Free Love Collides (Fate's Love #3) by L.A. Cotton

someone’s voice called. My voice.
    Mom’s sad eyes widened when she looked up and saw me standing in the doorjamb. The fear glistened in her tears. A strangled cry escaped her bloody lips as he pushed her crumpled body against the wall and turned in my direction.
    “Oh, look what the cat dragged in.” A calloused hand clasped my throat before I could gain control over my body. “You need roughin’ up, boy. Time to make you into a real man.”
    Pain exploded across the back of my head as it collided with the wall and puke filled my throat. Somehow, I managed to swallow it down just in time to see Dad’s fist coming at my face. I didn’t move in time and another wave of pain crashed over me, almost pulling me under. Mom screamed and started crying. I wanted to go to her and comfort her, but stars filled my vision and I swayed slightly.
    “Where’s your fight, boy? No son of mine would stand there and take a beating. Or are you a pansy-assed pussy like your momma?”
    Like waking from a bad dream, something in me snapped. I drove my body into Larry and we crashed to the floor. He grunted, bucking me off him. “You little shit. Get back here.”
    I tried to scramble to my feet, but Larry’s hand caught the leg of my jeans and he yanked me back down with such force the air whooshed from my lungs.
    “You’ll pay for that…” was the last thing I had heard before everything went black.
    ***
    "This looks great, Uncle Kadey." Hayley pressed her hand against my back as we surveyed my handiwork. Ashton hadn't been joking when he said they'd bought half of the store.
    "I helped. Don't give him all the credit; it'll go to his head." Ashton wrapped an arm around Hayley's shoulder, pulling her to his side and rubbing her small bump with his other hand. "What do you say, little guy. Did Daddy do good?" 
    Hayley laughed, batting him away. "Guy? I thought we agreed girl." 
    "I'm getting guy vibes today. Isn't that right, little man?" My cousin half tackled Hayley and ducked his head in line with her stomach. "Kick once for a boy, twice for a girl." 
    I stifled my laugh and checked the crib once more, but it was solid. Turning to them, I said, "Isn't it a little early for all this?"
    Hayley untangled herself from her husband and smiled. "You know me; I like to be prepared. Nothing wrong with that, is there, bean?" She patted her bump and left the room. 
    "So, Mom filled me in. How are you holding up? How's Aunt Jess?" 
    "Honestly? She's fucking terrified. I hate it. Hate him for putting her through this. If he comes anywhere near her, I swear I'll-" 
    "Whoa, don't finish that sentence. I get that you're angry, man, I do, but don't say something you'll regret." 
    "Are you fucking kidding me? I mean every word. If he so much as comes near Mom, I will kill that bastard. It’s more than he deserves." 
    Ashton let out a long breath, staring out of the window. "I just don't want to see you do something you can't take back. Your mom only has you. She needs you." 
    He was right. For ten years, it had been just the two of us. Only Mom was never the same after leaving the hospital. Doctors said it was post-traumatic stress, but no therapy in the world healed her. The day he almost killed her, a little part of her died, and Mom had spent the last decade too scared to set foot outside. It had taken me and Aunt Theresa almost six years to persuade Mom to move out of the house that almost killed her, but when her depression reached the point of her refusing to get out of bed we intervened. Looking back, I don’t know if it was the right decision. Mom switched one prison for another, and although she was happier—more herself than she had been in a long time—I was still waiting for the day she felt able to leave the house under her own free will.
    If only I'd been stronger . I wasn't that scared sixteen-year-old kid anymore, and I sure as shit wasn't about to watch Mom suffer at his hands anymore.
    "Dinner's ready." Hayley's