Almost A Year Ago
The gun shook in Monica’s hand. She had never fired one before – she didn’t want today to be the day.
“You don’t get to play the games anymore.” Although her heart thumped in her chest, she had to be steady, cool. For the first time in her life, Monica had to look like she was in complete control in front of her nightmare.
A dozen pairs of eyes were on her. Jasmine, the woman she was trying to protect besides herself, and Jackson Lyle, the awful sack of shit who called himself her boyfriend, her Dom, her master… they were the only ones that mattered. Jasmine, scared out of her wits, and Jackson, who didn’t believe in a million years his demure submissive would ever actually shoot him.
“Now, my pet, that is a dangerous weapon you have there. You should put it down and give it to me.”
The bastard actually held his hand out. He can’t be serious. After so many years together... after all she had given him… after all he had done to her… he really thought he could say a few nice words and get her to back down? What kind of broken spine did he think she had?
“Don’t you dare call me your pet ever again. You don’t deserve to call me that. You lost that privilege when you started hurting me.” The gun was hot against her skin. She hadn’t even fired it – yet – and she was already anticipating the burn of revenge.
“Hurting you? What are you talking about?”
Monica’s lip trembled. Don’t cry in front of him! How many times had he made her cry? “I don’t have to tell you or anyone else here. You know damn well what you have done. I may be submissive, but I’m still a human being. I’m not sure about you anymore. I don’t think you’re human at all.”
“Monica.” A few yards away, Ethan, a friend and the man who had come to take his girlfriend Jasmine away from this terrifying situation said. “This isn’t necessary. Let’s go.”
Somehow Ethan coaxed the gun out of her hand, emptying the clip and showing how serious she had been as each bullet clattered on the floor. I would have done it. Her lip continued to tremble. This man stole my life. He would continue stealing the lives of other women until someone put him down.
Ethan took both women by the hand and drew them toward the front door of Jackson’s lavish mansion, the place Monica had called home for years. She also called it her prison.
This wasn’t what she had in mind for a jailbreak.
“You both will be nothing but whores for the rest of your lives,” Jackson called after them. “You may not be our whores, but girls like you can’t help themselves. You will always be somebody’s whore.”
Monica never expected it, but she was content with Ethan going up and punching the fucker right in the face.
***
“There must be something we can do…”
“He’s too powerful. It’s their word against his. That lawyer of his will do everything in his power to discredit Ms. Graham, especially. She pulled a gun on him. They’ll get her for being mentally ill, at best.”
“Do you have any idea what he did to her?”
“I saw the bruises, Mr. Cole. They would claim it’s a result of their lifestyle.”
“That’s not BDSM. That’s abuse.”
“Even so…”
“I’ll testify against him myself.”
“I can tell you care for these women very much, Mr. Cole, but I’m afraid it will never be that simple. As your lawyer, this is my advice. Drop it.”
***
One day went by. Two days went by. Soon enough a month had gone by, and Monica had no idea how to live life on her own.
Funny thing, being in a relationship with a Dom like Jackson for so long. He had controlled every aspect of her life. She liked it, at first. It was welcoming, and suited her wishes from that kind of relationship. Except her prince turned into a dragon over the years. The words, the smacks that were more pain than pleasure, and then the…
Other people would ask why she didn’t leave sooner. Wasn’t she strong enough? Didn’t she know her worth?
Love. I stayed for love. As toxic as Jackson had been, he was her Master… and Monica wanted nothing more from life than to love and serve her Master.
Now she was broken. A sub without a Master. Sure, she could move far away from him. Sure, she could rely on friends with connections for a while. And, sure, she could open her own business and stay busy… but her thoughts would always go back to that man, and her heart would always pine, hope, and dream.
Monica wanted to believe that there was something better out there. A better life, a better love…
Wasn’t that the same thing?