I rear back, staring at him, my mouth hanging open. “I was a child. You’re blaming me for my mother’s death when I was a child. How could I have saved her when I barely survived myself? No thanks to you on either account.”
His hand snaps out and strikes me right across the cheek.
It stings, but it’s nothing compared to everything I’ve dealt with from Sal. I barely flinch and continue to look into his old milky eyes. “Does that make you feel manly? Hitting me? Because I have to tell you, Dad, you’re losing your strength. Now, get the hell out of here. I’ll only say this one more time. Leave now, or I’ll throw you out myself.”
When he stands, I think he’s finally come to his senses and is going to go. Which will leave me the task of figuring out how he found me in the first place before I disappear for good.
But he doesn’t simply stand. He shifts his weight and launches a punch right at my gut. I twist at the last second, his fist hitting my hip bone hard enough to make my skeleton rattle. I retreat, intent on putting distance between us, but he doesn’t let me.
Taking hold of my shoulder, he squeezes hard and rears back for another strike. This time, I block the hit, but it still hurts. I try to wiggle from his grip, but his fingers are strong, and he’s holding tight.
Instead, I move so he can’t get a clear strike and has to try harder to keep me in his grip. It takes another moment for me to finally dislodge him and put the bed between us. I’m crying even though I’m more angry or sad than in pain.
“Pathetic,” he sneers.
I swipe at my face with the back of my hand and prepare for his next attack. This time, I won’t let him get a hold of me. He has no idea what I’ve already sacrificed to keep my baby safe. Getting rid of him is nothing compared to ripping my own heart out and leaving it behind.
“Get out!” I scream at him. “Go now, or the cops will show up, and you’ll have to deal with them.”
He snorts. “And when they show up, they will deliver you right back to your degenerate husband. So you can deal with me, or you can deal with him. And trust me, he isn’t the forgiving type.”
While I fear Adrian’s wrath, I refuse to allow my father to win. Not like this, and not when I’m free of my feelings for him for the first time in my life. Free of his toxicity and free of having to look at his ugly face again.
I hop up on the bed to get to the door, but he intercepts me there. “We aren’t through here. If you don’t let me take care of it, I’ll drag you home and have someone take a coat hanger to you. Then I’ll make sure you’ll never be able to get pregnant again. Your choice.”
I rear back and spit in his face. “Fuck you.”
He sneers and wipes his wrist down his face. “Oh good, you want to fight. The coat hanger it is, and I’ll be sure to tell them you don’t tolerate pain medication well. It’ll teach you the lesson you deserve, girl.”
We struggle, but somehow, he’s stronger than me, tugging me toward the door and fiddling with all the locks. While he’s distracted, I try to yank my arm free, but his grip is like iron, and I can’t shake him off me.
I keep fighting until he curses and digs into his pocket to reveal a stun gun.
No. If he knocks me out, he can do anything he wants to me while I’m unconscious.
It’s like my brain goes blank. One minute, the fear is taking hold, threatening to dislodge sanity in place of horror. Next, the world is silent, still, like a slow-motion clip in a movie.
I reach behind my back with my free arm and wrap my hand around the grip of the gun. Then I tug it out of my pants, flipping the safety off at the same time.
He pulls me tight against him, raising the Taser toward my belly. He’s going to stun me right at uterus level, and I don’t know if my baby can survive that.
I raise the gun and shove it into his ribs, not even bothering to aim, and pull the trigger.
The sound rips through the room, making my ears ring. His eyes go wide, and then I feel the wet hot flow of blood over my hands, wrists, down the front of me as he releases me.
He hits the floor with a thud, and I stare down at him. Red stains my fingers and his shirt front, and it’s leaking into the carpet.