He didn’t look down at me, although his jaw hardened and his grip on me tightened to the point of pain. I didn’t make a sound, and struggled to keep my expression blank. I knew pain and suffering got him off.
He opened the door to an opulent bedroom, four poster bed and all.
“This is your room,” he explained, setting me down on the bed. I flinched when his hand came up to brush the hair out of my face. “At least until you recover from your fright today and we get our daughter back. Then you’ll come to my room, of course,” he promised with a flare in his empty eyes that made me want to retch.
“You’ll never touch her,” I hissed. “I’ll die before it comes to that.”
Sid’s face was blank. “Don’t be so dramatic, Abby,” he said in a bored tone. The door opened and one of his henchmen came in with a small towel. He handed it to Sid, who held it out to me. I thrust my chin up in defiance.
“Just take the fucking towel, Abby,” he exploded, his calm demeanor cracking to reveal the monster underneath.
With a shaking hand I clutched the towel, then pressed it to my nose. It had stopped bleeding, but I did my best to clean myself up.
Sid straightened. “Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” He buttoned his suit jacket. “You’ll do well to remember it’s best to listen to me, Abby. I know it was a long time ago, but I’m sure you remember what happens if you don’t.” He gave me a pointed look. “We’ll be talking about the past, more specifically, my daughter, when you’ve had your rest,” he promised, giving me another meaningful look before turning and walking out the door. I heard the click of a lock, sealing me inside my nightmare.
I immediately jumped up, searching the room for something, anything that would get me out of here. Back to Lexie. Back to Zane. Back to my family. My search was in vain, finding only a walk-in closet and a fancy bathroom. Neither with weapons or exits. But what they did have disturbed me. Clothes. Racks of them, all designer, all beautiful. All in my size. Same with the shoes. The bathroom held all of the toiletries I used, down to the right foundation shade. I shivered. He had been planning this. Not only that, he had been in my house. They only thing that kept me from crawling into a panic ball in the corner of the room was that he didn’t have Lexie. I hoped she had gone to Zane by now, that he would protect her. I knew he would try and find me, that the club would try. But I also knew Sid. He was dangerous before, but now with the money obviously had come more power. I was back in the hell I had escaped from sixteen years ago.
Sixteen Years Ago
“You were staring at him,” Sid shot at me with venom in his tone. Venom I didn’t recognize or understand.
I looked at him from the stove in confusion. “Who?” I asked, keeping an eye on the dinner I was cooking.
“You know who, don’t play fucking dumb,” Sid answered quietly, glaring at me.
I swallowed at his tone, at the look on his face. I hadn’t seen it before. He’d always been loving, doting. Since he found out about the baby he had been more so. The way he looked at me on our wedding day had me thinking I was the luckiest girl in the world. It wasn’t like it was much, just a ceremony at town hall with his parents in attendance, but it was all we needed. It had been a month of happiness, of something I thought I’d never get. But things were slowly changing. The more my belly grew the more over the top Sid got. I thought he was just being protective, with him starting a new business, helping his family, trying to be a good husband. But it was more than that. He wouldn’t let me go anywhere unless he approved it. The few friends I had hadn’t heard from me in weeks. The only people I saw were people he deemed it okay to see. Business associates. His family. He told me my place was with them. I didn’t know how a real family worked, so I had guessed this was how all husbands were when their wives were pregnant. He was still young, only eighteen, and he had a lot on his mind. So I didn’t say anything, didn’t argue. I instead treasured the time I had with his mother, who treated me like a daughter. I got ready for our baby’s arrival, painting and decorating the nursery, reading baby books. I was excited for our checkup the next day, where they could tell the sex. Sid wanted a boy, but I secretly wanted a little girl.
So this anger, this venom, it caught me off guard. “No, honey I don’t,” I told him honestly. I stirred the food, anxious not to burn it. I was a decent cook, but I wasn’t used to having an entire pantry full of food to cook with. It was exciting, but Sid was getting more and more picky about what I cooked. He was particular, wanted me to be the best wife. I didn’t mind. But it just meant I didn’t want to burn this dinner, especially when he was already like this.
Suddenly, Sid was right in front of me, grabbing my wrist roughly. I dropped the spoon in surprise and cried out from the pain.