Read Online Protect Me: Oakville Series:Book Three by Kathy-Jo Reinhart - Free Book Online
Authors: Kathy-Jo Reinhart
Tags: Romance
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hallway floor by my hair, sending a blinding pain through my head. I squeeze my eyes shut, praying I can keep the tears at bay as he drags me to our bedroom. Even though I’m probably going to make him even angrier, I have to try. My baby’s life may depend on it. I take a deep breath to try to calm myself as much as possible.
“Ray, please don’t hurt our baby. I swear, I didn’t do this on purpose,” I plead. Swiftly, he spins around and kicks me right in the face. The force snaps my head to the side so hard, my tooth flies across the room and lands just in front of the dresser. The coppery taste of blood fills my mouth, making me nauseous. I swallow it down, too afraid spitting it out will only anger him further. I pray it doesn’t come back up.
“Now you’re gonna start back talking me? Listen, bitch, you do what I tell you. You owe me. No one else wanted you. Your own mother threw you away. I rescued you. I give you a beautiful home, take you to nice places, and give you purpose,” he rants. My stomach rolls with every word passing through his lips. He truly believes the shit spewing from his mouth. At one point, I suppose I did, too. Not anymore, though. My mother’s choice to put me up for adoption had nothing to do with me. I was an infant. I don’t care if he lavishes me with jewels, he doesn’t have the right to lay his hands on me.
“Of course, it won’t look good if I send my wife to get an abortion. So, this is something I’m going to have to take care of myself. I was going to do it quickly, but since you hid from me and opened your mouth, I’ve decided to make it hurt like hell,” he sneers. He walks away and I hear the closet door open. In this moment, something inside me changes. No longer do I want to curl into a ball and hide. I want to stand up and fight back. Show him I won’t allow this to happen any longer. I need to protect my baby.
Slowly, I pick myself up off the floor. The room feels as if it’s spinning and it takes a minute to steady myself. Once I have my balance, I turn to face Ray. Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised that he’s graduated from his fists to the wooden bat gripped tightly in his hands. A slight snicker escapes me. Not because I think this is funny, this is just the way my luck works. I finally find the courage I need to stand up to him and it’s too late. Tears begin to slide down my face and I let them. My poor baby never stood a chance. “I’m so sorry, my sweet baby. I wish I could protect you. I love you,” I whisper as I rub my belly where I imagine him to be. ‘I’m sorry’ keeps repeating in my head, over and over. Why couldn’t I be stronger? That’s the last thought that crosses my mind before I feel the hard wood of the bat slam into the side of my head with a loud crack.
T HIS TIME when I come to in a hospital bed, it’s not my doting husband by my side. It’s a police officer. Who called the cops? I was in no shape to call them and the neighbors have never called them over the years. When Tanya walks into the room, I have my answer. I met her a year or so ago when I went back to volunteering at Worthington House. Ray had become a pro at beating me without leaving marks on my face and I was getting much better at hiding them. Tanya is a social worker at Worthington House and we became friends quickly. Just by looking at me, she knew what my story was. Normally I would’ve tried to deny it, but there was something about her that made me trust her completely. I soon found out she too had gone through the same hell I lived every day.
She helped me create an escape plan, but I should’ve used it sooner. He killed my baby because I was too scared to leave him. I actually thought becoming a father could change him. How stupid of me to think that was even possible. Well, not anymore.
Since Ray is not the kind of man to let me go if I just up and disappear one day, Tanya came up with a plan that gave me leverage against him.
“Ray, please don’t hurt our baby. I swear, I didn’t do this on purpose,” I plead. Swiftly, he spins around and kicks me right in the face. The force snaps my head to the side so hard, my tooth flies across the room and lands just in front of the dresser. The coppery taste of blood fills my mouth, making me nauseous. I swallow it down, too afraid spitting it out will only anger him further. I pray it doesn’t come back up.
“Now you’re gonna start back talking me? Listen, bitch, you do what I tell you. You owe me. No one else wanted you. Your own mother threw you away. I rescued you. I give you a beautiful home, take you to nice places, and give you purpose,” he rants. My stomach rolls with every word passing through his lips. He truly believes the shit spewing from his mouth. At one point, I suppose I did, too. Not anymore, though. My mother’s choice to put me up for adoption had nothing to do with me. I was an infant. I don’t care if he lavishes me with jewels, he doesn’t have the right to lay his hands on me.
“Of course, it won’t look good if I send my wife to get an abortion. So, this is something I’m going to have to take care of myself. I was going to do it quickly, but since you hid from me and opened your mouth, I’ve decided to make it hurt like hell,” he sneers. He walks away and I hear the closet door open. In this moment, something inside me changes. No longer do I want to curl into a ball and hide. I want to stand up and fight back. Show him I won’t allow this to happen any longer. I need to protect my baby.
Slowly, I pick myself up off the floor. The room feels as if it’s spinning and it takes a minute to steady myself. Once I have my balance, I turn to face Ray. Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised that he’s graduated from his fists to the wooden bat gripped tightly in his hands. A slight snicker escapes me. Not because I think this is funny, this is just the way my luck works. I finally find the courage I need to stand up to him and it’s too late. Tears begin to slide down my face and I let them. My poor baby never stood a chance. “I’m so sorry, my sweet baby. I wish I could protect you. I love you,” I whisper as I rub my belly where I imagine him to be. ‘I’m sorry’ keeps repeating in my head, over and over. Why couldn’t I be stronger? That’s the last thought that crosses my mind before I feel the hard wood of the bat slam into the side of my head with a loud crack.
T HIS TIME when I come to in a hospital bed, it’s not my doting husband by my side. It’s a police officer. Who called the cops? I was in no shape to call them and the neighbors have never called them over the years. When Tanya walks into the room, I have my answer. I met her a year or so ago when I went back to volunteering at Worthington House. Ray had become a pro at beating me without leaving marks on my face and I was getting much better at hiding them. Tanya is a social worker at Worthington House and we became friends quickly. Just by looking at me, she knew what my story was. Normally I would’ve tried to deny it, but there was something about her that made me trust her completely. I soon found out she too had gone through the same hell I lived every day.
She helped me create an escape plan, but I should’ve used it sooner. He killed my baby because I was too scared to leave him. I actually thought becoming a father could change him. How stupid of me to think that was even possible. Well, not anymore.
Since Ray is not the kind of man to let me go if I just up and disappear one day, Tanya came up with a plan that gave me leverage against him.
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