Free Twisted Mind (Chequered Flag #2) by Mia Hoddell Page A

worse.
    “Why, Dustin?” she cried and I dodged the fist she threw at my jaw.
    I caught her hand and knocked it to one side. I’d just ended our relationship after four months. She’d changed dramatically from the woman I met, and this reaction only proved it. “How can I love you when you treat me like this?”
    Focused more on her hands, I didn’t see the kick coming in time to move. It connected with my shin, causing me to drop my guard from my face.
    Elora launched herself at me. “You bastard!”
    Rising in time, I caught her. Using her momentum, I spun so she was the one backed against the wall. Pinning her arms against her side, I pressed her into the plaster. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, only disable.
    “Calm the fuck down.”
     
    * * *
     
    “Tell me what’s going on. Is it the baby?”
    She stalked over to the sofa and dropped down onto it with a huff. “There’s nothing for you to worry about anymore.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “It means I’ve taken care of everything.”
    Icy tendrils started to creep around my heart, smothering it in paralysing fear as her words sank in. “What have you done, Elora?”
    She waved a hand at me dismissively. “You can go now. I’m no longer your concern.”
    I straightened my lips into a tight, thin line and my nostrils flared. “What about the baby? That sure as hell is my concern. If you think for one second I’m allowing you to keep me from my child then—”
    “There is no baby, Dustin.”
     
    * * *
     
    A hand on my thigh pulled me from the thoughts. The burning heat and gentle caress as Tazia ran her palm over me forced my eyes open. My blood pumped so furiously my breathing became ragged. A sheen of sweat broke out across my forehead.
    “No baby,” I murmured.
    I had no baby.
    The barbed wire coating my heart tightened, piercing the organ as the memories stirred the pain Tazia had managed to mask.
    “Are you okay, Dustin?”
    “I-I think y-you should go.” On instinct I reached for my cards on the table, only to find the set I wanted wasn’t there.
    I focused on the room.
    Blinked.
    Falling to my knees, I scraped the deck off the floor with frantic movements. I didn’t care I bent them in the process since I owned at least ten packs, all stored in different locations. I just needed them in my hands.
    My insides were shattering and the memories brought a fresh wave of pain.
    It wasn’t the physical abuse that affected me most. It was the mental games Elora had put me through over the months we were together. Always having to tread carefully, the apologies, promises.
    I fell for it all.
    The cards weren’t piling up quick enough.
    “Here, Dustin.” Tazia’s gentle voice interfered with my thoughts enough for me to jerk my head up to see her holding out the rest of my cards.
    With cautious movements, she reached for my hand. Clasping it in hers, she drew it to her, flipped my palm over, and while holding my gaze placed the cards on top of the ones I held. Her searing touch lingered on my wrist, briefly tracing the vein in my arm before she released me.
    “Please go, Taz.” I could feel the pieces inside me tearing apart and the grip I had on my emotions slipping. I didn’t want this kind-hearted woman to witness that. Hell, she’d got down on the floor with a broken leg to help me.
    I was an asshole.
    I fell apart in private. That was what a man was supposed to do over issues like mine, right?
    I was meant to be the strong one and Tazia didn’t need to shoulder my burden.
    “No way, Dustin. I’m not leaving you like this.”
    “Please.”
    She shook her head, adamant. “Do what you have to. Cry, break something, shout, scream. I don’t care what it is, it won’t change my opinion of you.”
    I hunched over my cards. “Tazia, I’m asking you to leave.”
    “And I’m telling you no. Deal with it.”
    I shuffled the cards. It wasn’t necessary, but I liked the feeling of the shiny surfaces sliding from my