing until she heard the distinctive click signifying she was safe.
Steven attempted to open the door and screamed in outrage when he realized what she had done, pounding on the windows and demanding she open the door.
She had only dared to defy him once before, but once had been enough to teach her not to do it again. Now, she simply stared at the man she had married, no longer hampered by the fear of a beating or words designed to wound.
He continued to rant, yelling obscenities and cursing her name.
With the last ounce of will she possessed, she slid the key into the ignition with an outward calm she didn’t feel, and started the car.
Steven went nuts. It was the only definition for the wild-eyed, screaming lunatic beating on the doors and windows with his bare hands.
Bree reached for the garage door opener and pushed the button, waiting for what seemed like forever for the slow moving garage door to open.
Steven ran to the garden tools neatly arrayed on the wall, selected a shovel, and ran towards her, weapon poised to strike.
But it was too late, reversing at mach speed, she backed out of the garage and kept going, not bothering to turn around until she was far enough away.
The flashing lights of a police car stopped her backwards flight.
Oh thank God!
She braked and waited for the officer to approach her car, not willing to risk getting out.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Steven running down the street with the shovel still in his hand.
Hurry, she urged, willing the police officer to look up.
Seconds later, the officer was at her door shouting at her to stay there. As if she was going to get out.
He ran towards Steven, weapon raised, and ordered him to put the shovel down. Unsurprisingly, Steven, always a coward when faced with someone of his own size or bigger, put the shovel down immediately.
Bree released the breath she had been holding. It was too soon for it to be over, but for the moment, she was safe.
There was a knock at the opposite window and she looked up, surprised to see Adam.
What was he doing here?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
SHE released the locks. He opened the door and slid into the car. Inhaling his spicy scent, her body instantly remembered their lovemaking and her cheeks warmed. Probably not what she should be focusing on in her current predicament.
“What are you doing here?” she asked stupidly.
“Thought you mi
ght need some help,” he answered with a wink.
She grinned and some of the tension in her shoulders loosened.
“As it turns out, I managed to get out on my own.”
“I noticed. You’re amazing, Bree. I heard it all.”
“Heard what all?”
“You called me. When I heard Steven’s voice instead of yours, I assumed you were calling so I could get help. That’s why I’m here with the police. I couldn’t get here fast enough.”
“I didn’t call you.”
“What do you mean, you didn’t call me?”
“I mean, I didn’t call you. I might have pocket dialed your number, but I didn’t intentionally call you. This was something I wanted to do on my own. Although I am grateful you showed up when you did.”
“I know, and you did.”
“Will it be enough though? He has most of the evidence I found.”
“That doesn’t matter right now. He attacked you. I heard the whole thing. At the very least, he will be arrested for spousal abuse.”
She looked at him, the doubt obvious in her eyes.
“That’s not all. Tony is on his way with a search warrant. He found new evidence tying Steven to Ben’s disappearance so whatever you found will only add to the case.”
“Unless he manages to get rid of the evidence.”
“Shh, you know that’s not going to happen with the cops already here,” Adam soothed, pulling her into his arms.
Bree internally acknowledged he was right but didn’t voice it in case there was some bad mojo associated with celebrating too early, choosing instead to bask in the warmth of Adam’s arms.
They watched in silence as the police officer escorted Steven back to the house, the shovel no longer in sight.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BREE huddled in Adam’s arms while the detectives led a very pissed off and handcuffed Steven out of the house and into a squad car.
It was over.
She couldn’t believe that after all the years of living by Steven’s rules, she was now free to live by her own. Free to raise her children how she saw fit, free to dress how she wanted, free to love again. Free to love Adam.
Her breath caught and held. It was a dream she had never allowed to take flight. Something that happened to other people, people she saw on Lifetime movies. Certainly not her. Never her.
Now? Well, now a tiny glimmer of hope flared to life inside her.
Tony hadn’t revealed to her or Adam what he had found on his own but based on the officer's jubiliant attitude, it was enough to send Steven to jail for a very long time. The evidence from the safe had been a bonus and exactly what the police needed to confirm Steven was responsible for Ben’s disappearance.
Or more accurately, Ben’s murder. Tony had confirmed that much. Ben was gone for good. Her heart ached for the loss of her dear friend and lover.
Tony had been kind enough to fill them in on the rest of the charges her husband faced. Steven was also a thief, a highly skilled one, who had been committing bank fraud for the duration of their marriage. The bank bonds had been the missing link the police had needed to close the case against him in a long standing fraud investigation.
She was still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that she’d been married to a cold blooded murderer. While she’d always known he’d had a dark side, murder had never occurred to her.
She shivered in the cool night air thinking about the danger she and her kids might have been in. It wasn’t over by a long shot, she would have to give her statement to the police and deal with a thousand and one legal details before she could move on, but the hopeful beginnings of a new future bloomed brightly in front of her.
There was something else she’d have to deal with soon. Beth and Josh. Explaining what had happened to their father wasn’t going to be easy. She’d have to ensure they had the best counselors to help deal with their grief and shock. She’d surround them with all her love and support and hope and pray for the best.
Adam pulled away and looked down into her eyes as the car containing Steven pulled away.
“Are you okay?”
She wasn’t and didn’t know if she ever would be again. But she would try her hardest to get there.
She nodded.
“I think you need to read this.”
Adam dug in his coat pocket and produced the letter she had stuffed in her purse.
Curious, she took it from him. She hadn’t even glanced at it earlier, too panicked to even consider opening it or reading it.
She unfolded the envelope and gasped.
Ben’s distinctive scrawl across the stark white paper brought back memories of his smile and his warm hugs and tears gathered in her eyes.
She glanced at Adam hesitantly.
“Open it, Bree.” He encouraged.
She nodded. This was something she had to do. For Ben and for herself.
She broke the seal and pulled out a sheet of faded copy paper.
Bree,
I’ve been sitting here for hours trying to figure out how to tell you this but I’m no closer to an answer now than I was when I started.
Our lives are in jeopardy, Bree. Steven is behind it. He’s involved in some pretty heavy criminal activity. Don’t ask me how I know, I can’t tell you. Just please trust me. You are in grave danger as long as we continue to see each other. I couldn’t bear for anything to happen to you. You deserve to live and love and laugh.
I don’t know when I will see you again or when I will be able to give you this letter. I have tried several times to tell you, but I failed. I can only hope thisgets to you in time.
Bree closed her eyes and let the tears flow. Ben hadn’t left her voluntarily.
After a few minutes, she plucked up enough courage to finish reading.
I love you so much. You mean everything to me and if I had my way, we would be together. I know that’s impossible now.
Please take care of yourself, Bree. I will always love you. You are the woman my heart will never forget.
Love Always,
Ben
Her fingers traced the last words Ben had written to her, memorizing their shape and feel. Her heart rejoiced but it was bittersweet. She ached for all the what-ifs even while exploding with joy. Ben had loved her as fiercely as she had loved him.
Adam cupped her chin and gently lifted until she met his gaze.
His eyes glowed in the waning light, but they had the same effect they always had on her. Instant warmth. He was so very kind. And she loved him.
“He loved you, Bree. You weren’t wrong to trust him. Just like you aren’t wrong to trust me.”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
With a glance at the house teeming with police officers, Adam whispered into her ear, “I’ve got this nice little secluded cabin I’d like to show you some time if you’re interested, Bob.”
She smiled. “I’d love to see your cabin.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Erotic author Jp Grace started her career writing short stories for Literotica under a nom de plume to protect her secret identity of wife to her husband of seventeen years and mother of two beautiful, talented, and intelligent daughters.
Seeking to strike out and broaden her horizons, Jp Grace was born. But she hasn’t forgotten the steamy romance closest to her heart. Because passion and love always go together.
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
CHAPTER Four
CHAPTER Five
CHAPTER Six
CHAPTER seven
CHAPTER Eight
CHAPTER nine
CHAPTER ten
CHAPTER eleven
CHAPTER twelve
CHAPTER thirteen
CHAPTER fourteen
CHAPTER fifteen
CHAPTER Sixteen
AbOUT THE AUTHOR
nbsp;
Jp Grace, Abandoning the Rules