Escaping His Obsession, Finding Love

box shattering echoed

eemed

ed metal on the floor. The little balleri

I tried to gather the pieces. They wer

id, putting a hand to her mouth i

p inside me. I lunged at her, pushing h

from it!"

ug and falling dramatically to the floor. "Aah! M

on. He saw her on the floo

my head back. "You bitch,"

s to sweep up the p

s held me fast. I watched, helpless, as they swept my pa

nd started digging through the garbage, ignoring the cof

mall and hard. I pulled it out. It w

t from the doorway. "Digging through the trash like

final thread of m

throat. "Don't you ever," I snarled, my fac

ide with real fear for the first t

stant, pulling me off her.

said, his voice terrifyingly ca

yguards. "Take her t

dition of his, a small, soundproofed room in the basement he'd built to 'cure' my defiance. In the mid

concrete steps. I fought. I

The cold leather chilled my skin.

old, hard mask. Katarina peeked from behin

to Katarina

r," I

he guard at th

tch f

. My teeth clamped together so hard I thought they would break. A

began. I slumped against th

," Elliott

trembling. I looked him

dded

apart. Through the haze of agony, I saw flashes of a different life. Elliot

es were a

stopped. I was b

gh," Elliott said, his

s. "Take her back to h

They dragged me up the stairs and thre

ay there, every inch of my body aching, and cried. Not for the p