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Fear spread through her.
She’d seen this look before.
Had become all too familiar with it when they’d been married.
Lamont stepped inside.
“What do you want, Lamont?” she asked. Her gaze roamed the room, and she felt defeated.
There was nowhere for her to run.
“I see you moved from our house,” he began. He stopped midway into the space.
Confused, she didn’t know what to say right away. “I didn’t need that much space anymore.”
That was a safe response. She didn’t want to anger him by saying she didn’t want any reminders of him in the house staring at her.
“I miss us.”
She gawked at him, unable to formulate any words. This was a side of him she’d never seen before. Had he hit his head when they’d fallen on the sidewalk?
Candi swallowed hard and listened as he continued.
“I used to think it was cute when you’d be cuddled up on the bed asleep with that mangy bear of yours.”
Cute? It would have been after a night of crying her heart out because of his drinking, attitude, and verbal abuse that led her to lock herself away in their bedroom. She had been lonely. Isolated because of him. Larry had been a comfort to her.
“What was his name?” He paused, focusing his attention to her.
“Whose?” she asked, playing dumb. What the hell was her wondering about her stuffed animal for?
Lamont flew across the room with a snarl. Candi cried out, trying to run far from him, but he caught her by her arm and brought her close to him.
Candi turned her face away from Lamont. His warm breath blew across her cheeks.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Candi. I know you don’t go anywhere without that damn bear,” he murmured in her ear.
She cried out from his hand squeezing her arm tighter. “It’s just a bear from my childhood. You know that,” she whimpered, trying to pull her arm free, but his death grip was not loosening.
“And now I need it.”
Her gaze flew to his. His hard gaze bored into her.
“What?” she gasped.
Something hard slammed into the house down below. Shouts echoed from somewhere in the building.
Lamont released a curse and stormed to the doorway, dragging her behind him.
She tried to pull away but froze at the sight of him drawing a gun from the back of his waistband.
“What are you doing?” she whimpered.
“Shut up!” he roared, placing her in front of him. He held the gun on her and pushed her into the hallway.
There was a wide landing at the top of the stairs. One end led to a large window, while the other part of the landing opened up to what appeared to be additional bedrooms and a bathroom.
Men in dark fatigues stormed the stairs with their guns trained on them. They spread out and dropped to their knees, their weapons aimed straight at Candi and Lamont.
