Millie screamed and shuffled out of bed.
Little by little, she absorbed her surroundings and realized that it had all been a dream. A childhood memory locked inside her mind. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. Tonight was the big gala. She had dedicated many hours to the job. She made a lot of business connections, some that she hoped could help launch her homemade jewelry business. Her current job was getting too stressful, she couldn’t move any higher up because family held other positions and Stewart just dumped her. He was a friend of her boss, and yesterday at work her boss mentioned budget cuts and layoffs. Well, at least she had tonight.
As she thought back on her dream, she ignored the ending and the sight of Frank. He was behind bars for at least another fourteen months. She was safe from him and would never give him the opportunity to hurt her again. She had been so foolish back then, thinking that he loved her and that every time he hit her or spoke down to her, that he did it because he loved her so much. What were his words again? Oh yeah, “This is for your own good, baby. You need to be perfect and any woman of mine will obey me in my commands. Besides, you know I love you, don’t you?”
She swallowed hard. His disturbing and distorted view of making her into a better woman caused her to wind up tied to a bed, beaten and nearly strangled to death. She would always remember that day. More than twelve hours of sexual assault, beatings, and his constant explanation that he was cleansing her. The sick bastard had the nerve to tell her that it was her fault. He said he saw her talking to another man. Jordan was not even a friend. He had just been an acquaintance from work that she said hello and goodbye to and perhaps he would ask if she was hanging out or going to any new clubs. It was an innocent conversation viewed by her psycho boyfriend Frank as cheating, and it nearly cost her her life.
She recalled lying there, tied to her bed, her body bloody, her mind losing focus as he repeatedly struck her. She prayed for death. She accepted it, wanted it so badly she told him to just kill her. As he grabbed her throat and squeezed, the door crashed open and all hell broke loose. Millie could hardly see the figure with the baseball bat swinging and hitting Frank before the tables turned. Millie heard Stacy scream and Millie cried, fearing for her best friend’s life. It felt like their battle lasted forever as Millie begged to maintain consciousness. She feared that Stacy was going to die just as members of the police department arrived. She closed her eyes and hadn’t awoken until three days later as she lay all hooked up to tubes and wires in the ICU.
The tears rolled down her cheeks. Millie quickly wiped them away. She didn’t want to think about him. He scared her. All her self-defense training, counseling, and achievements were accomplished because he wasn’t around to hurt her or break her down. She was a different woman now, but she still hadn’t learned shit about picking the right man. Stewart had been another great mistake in her life, another control freak. She stretched her arms out above her head and looked at the black dress covered in dry-cleaning plastic. Taking a deep breath, a smile formed on her face. Stewart wouldn’t know what hit him.
Chapter 1
Town of Pearl
Lewis Dojo
“I think you better give up right now, Hank,” Marco Lewis told his brother as Dalton Lewis circled around the mat after knocking Hank clean on his ass.
“I don’t think so. This has been a long time coming and Dalton’s been moping around and being grumpy for way too long,” Hank replied, and Dalton gave a sidekick to Hank’s knee, but Hank stepped to the side, quickly avoiding the strike.
Marco laughed. His brother, Hank, had been right. Dalton was never happy. He just worked in the MMA fighting gym training military and law enforcement officers then headed home. He never went out anymore, and forget about hooking up with some woman or women. He just wasn’t interested.
“Hey, that was unfair,” Hank yelled at Dalton as Dalton swept Hank’s legs out from underneath him.
“Okay, you two, that’s enough. I have to be at the department in thirty minutes. I’m not leaving you two here alone to battle out your differences,” Marco stated.
Hank and Dalton stopped as they stood a few feet away from one another, breathing heavily.
“You should snap out of this slump you’re in, bro. Come out with us tonight, or maybe hookup with Stella, Lisa, Paula, or even Melody. They want you so badly,” Hank teased.
“Fuck you! I’m not into easy chicks and I sure as hell don’t want to get trapped by any of those women.” Dalton reached down to the floor and grabbed his Gatorade.
“Trapped? What do you mean? They just want sex,” Hank replied.
“No, they want husbands and I don’t trust any of them. You’d better watch your ass around those women,” Dalton reprimanded and Hank looked surprised.
“Watch your dick, too. I heard through the grapevine that all four of them want to land a Lewis brother,” Marco added.
“Then you’re not safe either, Deputy Lewis,” Hank teased Marco.
“Like I’d fall for their tricks? I am the oldest. That means I know which head to use. You should try it. The both of you,” Marco replied then began to walk out of the room.
* * * *
“Hey, I was just joking with you. I was hoping to make you laugh, not anger you more,” Hank told his brother Dalton. He was concerned about his seriousness lately and the fact that once he left the dojo he kept to himself. Dalton was a good man, and sure, he had a wicked scar from serving in the war and surviving his tour in Fallujah, but Hank thought it made him look tough. Despite his brother’s insecurities, the women seemed attracted to that scar and the silent, brooding type. Hank chuckled to himself.
“I don’t need cheering up. I’m fine and I sure as hell don’t need the complications of women right now. I’m good, Hank, so cool it, okay?”
“All right. No problem. Let’s get ready for the kids’ class. I think I’m going to take some ibuprofen now while I can. You know, cut off the headache before I get it,” Hank said and Dalton chuckled.
* * * *
Dalton was changing his shirt in the back room as he thought about his brother’s tactics in teasing him. He chuckled to himself at first and then he felt that tight feeling in his chest and emptiness in his gut. Dalton was a military man and used to handling everything on his own. He didn’t do gentle and didn’t like meaningless sex with women. He was getting older and feeling tired. His desires for more in life were changing dramatically. Perhaps it had something to do with the conversation he had with his four brothers about finding and sharing a woman. The thought about settling down with one and starting a family scared the shit out of him. What the fuck do I have to offer a woman? I’m ornery most of the damn time. I’m mean and I know, it even though I don’t mean to be, and hell, I’m set in my ways, and I expect discipline and respect.
He ran his hand through his hair. He had told his brothers this. They had shared their feelings, which was incredibly awkward but over a lot of beers seemed acceptable at the time. He learned that his second oldest brother Anthony, the owner of a local construction company with their other brother Jeremy, wanted to have kids. From that admittance came a nod and mumble from their oldest brother, Deputy Marco Lewis, which indicated he wanted the same thing. Then of course Hank, being Hank, sensitive, ready to talk your ear off, wanted to make immediate plans to choose a woman and start wooing her. That just made the rest of them feel completely uncomfortable and freak out. Thankfully, their youngest brother Jeremy cracked jokes about the process of finding a woman who would be interested in having sex with five men and how inspiring the process to locate her would be.
Jeremy was a total flirt and ladies’ man at only twenty-five years old. Most things to him were still a joke, but Dalton knew that this wasn’t a joking matter. In fact, since that night, he seemed to think about finding that special woman more and more. But just as others found their partners in Pearl and beyond, he and his brothers needed to wait it out. If they were meant to share a woman, then she would find them and maybe then he would be ready to face and embrace his emotions and desires.