Chapter 1
Damon dragged me across the backyard by my arm and shoved me inside the cedar dog kennel.
I nearly fell on my stomach.
At eight months pregnant, even dropping to my knees sent pain through my back.
Damon slammed the metal door.
Then he turned the lock.
“Disloyal wives sleep with dogs.”
I stared at him through the bars.
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
The man standing outside the kennel had once promised to protect me.
Now he looked at me like I was something he owned.
Behind him, Lacey stepped onto the patio wearing my pale blue silk robe.
My robe.
She carried a glass of iced tea and smiled as if she were watching a show.
“Damon,” I whispered. “Please. The baby.”
He folded his arms.
“You should've thought about the baby before accusing me of cheating.”
“I saw your messages.”
“You invaded my privacy.”
Lacey laughed.
I wrapped both arms around my belly.
Our daughter moved beneath my hands.
That tiny kick was the only thing keeping me calm.
“Please let me inside,” I said. “It's too hot.”
Damon looked toward the house.
“My house?”
“My father bought this house.”
His face changed.
Only for a second.
Then he smiled again.
“Your father isn't here.”
He was right.
Dad had been visiting my aunt in another state.
Damon knew that.
He had waited until Dad left before moving Lacey into our guest room.
By the second night, she was sleeping in my bedroom.
By the third morning, my clothes were stacked in the hallway.
When I threatened to call Dad, Damon took my phone.
When I tried leaving through the backyard gate, he blocked me.
And when I accused him of trying to scare me into silence, he dragged me outside.
Now I was behind bars.
Lacey crouched near the kennel.
“The dogs never complained.”
I looked at her wearing my robe.
“You think he loves you?”
Her smile disappeared.
Damon kicked the side of the kennel.
“Stop talking.”
Then a car door slammed beyond the gate.
Damon froze.
Lacey straightened.
I heard footsteps.
Fast footsteps.
The side gate opened.
My father walked into the yard carrying a travel bag.
He stopped.
The bag slipped from his hand.
His eyes found me.
Then the kennel.
Then Damon.
Dad's face went completely still.
That scared Damon more than shouting would have.
“Claire?”
My throat tightened.
“Dad.”
He rushed toward me.
“What happened?”
I gripped the bars.
“Damon locked me in here.”
Dad slowly turned.
Damon raised both hands.
“It's not what it looks like.”
Dad looked toward Lacey.
She tried pulling my robe closed.
I couldn't stop the words.
“Dad… Damon gave her my room.”
Lacey laughed nervously.
“The dogs never complained.”
Dad crossed the distance between himself and Damon.
His hand struck Damon's face.
Damon stumbled backward and hit the kennel wall.
“You locked my pregnant daughter in a dog cage?”
“Stay out of my marriage!”
Dad grabbed the kennel key from Damon's hand.
He opened the door.
I tried standing, but my legs shook.
Dad caught me.
“You're safe.”
Damon stepped forward.
Dad moved me behind him.
Then he shoved Damon inside the kennel.
Damon fell against the wooden floor.
Dad closed the door.
The lock clicked.
“No!” Damon yelled.
Dad stared through the bars.
“How does it feel?”
Sirens sounded outside.
I looked at Dad.
“You called them?”
“I called from the driveway when I heard you screaming.”
Two officers entered the yard.
Damon immediately started shouting.
“She attacked me! Her father assaulted me!”
One officer unlocked the kennel.
Damon smiled.
Then the officer pulled out handcuffs.
The smile vanished.
“You're under arrest.”
Lacey ran toward the house.
Dad pointed after her.
“That woman has my daughter's belongings.”
Ten minutes later, Lacey stood on the sidewalk wearing only the stolen robe while an officer carried out her suitcase.
Damon was placed in the back of a police car.
I thought it was over.
Then one officer approached me.
“Mrs. Carter, we found something in your husband's office.”
He held up a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was my passport.
My birth certificate.
And several documents bearing my signature.
Except I had never signed them.
Dad's arm tightened around me.
“What documents?”
The officer looked at Damon through the patrol car window.
“Property transfers.”
My stomach dropped.
Dad held me close.
“No one will ever cage you again.”
But as Damon stared at me through the glass, he smiled.
May you like
And suddenly I knew the kennel had never been the worst thing he planned to do.
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