The motel he dragged me to was the very definition of a shithole. It looked like it was decorated in low-budget, seventies-porn chic, and it smelled like piss, cigarettes, and stale beer.

No doubt about it, at least fifty hookers and their johns had passed through this room, more than likely getting VD on everything.

And I didn’t even want to think about all the disgusting stains riddling the bed he’d forced me down on before tying my hands behind my back with his belt.

I was going to need a tetanus shot and some seriously strong antibiotics to ward off whatever diseases were crawling rampant all over this room.

“So…,” I started drolly, ignoring the dull, persistent ache in my head from crashing my baby into that light pole. “What do you think all those high-class friends of yours would think of this place?”

He paused in his anxious pacing long enough to shoot me a scathing look that was only half as effective as he wanted it to be thanks to the blood leaking down his face from the gash in his forehead, and spit, “Shut up.”

But I didn’t shut up, because this asshole had pushed me to my limit. “If I had my phone, I’d take a picture so they had evidence of just how far their golden boy has fallen.”

“I said shut up!” His arm reared back and came down, the butt of the gun slamming against my temple. The hit caused me to fall to the side and roll off the bed, stars exploding behind my eyes. “I’m trying to think, goddamn it! Just shut your stupid fucking mouth!”

Slowly lifting to my knees, I blinked away the spots in my vision and turned a vicious, hate-filled glare at him. “You’re pathetic,” I hissed. “God, you’re a fucking joke.”

Daniel bent at the waist and grabbed me by the throat. “I told you to shut the fuck up.”

I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of cowering to him. Not this time. Never again. He wanted a fight, I’d damn well give him one. I might not win—honestly, I’d probably lose—but I’d make goddamn sure I left my marks so he’d never forget.

“I used to call Ava and Tate. We’d talk for hours and hours about what a shitty lover you were.”

“Fucking slut!” He backhanded me in the cheek, making me stumble once more, but I fought through the pain and sat back up.

“They laughed their asses off when I told them how tiny your dick is. My god, they laughed so hard they couldn’t breathe.”

“You bitch!”

“Mace is the best I’ve ever had,” I continued with a low moan. “The way he touches me, the way he fucks me… God, never had better in all my life. He gets me off every single time.”

“If you won’t shut up, I’ll fucking make you,” he snarled, grabbing me by the hair hard enough to make my eyes water.

“I used to have to fake it with you. Always had to fake it. I can’t remember the last time you actually gave me an orgasm. I used to lie there while you flopped around on top of me like a fish, just waiting and praying for it to end. Luckily you were a minute man, so the annoyance never lasted too long.”

That got the exact reaction I’d been hoping for. Grabbing me beneath my arms, he yanked me to my feet and spun me around, undoing the belt binding my wrists together. He was going to attempt to do something horrible, something so despicable it hurt to imagine, but the only way I had a chance was if my arms were free.

“You won’t shut up on your own I’ll fucking make you.” Daniel shoved me onto the bed, but before he could follow me down, I rolled to the side and gained my feet.

“You son of a bitch!” I shouted, grabbing the remote control off the bedside table and throwing it at his head with all my might. I only managed to clip him, but it was enough to catch him off guard. Yanking the lamp up next, I lunged at him, ripping the cord out of the wall as I smashed it into the side of his head.

I screamed and raged the whole time, hoping someone in one of the other rooms would hear and call the cops.

He hunched over and cupped his head, and I attempted a kick to his stomach, but he caught my foot before it found purchase. He wrestled me to the ground, pinning me to the grimy carpet with his weight.

“Filthy whore. You like to be fucked dirty? I’ll show you dirty!”

Daniel tore at my shirt as I shouted and struggled, kicking my legs and clawing at his neck and face. I’d die fighting before I let him touch me like that.

“I’ll kill you!” I screamed in his face as I grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled as hard as I could. He arched back with a shout of pain, and I took the opening he gave me to use a move I’d only ever seen on TV, and punched him square in the throat.

His eyes bugged out and his face turned red as he coughed and choked, rolled off me as he fought to pull in a breath.

Climbing quickly to my feet, I reared my right leg back and kicked him in the ribs. “Stupid prick!” Another kick. “Think you’re tough?” I kicked again and again. “Not so tough now, huh?” I landed another kick to the exact same spot and got a sick sense of pleasure at the sound of his ribs cracking. He howled in agony, but I didn’t stop. “Now you know how it feels, asshole!” Kick. “Hurts like a bitch doesn’t it?”

I went for one more kick but was lifted into the air and spun around before I got the chance.

“Let me go!” I screeched, fighting the unseen man holding me back. “I’m not done with that motherfucker!”

“Shh, Goldie. Rein it in.”

At the sound of Mace’s voice, I instantly stopped struggling and my whole body drooped.

My feet hit the floor and I was turned to face him.

“Jesus, baby. Thank god. Thank fuckin’ god.”

Before I could say a word, he yanked me into him and held so tight my ribs creaked in protest, but I didn’t care. He was here. He was here, and I was safe. The pain didn’t matter.

My cheek was smooshed into his strong chest, my eyes pointed in the direction of Daniel’s body curled in the fetal position on the motel room floor.

A rush of police officers circled him, guns drawn. One of them knocked the pistol Daniel had been holding me hostage with out of his reach, and once they discovered he was no longer a threat, another jerked him up. An infinitesimal smile stretched across my face when Daniel cried out in agony as the cops thrashed him around like a rag doll before cuffing him and reading him his rights.

“Fuck, baby. I’ve been so scared. So goddamn scared.”

I pulled at Mace’s embrace, forcing his arms to loosen so I could look up at him. “I’m okay,” I said softly, reaching up to cup his cheek. “I’m here, and I’m okay. It’s over now.”

His eyes traveled over my face, growing dark with rage as he took in the cuts and bruises blooming thanks to Daniel. True, some of them were due to the crash, but the way I was looking at it, the crash was Daniel’s fault as well. So by default… well, you get the picture.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” a young officer interrupted. “But we’re gonna have to ask you to come down to the station so we can ask you some questions.”

“Can’t that wait ’til tomorrow?” Mace grumbled, still refusing to let me go.

“No, it’s fine,” I answered. “We can do it tonight. I want to get this over with.”

His concerned gaze shot back to me. “You sure?”

“Absolutely. The sooner we get this done, the sooner it’ll be behind us.”

“All right,” he relented in a soft voice. “But you’re pressin’ charges this time.”

My face fell into a sharp scowl that sent slices of pain through my recently acquired wounds. “Hell yeah, I’m pressing charges. That bastard’s gonna pay. He made me wreck my baby!”

He reached up and brushed his thumb beneath my sore cheekbone, careful to avoid the bruises. “That’s my brave girl.”

“Come on,” I whispered, stepping back and taking Mace’s hand in mine. “Let’s do this.”

* * *

Mace

Shadows danced along the ceiling as I lay on my back, staring up into nothingness. Lyla had been snuggled into me for hours now, her chest rising and falling with each gentle breath. The only sound in the room was her soft snores. She was at peace, enjoying a deep, dreamless sleep.

But I couldn’t manage to do the same. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her beautiful face covered in cuts and bruises. I heard that bastard’s voice saying he had a gun to her head.

They were memories that would plague me for the rest of my life. That hour and a half she’d been missing, plus the additional thirty minutes it took to reach her would be burned into my brain for a lifetime. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to recover from the wounds those two hours left in their wake.

Lyla’s whispered voice suddenly cut through the quiet. “I can practically hear your mind churning. You can’t shut it out, can you?”

I flipped to my side so we were facing each other, tucking a few loose strands of her silky hair behind her ear. Even in the moonlight I could make out the worst of the cuts, and the bandage covering the deep gash at her temple from where that motherfucker pistol-whipped her twisted my gut into knots.

“Don’t think I’ll ever be able to shut it out, baby. Not what happened today.”

With the gentlest of smiles, Lyla took my hand and pressed it to her chest right over her heart. “I’m here, honey. I’m right here with you. I’m safe and alive, so don’t hang onto this. If you do, then he wins.”

“That’s easier said than done, Goldie,” I said, keeping my voice hushed and quiet. “I lost you for two hours. In those hours, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get you back, and it scared the hell out of me. I can only imagine how terrifying it was for you.”

Lyla’s forehead creased as her brows dipped into a V. “I wasn’t scared, Mace.”

My head jerked back in shock. “What?”

“I was never scared, not even for a second. Not even when he threatened to rape me.”

Fuck me. I screwed my eyes shut against the pain lancing through my chest. Having to listen as she recounted everything he’d done to her in that hotel room for the cops was like dying a million times over, and hearing her say it now was just as bad.

“Baby, I think you’re just in shock.”

“No, I’m not. I wasn’t scared. I was pissed. That asshole held me at gunpoint and forced me to crash my car into a light pole, and I love my car. I can only hope Stone’s able to fix the damage, but if he can’t, I’m gonna be even more pissed, because that car was the first thing I bought all on my own after I left his ass. And Will spent hours and hours putting in the work to get it in excellent condition.”

“But… baby, your face. He hurt you again.”

Her smile was so big and bright it nearly lit the entire room. “So I got a couple bumps and bruises. So what?”

Just when I thought she couldn’t shock me any more, she went ahead and proved me wrong. “So what?”

“Yeah. So what? Did you get a look at him? I’d say I was the one who came out on the winning side of that particular fight. And bonus, the cops found the watch Will gave me in that STD infested motel room. I’ll have to get it professionally disinfected, but at least I have it back.”

I couldn’t help it. She was just so goddamn cute and funny that a bark of laughter burst past my lips. “This is true. And, Jesus Christ, you kicked his ass. If I hadn’t been so goddamn pissed, I’d have been proud.”

She let loose a tiny giggle. “Well, get over being pissed and be proud. I didn’t just kick his ass. I made him my bitch. Three broken ribs, a lacerated scalp that required stiches thanks to my handiwork with a car and lamp, and his face and neck looked like they’d been shoved through a plate glass window. Oh, and let’s not forget the throat punch. I mean, seriously. I punched the guy in. The. Throat. That’s pretty badass, if I do say so myself.”

I had no choice but to agree, mainly because it was badass. “You’re right. Everything you’re saying is right. But this is gonna haunt you, baby.”

“It’s not,” she argued determinedly.

“It will. You might not think it now, but it will. It’ll give you more nightmares.”

With a glare, she placed her palms in the center of my chest and pushed me to my back, throwing a knee over my hips so she could straddle me. “Stop it,” she snapped, pressing harder on my chest. “Stop making this worse than it is. I wasn’t scared because I knew down to my bones that I’d end this night right here in this bed with you. I gave him the power to hurt me once before, but I refused to allow him to do it again.”

“But he did hurt you,” I stated, reaching up to brush against the bandage.

“They’re superficial,” she insisted. “He didn’t hurt me here.” Taking my hand once more, she pressed it over her heart again. “Those wounds healed a long time ago. You saw to that. And in a matter of days, these will fade away into nothing.”

Christ, this woman undid me. Her strength and courage were mesmerizing. “You really think it’s that easy?”

“I know it is. Because I have you. As long as you’re with me, everything is that easy.”

Tangling my fingers in her hair, I pulled her down until her lips brushed against mine as I murmured, “I love you, baby. More than life. You know that?”

“I do,” she whispered back. “Because I love you just as much.” A sexy grin tugged at her lips before she said, “Now why don’t we see if I can wear you out enough to take the bad thoughts away?”

Then she went about doing exactly that, and by the time she was done, I barely had enough strength to lift my head, let alone hold on to the bad thoughts.

Oh yeah, I thought as sleep finally started tugging at my senses. My girl’s perfect in every single way.