Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Snapping my gaze back to the man standing in front of me, I smiled brightly. “I’d like that,” I told him.
When he smiled this time, his eyes twinkled with excitement, and I felt a little flutter in my chest. Hayes Kingston was very good-looking, I realized. This would probably be a one-time thing. Tabitha would be sure to bash my name the moment she could. He’d never want to see me again. For now, I’d enjoy a meal with a handsome man who I made nervous. While also making Tabitha furious.
Present Day
Eventually, I was able to get myself together, get up from my pathetic breakdown on the floor, and go to the bathroom. A long, hot shower, cleansing myself from the ugliness that I had accepted and even embraced, helped me clear my head even if it didn’t do anything for the pain that was a part of me. When I exited the bathroom, I saw food had been delivered, but I had no appetite. Forcing myself to eat would only make me sick. I’d tried that in the past.
I curled up on the sofa to watch mindless television shows. Sitcoms where family life was entertaining and all was well at the end of the thirty minutes it took to air. I didn’t know how long I’d sat there, nor did I care what time it was when I heard the footsteps on the stairs once again. The sound caused a sick knot in my stomach, and my eyes shifted to the food I hadn’t touched.
Would I be forced to eat? It wouldn’t be the first time.
Tabitha had caught me sneaking a handful of chips from the pantry once. She then forced me to eat the entire bag and then another until I threw up. Then, she’d given me a spoon and stood over me with a long, thin hickory switch, snapping it across my back until I ate my vomit. To this day, I couldn’t eat plain potato chips.
I fisted my hands in my lap. I wasn’t a child anymore, and physical and emotional pain were things I had learned to survive. Huck was a large man, and as much as I disgusted him, I didn’t believe he would hurt me physically. But then I had been wrong about so many things in life.
My eyes stayed trained on the television show I had been watching. I had no idea what the name of it was, but that didn’t matter. It kept my thoughts preoccupied.
“You didn’t eat.”
His deep voice made me tense.
I would not let this man do any more damage. He had no idea the level of suffering I could endure.
I shrugged. “I didn’t have an appetite.” My eyes never left the television.
Silence. I fought against counting the seconds that ticked by. If the man lunged at me and strangled me to death or began hitting me, then perhaps death was something I could embrace. End this life I’d been given.
“Get up. Get your things.”
He liked to order me around. Perhaps if I were a stronger woman who had a backbone, I would stand up to him. See how he liked being told no. But I’d been beaten down long before I met Huck Kingston.
Standing, I walked over and picked up the few things that I could call mine, then turned to look at him. He was scowling, as if being down here this close to me was his own form of punishment. I wished I didn’t care. Perhaps it was the way he frowned or the way his eyes were set in his head. It reminded me of Hayes. The only person in my life to not see my faults. The only male to ever make me feel special.
“Is that it?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Follow me.”
He turned and started toward the steps. Was I being moved to a room now so I could cook and clean, or was I being sent home to possibly be murdered? At least I wasn’t being left locked up in his basement. If he sent me away, I might possibly survive long enough to leave the state, change my appearance, but then all of that took money. I wasn’t sure my car could get me that far at the moment.
Panic slowly began to trickle in, and I focused on my breathing as I followed Huck up the stairs. Either option was terrifying.
No … no … stop! I wasn’t going to fall apart in front of this man. If I didn’t live to see another sunrise, then so be it. But I would not let this man see me crack. He wouldn’t get the satisfaction.
At the top of the stairs, he turned left, and I followed him. We turned to go up another flight of stairs. That was my answer. I was to stay and be the housekeeper and cook. The panic clawing at my chest eased some.