Chapter One

Scarlett

My new address was close according to my GPS. Only another hundred feet until I got to see the house I would be renting for the next few months or longer while I tried to make a fresh start. I knew I was running. I should have stood strong and fought back, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t safe. My parents had agreed and were covering the rent on the large three-bedroom house while I looked for a job here in Nashville.

My stomach had been a jumble of nerves all morning. I’d been living in a state of paranoia for so long and I was constantly looking over my shoulder, then and now. I kept expecting to see him in the rearview mirror, his face twisted in anger.

I was always looking behind me, deleting messages on my cell, and clearing the call history. Those were habits I had developed over the past couple years in order to prevent a fight. My ex-boyfriend had been extremely controlling. At first, I’d thought his overprotectiveness was cute. It made me feel good when he dropped by unexpectedly or showed up in the middle of the night because he’d missed me. Those little habits soon became something far more sinister. I knew the signs—I had seen the movies, and my family and friends had warned me something bad was happening—but I couldn’t see it at the time.

Isaac Bishop had molded me into his puppet. I had been twenty-one and he had been twenty-six when we’d first started dating. I’d been young and naïve and easy prey for the man who had left a wake of abused women in his past. I didn’t know that until I contacted the police the first time. They told me to get away but could do nothing to ensure my safety.

“Relax. It’s over,” I reminded myself again. I knew it was going to take a while to develop a new sense of normal. I had to be patient and give myself time to recover from the emotional and physical abuse I had been living with for too long. I had to change the way I thought while slowly dropping those old habits.

I checked the rearview mirror to see my best friend, Hannah, in the big U-Haul right behind me. She’d volunteered to drive the truck for me. I knew she was worried about me and wanted to help me get settled into my new home.

“You have arrived at your destination,” my GPS announced.

I pulled into the driveway of the newer home that was on a quiet street filled with similar-looking homes. I shut off the car and got out, waiting for Hannah to climb down out of the truck.

“Wow! This is nice—and big!” she exclaimed, coming to stand by me. “I love it! It’s so cute and so grown-up!” She giggled.

“It is very big. What were my parents thinking? It is going to be a big change from the small apartment I had.”

She put a hand on my shoulder. “It is going to be a change, but this is necessary. Isaac is coming unglued. These domestic violence situations escalate until the point where the abuser ends up causing serious harm or worse. Your parents are right—you’ve got to get away from the guy. It isn’t fair, but it’s the way it is. Besides, Nashville is going to have a lot more opportunities for you to use that music degree. I mean, you’re in the heart of music city!”

“I know. You’re right. I just hate that I have to leave you and everyone else,” I mumbled, looking around my new neighborhood.

“I’m forty-five minutes away. I’ll visit on weekends, and we’ll text constantly.”

I nodded. “All right. Let’s check this place out.”

We walked inside, and I had to admit I was impressed. It was a good-sized home with more than enough space for me. My parents said a quiet neighborhood was better than an apartment complex where people were coming and going too often. They didn’t think Isaac would look for me in the area either. I hoped they were right.

We wandered through each room, commenting on the carpets and paint colors. The home had recently been renovated and had beautiful dark laminate floors throughout, except the bedrooms where there was new gray carpeting. All the appliances were new. It was a gorgeous home with lots of natural light. I knew I could never afford the rent on the place. Thank god for my parents.

“It’s so big. It’s going to look vacant with the minimal furniture I have,” I said, looking around the living room again.

Hannah laughed. “Just think of all the shopping you get to do.”

I smiled. “That is true. Of course, I’ll need to get a job first.”

“Details, details,” she said, waving a hand. “Your parents will give you the money.”

I shook my head. “No way. I want to do this on my own. I’m letting them pay the rent and keep me afloat while I look for a job. That’s enough. I don’t want to be one of those freeloading millennials everyone hates so much.”

“You could never be that. Besides, you worked at the winery. It isn’t like you haven’t been involved in the family business. Don’t feel guilty. Your parents want to do this for you. They’ve felt helpless as to how to help you. They need to do this,” Hannah said in a serious tone.

“I know. You’re right. It will be nice not to have to worry about making rent. I want to focus on finding the right job that’s going to get my foot in the door.”

“Good. Now, let’s get started unloading that truck.”

“Are you sure we aren’t overreacting?” I asked more to myself than Hannah.

She turned to me, took both my hands in hers, and looked at me with her hazel eyes. “You’re not overreacting. Isaac has been treating you badly for years. No man should tell you where you can and can’t go or who you can talk to. No man should ever lay a hand on you. He’s bad news, Scarlett Morgan. Bad, bad news, and I don’t want to see you hurt, or worse, murdered by that man.”

I looked at her and once again found myself warring within. “He apologized. He was having a bad day, and I pushed his buttons. I was kind of rotten to him.” I hated the way I sounded. Somewhere inside was the real me. I just had to find her again.

Hannah shook her head. “No. You don’t get to take the blame for what he did. He smashed your car windows, Scarlett. What if you had been seriously hurt? You’re lucky you got away with a few small cuts. The man is a monster, a sociopath. You have to get away from him. I’ve been sitting back and watching for years. Not anymore. I agree with your parents on this one.”

I let out a long sigh. My parents had been begging me to leave Isaac the past two years, and I had tried, but he would never take no for an answer. He would refuse to accept the breakup, and somehow we always ended up back together.

The last straw had been when he took a baseball bat to my car while I was trying to leave his house. I had broken up with him a month before but he wouldn’t leave me alone, so I stopped by his house, hoping I could talk to him and help him understand we should be friends and nothing more. The man had freaked out, picked up a bat, and tried to hit me. I raced out of his house and jumped in my car. He shattered every window while I sat inside and screamed, paralyzed by fear. A neighbor had gotten the bat away from him, but the damage had been done.

I then knew Isaac was capable of serious violence and finally agreed to let my parents ship me away.

Hannah and I walked back outside to begin unloading the U-Haul. Thankfully, I didn’t have a lot, and Hannah’s boyfriend, Jake, would be showing up soon with his friend to take care of the big stuff. My parents had bought me a washer and dryer, which was supposed to be delivered later today. We only had to worry about the boxes.

Hannah opened the back of the truck. I stepped inside and looked at the various boxes.

“Excuse me.” A deep male voice startled me, making me jump a few inches.

I spun around, half expecting to see Isaac, but I saw something much different—or rather, someone. I was staring down at a tall, dark, and handsome man with piercing blue eyes. I had stopped checking out other men years ago, fearing that Isaac could read my mind, but this guy was the hottest guy I’d seen in a long time. But by the way he was glaring at me, he seemed as if he was going to bite my head off rather than sweep me up into his arms.

“Hi,” I said, walking down the ramp and extending my hand. “I’m Scarlett Morgan. Do you live around here?”

“Next door.” He glanced over to the house next to mine. “How long are you going to have this truck parked in the street?” he asked, not even introducing himself of shaking my hand.

“Oh,” I said. I cleaned my hands down the front of my shirt, feeling rejected, and then glanced over my shoulder, looked at the meager contents, and shrugged. “I don’t know. Not long. I don’t have that much stuff.”

He looked past me into the truck. “Moving trucks can’t be parked on the street longer than four hours.”

I nodded. “Okay, well, I don’t think it will take me that long.”

Hannah came over and stood beside me. She was checking the guy out. Yes, he was gorgeous. Unfortunately, he wasn’t exactly nice. He was acting like a jerk, as if he owned the damn road.

“Fine,” he said, turning around and heading down the sidewalk before turning in to the house right next door to mine.

“Wow. He isn’t going to win any Mr. Congeniality awards,” Hannah commented.

“No kidding. I hope he wasn’t the welcoming committee. We better get this thing unloaded. I would hate to have grouchy pants call the cops on me and have the truck towed away. I don’t know why he cares. It isn’t like people can’t still get by,” I grumbled.

Hannah laughed. “It’s probably a giant stick up his ass. Hopefully he gets that removed soon.”

“But he was cute,” I added, shaking my head. “What a waste of those looks.”

We got busy carrying boxes inside my new house. Jake and his buddy, Cody, showed up and made short work of moving in my couch, table, and chairs, and then my bedroom set. It took us less than two hours to get the truck unloaded.

“We better get this thing out of here before the butthead neighbor sounds the alarm,” I said, looking at the truck. “I’ll follow you to the return place.”

Jake did the driving while Hannah rode with me.

“Is that—?” I asked, my voice high pitched as I saw a car that looked exactly like Isaac’s.

Hannah stared at it. “Nope. Not him. He doesn’t know where you are. You’re safe,” she assured me.

I nodded, hoping she was right. We stopped by the store, picked up some pizzas and beer for the guys, and headed back to the house to begin the tedious job of unpacking. Hannah and the guys were going to stay the night, which I was grateful for. I was nervous and a little afraid to be alone in the new house. Isaac was a loose cannon. I never knew when he was going to show up or what kind of mood he’d be in. My parents had rented the house and even put the utilities in their name, but I was convinced he would find me. I was supposed to go and get a PO box instead of having anything delivered to the house.

“It’s going to be fine,” Hannah assured me as we walked into the new house together. “He’s not going to find you, and he will eventually move on to a new victim.”

“That’s sad,” I said, suddenly feeling guilty for putting another woman through my recent suffering.

“Until the police lock the guy up, he’s going to keep getting away with this. I’m sorry, but I’m glad it isn’t going to be you. I can’t take the stress and worry another day, and I know your parents can’t. They’re terrified he’s going to kill you. You’re doing this for them as much as yourself. I’ll visit every weekend,” she promised.

“Thank you, Hannah. I’ll be fine. Just need to get into a new groove and it’ll all be fine. I’m excited to be living in music city,” I said with enthusiasm that was only a little fake.