Free When Smiles Fade by Paige Dearth Page A

the way he checked out Gracie! I wanted to rip his fucking eyes out of his head! The problem is, my moron of a mother does whatever men want and just pretends everything is normal. She’s always told me the shit my father did to me was my fault. God, I hate her!”
    The negative energy emanating from Emma fueled her friend’s anger. “Well, fuck him, Emma!” Brianna said. “If he dares try anything with Gracie, he’ll wind up just like Pepper!”
    Emma gaped at her friend in shock. She had never confided in Brianna about her role in Pepper’s death.
    Brianna broke the momentary silence. “I’m not an idiot, Em,” she said quietly. “You told me what Pepper was doing to you. I also know how much you hated him for it. What I haven’t figured out is how you did it. Doesn’t matter, though, I’m just happy he’s gone.” She quickly added, “You need to do whatever it takes to be happy. And don’t worry, I’ll never tell anyone.”
    Emma believed her wholeheartedly, because she knew Brianna meant every word she uttered.
    Within a week, Jake had moved in with them and taken over the house as though it belonged to him. A familiar pattern emerged. Within the first couple of weeks, he came home and asked Gracie when dinner would be ready the moment he walked through the door. Unluckily for him, Emma still cooked dinner for the family and she wasn’t about to let her sister fall into the same trap as she had with Pepper. Jake was less demanding of Emma, because, she believed, he knew better than to fuck with her.
    Despite how cautious he was with Emma, his pure dislike for Gracie led him to bully the young girl. There was something about her monotonous voice and her dreary, sluggish manner that just pissed him off. She lacked the spirit, the fire he saw in girls her age and Jake thought he could fix that right from the start. Pathetic as he found her, he also thought she had the potential to be an attractive little thing, if only she knew how to make the most of her charms. All he figured he had to do was get Emma on his side, like he had with Valerie. Then all these women would be his to command. Jake liked the idea—of being the man of the house.

Chapter Fourteen
    Almost two months to the day that Jake had moved in, he beat Gracie for the first time. Emma wasn’t home, having stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts on her way back from school to have a cup of coffee with Brianna. When she entered the house almost an hour behind schedule, Jake’s voice reached her from upstairs.
    “You’re such a stupid girl!” she heard him yell. “When I tell you to come into the bathroom and do something for me, I expect you to do it promptly! Do you understand me?” There was the distinct sound of a slap, followed by another and yet another.
    Emma raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time, until she had reached the bedroom she shared with Gracie. She shoved herself between her sister and Jake and screamed, “Don’t you fucking touch her, you motherfucker! I’ll fucking kill you if you do!”
    Jake laughed heartily at her threat. “Shut the fuck up, slut!” he sneered. “I’ll do whatever I want to in this house. You don’t see your mother in here, putting her nose in where it doesn’t belong, do you?”
    “That’s because my mother is a fucking cunt!” Emma retorted. “Now get out of our room!”
    Jake strolled out slowly, still chuckling to himself, as if the girl had told him a really good joke.
    Emma slammed the bedroom door behind him and ran over to Gracie. “What did he do to you?” she asked her sister anxiously. “What happened?”
    The side of Gracie’s face was red and swollen from Jake’s slaps. “He was taking a bath and called me into the bathroom to wash his back,” the younger girl explained. “And I said I didn’t want to. I don’t want to wash his disgusting back, Emma. Besides, he was naked. I just don’t want to live here anymore! Can’t we go live somewhere else?” Gracie begged,