Free Counting on Cayne (Hallow River Book 1) by Ada Rome Page A

shaking his fist. I tasted
blood in my mouth. Droplets of it had sprayed onto my dress when he hit me. I
was too stunned to speak or even to breathe. He just walked away and left me
lying on the ground.”
    “Of course, the next
day, he was all apologies. He said that he loved me and that it would never
happen again. He bought me a new designer dress to replace the one spattered
with blood. He acted genuinely sorry. Then a few weeks later, he pushed me
against a wall and punched me in the stomach. He blamed me and said that he
wouldn’t need to hurt me if I would only love him more. It happened over and
over again. He fractured my cheekbone when he slammed my head against a marble
counter. He threw me to the ground, held me down, and punched me until I passed
out. He strangled me until I thought that I was going to die. Then he begged
for my forgiveness. He told me that he couldn’t live without me. He showered me
with apologies and gifts. The car, for instance.”
    I jerked my chin toward
the window to indicate the silver racer parked out front. I took a deep breath.
This was more than I had ever told anyone about my life with Granton. It felt
both liberating and frightening.
    “The cycle went on for
years, through ups and downs. Sometimes months would go by perfectly normally.
To the world, we were a happy couple. Then one day, he would turn on a dime and
start yelling and hitting. I think he liked to keep me guessing, wondering when
he was going to strike next.”
    “Why didn’t you tell
anyone? Why didn’t you tell me?” Aunt Lu asked. Her forehead was creased with
concern and her eyes registered a profound sympathy.
    “I was ashamed. I internalized
the blame and was embarrassed that I had allowed myself to become a victim. I
knew that people would ask me why I’d stayed with him. I couldn’t answer that
question for myself, let alone for anyone else. It had nothing to do with the
money. I didn’t care about that. But people would judge. They always do. Part
of me believed him when he said that he loved me while another part of me knew
that it was a lie. I lived for the scraps of his affection. I felt worthless.
It sounds bizarre and insane, but I had come to believe that I deserved to be
treated this way. Most of all, I felt like I had let everyone down, you and
Uncle George and everyone who really cared about me. That’s why I never came
back. That’s why I never said a word.”
    Memories that had been
trickling steadily into my consciousness now burst through in a flood. Ghosts
of the panic and terror that had overwhelmed me for all those years now threatened
to choke me into silence. Nightmares buried deep within my mind rose to the
surface and crashed across my vision. I recalled every punch and kick, every
gash and broken bone, every time I was dragged across the floor or thrown
against a wall, every time I was made to feel less than human and every time I
was desperately afraid.
    My stomach heaved. I
rose abruptly and ran to the sink, leaning over it with my hands pressed flat
on the counter. Aunt Lu followed and gently placed her palm on my back.
    “It’s alright,” she
crooned. My spinning head began to right itself. The awful visions subsided under
her soothing influence. I stared hard at the tiled backsplash to maintain my
composure.
    “I was also scared. He
told me that he would punish me if I ever told anyone. He held a knife to my
throat and said that he would kill me if I ever tried to leave. But one day, I
just knew that he was going to kill me if I stayed. That’s when I made the
decision to escape. I was terrified. I packed a few belongings in secret, took
the car, and sped down the interstate. This was the only place that I could
think to go, the only place that I wanted to go.”
    My tears began to flow.
Aunt Lu wrapped me in an embrace. I wept on her shoulder with an abandon that I
had not allowed myself in years. After several minutes, I quieted down and wiped
my soaked cheeks with