I walked to my bedroom, completely unaware of my surroundings. I frowned.
My shirt and belt weren’t on the bed; I was sure I had left them there. I spun round and headed to the kitchen.
“Kay?” Ty said through the phone. I pulled the phone down and pressed the end call button. I felt the blood drain from my face as my hands started to shake.
Max sat at the table. One hand clenched into a fist, the other clutched onto my shirt.
“What the hell is this?” He threw it onto the floor and bought those evil eyes to mine.
“Max-” I croaked, my throat dry.
“Kaylee.” He was calm. Too calm.
“I can explain.” I lifted my hands in the air, the international sign for keep calm.
“Yeah?” He stood lifting the belt off the table. Everything was in the same place I’d left it, including the radio in one of the pockets.
“If this is what I think it is, then you’ve been a bad girl.”
I swallowed, my dry throat scratchy.
“Ma-” He dropped the belt, the metal pepper spray bottle clanging loudly on the floor.
“You know what happens to bad girls.” He took another step, his eyes almost black.
“Bad girls have to be corrected.” He sneered.
Chapter Fourteen
I thought I’d be prepared for when this day came.
I’d never seen anything like that look in his eyes. Pure evil. He’d waited for this day, I could see it written all over his face.
Why did he always want to hurt me?
What had I done that made him so angry? He had some inexplicable need to exert power over me, as if I already didn’t know where my place was.
I stared into his eyes, the realization that this was about him and not me slammed into me.
My back straightened and I met his soulless eyes. I wasn’t going to keep living like this. I’d had enough.
“What did I ever do to you?” I asked. He stalled a few feet away, narrowed his eyes and looked me up and down.
“What did you ever do?” he sneered.
“Yes.” I nodded.
My body was strung tight but for the first time I felt strong.
Somewhere in the back of my mind a voice said I shouldn’t poke the beast, that I should get out of there while I still could.
I pushed that voice away. I wasn’t going down without a fight, not this time.
I was sick and tired of the way things were, having to make sure his dinner was done on time, that his socks were paired a certain way. Being careful of what clothes I wore.
He’d established early on what clothes were acceptable and what weren’t. At the time I thought it was sweet.
It wasn’t until now that I realized how much I’d let him control me. Ty and the guys had opened my eyes.