PROLOGUE
Vanessa
A COLD BREEZE swirls against my bare legs, and the subtle whooshing of air tickles my eardrums, rousing me from sleep. Fingernails dig into my upper arm as I’m dragged out of bed. My eyes blink open as fear, thick and cloying, presses down on my chest. “Get off!” I rasp while swatting at his chest and wriggling in his hold.
He tosses my ass on the carpeted floor like trash. “You have ten minutes to pack your things and get the fuck out of my house,” Aaron Breen demands, hovering over me like a dark, shadowy, menacing creature from hell. It wouldn’t surprise me to discover my stepfather shares DNA with the devil himself, because there is little that is human about the man.
Faint light trickles through the uncovered window, confirming it’s still early out. I’d retreated to my bedroom the instant I returned from The Hamptons last night, crawling into bed in my cutoffs and tank, allowing myself to succumb to the pain of Cam’s and Sawyer’s rejections for a short while, before hiding behind the inner cage I’ve perfected over the years. As soon as those bars go up, I am numb to all feeling, and I don’t hurt anymore. No one or nothing can get to me when I’m protected behind those steel walls, and it’s my number one go-to survival tool.
I scramble to my feet, folding my arms across my chest as I glare at my mother’s monster of a husband. “You want me out? Fine. I’ll go.”
I’d throw a party to celebrate if it wasn’t for Kayleigh. My sister is only nine, and I’m scared for her. My jaw tightens as I narrow my eyes on him. “But if you lay a finger on my sister or my brother,” I add, including Kayleigh’s twin Hunter, because I don’t trust Aaron with either of his kids, “I’ll fucking bury you.”
I have considered it. A lot. But it would be my word against his, and my track record won’t help. His expensive lawyers would destroy me in court, but I doubt my stepmonster would walk away with his reputation intact. And that is the only thing I can hold over him.
Darting forward, he grabs my chin, pinching my skin with his nails. “Don’t fucking threaten me, you stupid cunt. I can end you. Just like that.” He shoves me away, clicking his fingers. “I don’t want to see you ever again. You’re not welcome here. And stay away from my children.” He stalks toward me, backing me up against my bedroom wall. “I won’t warn you again.”
“Why now?” I ask although I’m guessing it’s because I’ve just turned eighteen. I thought he would let me stay until I graduated high school. If I hadn’t fucked up spectacularly when I was a freshman, and been forced to repeat the year, I’d be completely free right now.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you. My house. My rules.” His hands curl around my throat, and he tilts my head back. “If I’d known.” His eyes darken with unconcealed rage as his grasp tightens on my throat.
I slowly lift my knee, ready to strike.
“If I’d known, this would’ve happened years earlier,” he supplies. I’ve no clue what he’s talking about, but that’s the least of my worries as I struggle to breathe. In a surprising move, he lets me go before I’ve had time to embed my knee in his balls. “He’d be so disappointed if he knew.” His gaze roams me from head to toe, his face etched in disgust, but he can’t disguise the glimmer of desire that radiates from his eyes.
Bile swims up my throat, and I cross my arms over my chest again as a shiver creeps up my spine.
I hate him with the intensity of a thousand suns.
Anger twists and turns in my gut, and I renew my silent vow: I will make him suffer.
Someday, somehow, that bastard will pay for all the ways he has broken me.
“Ticktock.” He glances at my walk-in closet. “Start packing.” He exits my bedroom, and I exhale heavily. I don’t know what has prompted this decision at this moment, but I’m not hanging around to find out.
I hadn’t unpacked from my Hamptons vacation, so I grab some more suitcases and throw a bunch of my clothes and personal belongings in. I retrieve the cash pile I’ve been collecting the past couple years from the shoebox hidden underneath one of the floorboards in my closet, along with my passport and the small handgun a guy at school acquired for me last year.
I hold the cold metal in my palm, feeling more assured knowing I have it and I know how to use it. It was worth the hefty price I’d paid for it, because I knew this day would come, and I’ve tried to be as prepared as possible.
Placing the gun in my purse, I check I have my cell and my wallet before I get dressed. Pulling an off-the-shoulder sweater down over my head, I slip my feet into my white and gold Vans and take one final look around my childhood bedroom, not feeling any sorrow at saying goodbye.
This bedroom holds nothing but bad memories, and I’m not sorry to be leaving it behind.
The asshole watches as I haul my suitcases downstairs. It takes two trips, but he does nothing to help. He just stands in the large, circular lobby of his massive home, wearing a bored expression, while he repeatedly checks the flashy gold Rolex on his wrist.
Briefly, I wonder where Mom is, but I’m not surprised she isn’t here to wave me off.
She checked out on me, on life, a long time ago.
I walk toward the front door with my head held high, holding onto my last suitcase, damping down the fear that prickles my skin for my little sister. As soon as I get out of here, and find some place to call home, I’ll work out a plan for protecting Kayleigh.
“Nessa.” Her tiny voice infiltrates the layers wrapped around my heart, and I gulp over the messy ball of emotion clogging my throat. I school my features into a pleasant mask before turning to face my sister. She’s on the stairs, standing on the bottom step, dressed in her Frozen pajamas, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Her shoulder-length honey-blonde hair is in a mass of tangles, covering half of her face, obscuring her cute button nose and those big blue eyes a few shades paler than mine. “You’re going away again?” She pushes hair out of her face, staring at me with hurt shining in her eyes.
I walk in her direction, crouching down in front of her. “I’m eighteen now, little princess. It’s time to spread my wings.”
“You’re not coming back?” Her voice elevates a few decibels, and tears cling to her long lashes.
“Not for a while.” I hate lying to her, and I’m being as vague as possible without making promises I can’t commit to.
Fuck that bastard.
I fucking hate him so much.
I pull her into my arms, and warmth filters through my limbs when she curls her small body against mine.
“I don’t want you to go. I’ll miss you too much.” She sobs into my neck, and cracks start splintering my heart.
“I don’t have a choice, but I’ll find a way to see you,” I whisper in her ear. “I’ll miss you too,” I say more loudly to disguise our hushed conversation. I lower my voice again. “But it’s our secret. You can’t tell anyone. Not even Hunter.”
“Enough,” the asshole barks, and she jumps in my arms before subtly nodding.
I kiss her soft little cheeks. “I love you.” I love my little brother too, but asking to say goodbye to him is a futile exercise, because I know the asshole won’t permit it.