Chapter 3 #2
But as she watched Whip stalk around the front of the truck, with his brows furrowed and a scowl on his face, she couldn’t help but compare him to Dwayne.
When was the last time her husband had opened a door for her? Had he ever? She didn’t think so. Whip had protected her from Dwayne, noticed she was cold and given her a hoodie to wear, and now he was escorting her home so she could get her cats.
She hadn’t known Whip for very long, but all evidence was pointing to the fact that he was a good man. Rough around the edges, definitely, but the fact that he seemed to be worried about her cats was a huge plus in her eyes.
Dwayne hated her babies. Had from the very start.
Went out of his way to tell her how much they stunk, how annoying they were, and she could never rely on him to do anything related to their care.
She cleaned the litter boxes, fed them, took them to the vet.
It had been a while since they’d been, though, as Dwayne refused to pay for their visits, and most of the money she earned from her part-time telemarketing job went into his bank account, which she had no access to.
“Where am I going?” Whip asked.
“Oh, yeah, um…turn right here.”
Whip drove fast, but not recklessly, which was another difference from her husband. It didn’t take too long to get to the small rental house. Dwayne’s car was parked half on the driveway and half on the lawn.
Angelica’s stomach rolled. She didn’t want to see him. Didn’t want to listen to the vitriol that would likely come spilling out of his mouth when he saw her. But more than that, she didn’t want Whip to hear what Dwayne would say.
This was a pivotal moment in her life. If she went inside with Whip, she could never go back. Dwayne would accuse her of sleeping with the man, and he’d told her more than once that he’d kill her if she ever cheated on him or left him.
And Angelica believed him.
But her need to find and keep her cats safe was stronger than the fear of what would come out of his mouth in front of Whip.
“Stay here,” Whip said, but Angelica was already moving. She had the truck door open and was hopping out. It was quite a distance to the ground.
“Angel,” Whip warned in a harsh growl.
“Mittens and Kevin don’t like strangers. They’re going to be super skittish, especially if Dwayne’s been yelling or throwing things.”
“Does he do that a lot?”
Angelica looked over at the man standing next to her. They’d paused at the front of his truck, probably because he was hoping to convince her to stay in the vehicle while he went inside on his own. “Yes.”
There was no denying it. She was in an abusive relationship. But she was done. This was her one shot to get out alive, and she knew that down to her bones. She was probably weak for hiding behind Whip, but whatever.
“All right, then no matter what happens, you stay behind me. That’s not negotiable, Angel. I can handle your husband, but if you get in the way…” His voice trailed off.
Angelica nodded. She had no problem staying behind Whip. He was a mountain of a man, and she’d be safer with him in front of her. “Are you…are you going to kill him?” she blurted, and immediately regretted it.
“Do you want me to?”
She stared at him in disbelief. He wasn’t upset with her for asking? “Um…I don’t think so. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“So it’s not that you don’t want him dead, you just don’t want me to go to jail for it. Interesting. Come on. Behind me at all times.”
Angelica felt her cheeks heat. Whip was so different from anyone she’d ever met. He looked dangerous. Mean. And she had no doubt he was. But he apparently had a soft spot for damsels in distress and cats.
The front door wasn’t locked, and Whip simply walked inside as if he owned the place.
Tilting her head, Angelica could hear water going in the one bathroom in the small house.
Relief filled her. Maybe they could get out of here with her beloved cats while Dwayne was in the shower.
Looking around, she desperately tried to find Mittens or Kevin.
But they weren’t in any of their usual spots.
The boxes she got from behind the grocery store by the dumpsters were empty.
The old blanket she used for a bed for Mittens was vacant.
Kevin wasn’t behind the couch, where he liked to hole up and play with one of his catnip mice she’d splurged on.
It hadn’t taken more than ten seconds or so for her to look around the living area. Frowning, she looked at Whip, and saw his gaze was locked on the bathroom door.
“Stay here,” he ordered.
For a second, Angelica did as she was ordered out of habit and self-preservation. But when Whip stalked down the hall toward the door, her feet moved without her brain telling them to. The closer she got to the door, the faster and harder her heart thumped in her chest. Dread filled her.
There were still plenty of places to look for her cats, but for some reason, that closed door drew her toward it as if she was being beamed up to a spaceship after being abducted by aliens.
Without hesitation, Whip shoved the door open.
Turns out Dwayne wasn’t in the shower.
He was standing by the tub, watching it fill with water. At his feet were two pillowcases. He was standing on the end of each, effectively holding them closed, as he watched the water get higher and higher in the bathtub.
“You fucking asshole!” Whip cursed, before punching him in the face, much as he’d done back at the pool hall.
It wasn’t until Kevin shot out of one of the now-unsecured pillowcases that Angelica actually realized what was going on.
Dwayne had put her babies in the cases and was planning to drown them.
A sob escaped before she could stop it, but before she could catch Kevin, he bolted out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.
Dwayne had fallen back into the tub, and Whip was currently beating the shit out of him—again. Angelica barely noticed. Her attention was on the second pillowcase. Mittens hadn’t emerged, and she was terrified of what she’d find when she opened it.
Avoiding Dwayne’s flailing limbs, she rushed forward and grabbed the pillowcase, scooting backward and frantically looking inside.
Mittens was alive!
She looked confused and scared, but the second she saw Angelica, she let out a loud meow.
Turning her back on the fight, Angelica cuddled her geriatric cat against her chest, pillowcase and all, and rushed toward her bedroom. She could feel Mittens’ heart beating a mile a minute against her, and the way the cat tried to burrow into her chest made Angelica’s heart hurt.
“Kevin?” she called. But the freaked-out cat was nowhere to be seen. Crouching down, she looked under the bed and saw two eyes reflecting back at her from the dark space.
“Oh, sweetie! I’m so sorry. But you’re okay, I’m going to take you out of here. I have no idea where we’ll go, but I’m not going to let him hurt you again.”
“Pack your shit, Angel. I don’t want to stay here longer than necessary.”
Looking over her shoulder, Angelica saw Whip standing in the doorway of the bedroom.
He looked…normal. Not as if he’d just been using her husband as a punching bag.
His knuckles were raw, his shirt was wet, but he wasn’t breathing hard and it didn’t look as if the fight with Dwayne had taxed him in the least.
She should be terrified of this man. But deep down, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.
She sat back on her heels with Mittens, still holding her against her chest, and said in a barely there voice, “He was going to drown them.”
“Yeah.”
At first, Angelica thought Whip was unmoved, but when she looked closer, she saw he was anything but.
The man was on edge. She had a feeling if Dwayne made the mistake of saying even one word—if he was even capable of it at this point, which she doubted—Whip would lose the little control he was holding on to by a thread.
She wanted to break down. To scream. To cry. To go in the bathroom and hit Dwayne herself. But she needed to get the hell out of here with her babies more.
“I need to get Kevin. He’s freaked.”
“I’ll get him. You pack.”
“He’s skittish. I don’t think he’ll come to you.”
“He will.”
Whip sounded so sure. She was skeptical.
“Pack what you want, Angel. You’re not coming back here.
” He strode over and put a hand under her elbow, helping her to her feet.
Then, as if he’d done it a hundred times before, scooped Mittens out of the pillowcase and held her against his broad chest with one arm.
Finally, he sat on the floor and peered under the bed.
She stood there with her mouth open for a beat. Mittens seemed perfectly content to be in Whip’s arms, something the older cat had never done with anyone else before. Not that she’d had much of a chance, because it wasn’t as if Dwayne was ever going to pick her up for a cuddle. But still.
“Pack, Angel,” Whip ordered without turning around.
How he knew she was still standing there, staring at him in disbelief, Angelica had no clue. But when she heard a moan from the bathroom, she forced herself to move. The last thing she wanted was for Dwayne to come in here and see her packing.
She rushed to the closet and pulled out a suitcase. She flung it on the floor and fumbled with the zipper.
“Easy.”
Thinking Whip was talking to her, she glanced over at him. But he wasn’t paying any attention to her; he was leaning over and looking at Kevin, who was still under the bed. He had one arm outstretched toward the cat and he was talking in a low, rumbly tone to her terrified cat.
It was that moment, Angelica knew she was in trouble. She’d just met this man and yet he was making her feel things she’d never felt toward anyone before.
Forcing herself to turn away, she managed to get the suitcase unzipped and began throwing clothes inside. She tried to only pack her favorite outfits, not that she had a whole lot of them. She grabbed a few odds and ends—pictures of her deceased parents, her journal, and her phone charger.
Taking a deep breath, she looked back over at Whip. Only a few minutes had passed, and yet she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Whip was sitting on his ass by the bed, kind of hunched over, with Kevin in his arms next to Mittens.
“You got him out?” she whispered.
“Yeah. He’s okay, just scared.”
Angelica was speechless. Mittens was choosy, but Kevin was downright hostile toward anyone but her. At least…he used to be.
As she watched, Whip got to his feet in a move so smooth she couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Got everything?” he asked.
“Um, there’s some stuff in the bathroom…”
“Right. Do you have a cat carrier or anything?”
“Yeah. In the closet by the front door.”
“Okay. Leave the suitcase, I’ll come back for it. Walk on my left.”
He didn’t seem inclined to give up either cat, so Angelica just did as he asked. He put himself between her and the bathroom, but when she glanced inside as they passed, all she could see was Dwayne lying on the floor, soaking wet, moaning.
Once they were in the living area, she rushed past Whip and opened the closet. Moving the cats to the carrier didn’t take long and was uneventful, which was another miracle, because in the past she’d struggled to get Kevin inside.
“I’ll grab your stuff from the bathroom and put it in your suitcase.”
“How do you know what I want?”
“I don’t. But you’re not going into the bathroom while he’s in there. I’ll put everything in and if I pack something you didn’t want, you can throw it away later.”
“Okay. Um, please grab the box of tampons under the sink, as well as my other stuff.”
“No problem. Go. Get whatever the cats need. I’ve got plenty of food and litter and stuff like that, so you don’t have to worry about those things.
Just take any favorite toys or beds and stuff.
And anything else from out here you want, get that too.
I meant what I said earlier, you aren’t coming back here.
Ever. And when Dwayne sobers up and regains consciousness, I’m guessing he’ll probably destroy anything of yours you leave behind anyway. Be right back.”
Breathing suddenly felt extremely difficult.
She wanted to argue, say that Dwayne wouldn’t do that, but he absolutely would.
And she was done making excuses for him.
Pretending he was anything other than the abusive asshole he was.
He’d tried to kill Mittens and Kevin. And he’d hurt her time and time again.
She was done. She had no idea where she’d go, but she’d figure it out. Anything was better than living here. Walking on eggshells. Getting punched because Dwayne thought she was being disrespectful or mouthy or any of the other hundred or so made-up reasons he had for hurting her.
By the time Whip returned, she’d packed two grocery bags of other odds and ends from the rest of the house.
“Ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Cats good?”
“They’re alive, thanks to you.”
Once again, Whip put his hand under her elbow. “We’ll talk once we’re out of here.” He opened the front door and, after she walked through, picked up the cat carrier and grabbed the handle of her suitcase.
The door shutting behind them was loud in the dark morning.
There was a finality in the sound that made it feel as if a hundred-pound weight had been lifted from Angelica’s shoulders.
She had no idea what would happen next or what her future held, but for now, she and her babies were safe. It was enough.