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Chapter 6 - Paige

I can't sleep.

I lie on my side of the bed, the makeshift pillow wall separating me from Gabriel, and stare at the water-stained ceiling tiles while my mind replays everything on an endless, horrible loop.

Cole's hand connecting with my face. The sound it made. The shock of pain. The way I fell.

But that's not where it started.

It started six months ago. Maybe longer. The first time he grabbed my arm too hard when I said something he didn't like. I told myself it was nothing. An accident. He was stressed about work.

The first time he pushed me against the wall. Not hard. Just firmly. To make a point. To show me he was serious. I told myself I was overreacting. That couples fought. That I was being too sensitive.

The first slap came two months later.

We were arguing about something stupid, I can't even remember what. He told me I was being unreasonable. I disagreed. He slapped me across the face so fast I didn't see it coming.

Then he cried. Apologized. Said he didn't know what came over him. That he loved me so much it scared him. That he'd never do it again.

I believed him.

The first punch came a month after that. Stomach. Where nobody would see. Where I could hide it under my work polo and pretend everything was fine.

After that, it became routine. He'd get angry. I'd say something wrong. He'd hit me. Then he'd apologize. Then we'd be okay for a few days. Then the cycle would start again.

And I stayed.

God, I stayed.

Told myself it would get better. That if I could figure out what triggered him, I could avoid setting him off.

Like it was my responsibility to manage his temper.

Like I was the problem instead of him.

I squeeze my eyes shut against the hot sting of tears. My cheek throbs where he hit me tonight. Different than the other times. Worse. More violent. Like something in him finally broke and he stopped pretending to have control.

He woke up in that parking lot. Had to. It's been hours.

He woke up alone with a split lip, a bruised jaw and the humiliation of being knocked unconscious in public by a stranger.

He's going to be beyond pissed. Beyond embarrassed. Beyond anything I've seen from him before.

He's going to want revenge.

And Gabriel…

I turn my head slightly on the pillow. Can just barely make out his silhouette in the darkness. He's lying on his back on top of the covers, arms crossed over his chest, completely still except for the steady rise and fall of his breathing.

Is he asleep? Probably not. Probably watching the door. Listening for threats that might not come but he's prepared for anyway.

I'm putting him in danger.

Cole isn't going to let this go. He's going to look for me. And when he finds out who Gabriel is, what he did, where we went—

But then again, does Gabriel seem like the type of man who scares easily?

He left the priesthood. Walked away from everything he knew because he couldn't reconcile his faith with his failure. Spent years learning to fight. Ended up in a motorcycle club after getting into a bar fight with strangers who became his brothers.