“That’s nice of you, but you can’t be here. There’s a restraining order in place and as soon as I call the cops, they’ll arrest you.” I go for my phone, but he shakes his head and once again I freeze up.
It’s like my body recognizes his power over me while my brain is screaming at me to run, to get help…to call for Hunter.
“They won’t arrest me,” he says, taking my phone out of my back pocket. He lightly smacks it on my head and I wince. My knees tremble. “You’ve caused enough problems. My parents have cut me off. They refuse to pay for me to get additional treatment. The VA…well, you know what little the VA will do for me.”
“I do know.” For that I do feel sorry for him. He does have problems, but I cannot be the outlet for them. “You need help, Penn. There are organizations all over the country that can help you, without cost.”
“Like a fucking charity case,” he sneers.
“Better than the alternative.”
He slams my phone down on the kitchen counter, shattering the screen. “I was getting the alternative and you took that from me.”
I start to back away from him, but he grabs my arm roughly and jerks me back. “I can smell him on you.”
“My dog?”
“You are a bitch, just didn’t know you were in heat.” He shoves me toward the sofa. “Bend over and I’ll mount you.”
Revulsion makes my stomach turn. “I’m not that desperate.”
“No, but you were always willing.”
I don’t say anything to that. What can I say? It’s true, but not for the reasons he wants to claim.
“Angel, something’s wrong with your phone,” Hunter says as he steps inside, his eyes on his screen. “You just texted me a bunch of gibberish, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t code for your favorite sex positions.”
I want to sob in relief when I see him, but he won’t look up and I’m afraid that Penn will try to hurt him.
“Hunter,” I cry and his head jerks up. His eyes widen when he sees Penn practically standing over me while I lean against the arm of the sofa. “This is Penn,” I finish stupidly.
“You don’t need a code for that,” Penn begins conversationally. “She likes it from behind, double-teamed…getting down on her knees in public. That sort of thing.”
I close my eyes as my face heats. A chill invades the rest of me as I realize that Penn wants to degrade me in front of Hunter. He wants to take part of the truth and twist it up with a lie until I’m half believing what he’s saying.
Chapter 21
Hunter
“The fuck you doing here?” Every inch of me is dying to pop him in the mouth for trying to humiliate Evangeline, but I can’t go off half-cocked without provocation. A punk-ass like Penn would love something like that. “There’s a restraining order in place.”
Penn runs his pale blue eyes over me, sneering a little. “This is between me and my wife.”
“Soon to be ex-wife,” Evangeline snaps.
Penn’s head swivels her way, and he marches to her. “Sit down and shut up.”
“No,” she says quietly and I want to roar my approval, but that asshole is pulling his hand back. If he hits her, I’ll fucking kill him.
I grab him by the arm, yanking him to the door. “You heard the lady.”
Penn swings around, his fist connecting with my side. I grunt in pain, then kick him in the chest. He goes flying into a small table by the front door. It knocks against the wall and the bowl that holds the keys goes tumbling to the hardwood floor where it breaks in a half-dozen pieces.
Once Penn gets to his feet, he charges me like a bull. We slam into the opposite wall and I land another kick to his side, then twist his arm around his back. He screams in pain, but I pull harder, so hard that I force him down on his knees.
He lunges for Eva, his one free arm waving wildly, fingers curled like claws.
Evangeline runs to the other side of the room, her face red and her eyes wide. She grabs the landline.
Penn head butts me and I see stars. Shaking them off, I grab him around the midsection and slam him into the ground, then my hands move to his neck. I start to squeeze and squeeze, until his lips are turning blue and his face is purple.
“All you had to do is stay away from her. All you had to do was man up and keep your fucking hands off her. If you ever touch her again, I will tear you into pieces so small that they wouldn’t fit on the head of a pin.”
Penn makes a gagging noise as he bats at my arms.
I look up and Evangeline is staring at me, her eyes full of terror.
“Hunter,” Evangeline screams. “Don’t kill him. Don’t kill him.” Rushing to me, she tries to pry my fingers from around his neck. “If you kill him, you’ll go to jail. I can’t lose you.”
The red in my eyes fades away.
“He deserves it.” I squeeze a little harder, just enough to make sure he passes out sooner rather than later.
Penn’s head lolls to one side and I finally let go.
Evangeline tumbles into my arms, even as she dials 911 and lets them know that we need help.
“We’re okay,” she says, slightly rocking. “We’re okay.”
“We’re okay,” I assure her. “He’s still alive.”
She stops rocking and melts into me, still holding onto the phone for dear life.