Katharina

 

I didn’t think I’d ever been so sore in my life. Jace and I made love almost all night long—four times! I couldn’t believe it. I always thought that was the kind of thing that happened in movies or TV, but never real life. Jace had been the most thorough lover that I’d ever had, and I couldn’t believe he was mine.

 

“He’s your husband,” I said softly to myself. Next to me in bed, Jace was snoring away. I was too excited to sleep, even though I was completely and utterly spent.

 

Finally, I managed to drift off to sleep. When I woke up a couple of hours later, I was foggy and confused. Jace’s bedroom was still pitch black. Jace was soundly snoring next to me, and I couldn’t figure out why I’d woken up at first.

 

Suddenly, I realized my cell phone was buzzing away on the nightstand. My body was filled with dread, and for a moment I hoped I was still asleep. I even reached down and pinched my arm, hoping I could wake up.

 

No luck. I was already awake. My heart started pounding in my chest as I reached for my phone. The number wasn’t listed, but I already knew who it was.

 

“Leave me alone,” I whispered into the receiver as soon as I’d answered. “I don’t know how you got this number! I’ve changed it so many times since we broke up!”

 

I winced, expecting the reply to be angry and powerful. But instead, Troy’s voice was meek, almost chastened. There was no trace of the angry man who had threatened me at the grocery store, no trace of the man who had hurt me so badly that my wrists were still bruised. “Katharina,” Troy said in a pleading voice. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry for what I’ve done, okay? I know I can’t begin to make it up to you, but please come back to me, please!”

 

My breath was coming hard and fast. “I don’t know what you want from me, Troy, but I can’t help you.”

 

“Please give me another chance,” Troy begged. “I promise it won’t be like before.”

 

Jace shifted next to me. The snoring stopped, and before I knew it he was sitting up in bed and flicking the light switch on. He grabbed the phone out of my hand and held it up to his face, looking tired and pissed off. “Hello, is this Troy?” There was a pause. “Hi, Troy, I’m glad I got you. I just wanted to tell you to leave my wife alone, or else I’ll kill you myself. You got that?” Jace hung up before Troy could answer. He tossed the phone on the floor and glared at me. “You wanna tell me how he keeps getting your number, Katie?”

 

I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I replied. My heart was still pounding and I felt more shaken up than ever before. “I keep changing it! I’ve probably changed it six times since we broke up!” Fear was making my skin clammy and I started to shake.

 

Jace looked at me. “You need to change it again,” he said sternly.

 

“I’m scared, Jace” I said. “He’s really going to hurt me now; he’s not fucking around.”

 

Jace shook his head. I couldn’t make out his features too clearly in the dark, but I could see he wasn’t as angry as he had been while he was on the phone. “He won’t try anything,” Jace said confidently. “Trust me, Katie. I have this under wraps. He’s afraid of me.”

 

“Why aren’t you taking me seriously?” I looked at Jace with my eyes wide open. “He’s hurt me before, Jace, why wouldn’t he do this again?”

 

Jace sighed. “Because he knows I’ll rip his dick off if he tries anything,” Jace said. “Come on, Katie. Relax. Get some sleep.” He threw an arm around me and lay back down in bed, snuggling up to my ass.

 

But I couldn’t sleep after that. My mind was running wild with horrible thoughts of Troy. Jace didn’t know Troy; he didn’t know him at all. He didn’t know what kind of horrible things Troy was capable of doing, how evil and manipulative he could be. I had a horrible vision of Troy breaking into Jace’s house and sneaking upstairs, kidnapping me and torturing me all while Jace slept on, oblivious to whatever was happening around him. I shivered as I thought about how Troy could lie and charm his way into just about anywhere, maybe even the neighbor’s house.

 

There was a noise downstairs and I about jumped out of my skin. Every time I started trying to relax, Troy would pop back up in my mind. I thought he was everywhere: sneaking around outside, downstairs, even in the hallway.

 

Maybe we can get a dog, I thought to myself. A good guard dog that would bite Troy and keep me safe at home on long nights. I didn’t know just how much late-night business Jace had with The Silent Havoc, but I knew it couldn’t be a small amount. If I were going to be home alone at night, I wanted some real protection, not just a gun.

 

I shivered. There was one other thing I knew would kill Troy: the marriage. Troy always talked about how he held marriage up to a high standard, how he didn’t think marriage should ever be broken or changed. Troy looked down on people who got divorced, saying they didn’t know how to work out their problems. I knew he even thought similar things about his parents. He’d often called his mother a coward for not wanting to stay with his father, even though he ran around on her all the time. It had made me shudder at the time; it was almost like Troy was gripped by some kind of religious fervor when it came to marriage. He’d always told me we’d get married, and that we’d be man and wife, and nothing would ever be able to tear us apart. That was one of the scariest things he’d ever said to me. He’d been able to make me shudder just by bringing it up.

 

But fervor or not, I knew he was going to go ballistic knowing I was married to someone else. I stayed awake almost all night, turning over possible situations in my mind. I decided I had to talk to Jace again in the morning. I had to make him understand the severity of this situation. I had to make him understand that Troy would hurt me if he was alone with me. Troy was sneaky, and he could be watching the house right now, waiting to see when Jace left. He could be watching the windows for movements, staking a place out, biding his time. I shivered as I realized it wouldn’t take much more than a small rock to break the bedroom windows. Jace’s house was all on the ground floor, and someone could easily crawl in from outside. He had a security system, but I couldn’t imagine that would help me out too much if Troy was already in the house.

 

All night, I twisted and turned in bed, getting progressively sweatier and more anxious as time went on. I couldn’t close my eyes without seeing Troy’s horrible face, his demonic eyes, his reedy figure. I remembered what I’d thought after the first time he’d ever hit me: How could a man like that have punched me? He’s so slender! Doesn’t he realize I’m stronger than him?

 

Now, that thought was enough to make me laugh. I’d done enough research about abuse to realize Troy didn’t care if he was small or not. It didn’t matter; from almost the beginning, I’d belonged to him, and he’d known it every second of every day. From the day I’d become Troy’s girlfriend, I’d ceased to be Katie. I’d become Katharina, Troy’s property.

 

When Jace woke up, I was dressed and sitting in a chair at the end of the bed. He frowned at me. “Couldn’t sleep?”

 

“Not after that phone call,” I said softly. “Jace, I really need to talk to you about Troy. He’s a lot more dangerous than you think.”

 

Jace sat up in bed and ran a hand through his dark hair, making it stand on end. “Katie, I know you’re freaked about this, but you have to relax, okay? I don’t mean to sound condescending, but I think you’re only afraid of him because you never had protection before now.” He smiled at me and I felt anger seize my throat. “Know I’ll always take care of you, okay?”

 

I shook my head. “It’s not that, Jace. Troy is really dangerous. He’s threatened my friends before!”

 

“Threatened,” Jace said lightly. “He hasn’t actually ever done anything to them, right?”

 

“No, but—”

 

“Then it’ll be okay, Kate. I promise.” Jace got out of bed and pulled on yesterday’s pants and shirt. “Listen, I got some shit to take care of, but you’ll see me later, okay?”

 

I sighed. “Please listen to me,” I begged. “I know you think I’m overreacting, but I’m really afraid! Troy knows we’re married now, and he’s going to try to hurt both of us!”

 

Jace came over to where I was sitting and kneeled down. “Katie, you can’t let fear control your life,” he said, reaching up and stroking my cheek. I was surprised at the tender gesture, but part of me was still angry with him for not listening to me. “It can’t be all about Troy anymore. Your life is about you now, okay? You’re my wife, and I promise nothing will ever happen to you again.”

 

Jace glanced down at the floor where he’d thrown my phone from last night. “And see about getting that number changed, okay?”

 

I rolled my eyes. “I’ve changed it six times in a month. I’m not sure what one more would do,” I grumbled.

 

“Please?” Jace looked up at me.

 

“Don’t go,” I said suddenly, throwing myself off the chair and into Jace’s arms. He was clearly surprised, but he held me close for a minute. I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent of smoke and masculinity.

 

“Katie, everything will be okay,” Jace said in a soothing voice. He stroked my back with one of his hands and I felt my skin start to slowly warm up.

 

“Can one of the guys come over and watch me?”

 

Jace looked at me. “Okay,” he said. “If that will really help you feel better,” he added cautiously. “I’ll call Kenny.”

 

Relief went through me like a wave. “Thank you,” I murmured. A blush came over my face and I realized I was still embarrassed about asking for help, especially now that Jace didn’t believe me about Troy doing anything too awful.

 

While Jace called Kenny, I paced around the bedroom. “When are you coming home?” I asked after he hung up.

 

Jace shrugged. “I got some errands to take care of,” he said in a businesslike tone. “Do you need anything? A credit card? Some money?”

 

I shook my head. I couldn’t explain it, but now I suddenly felt miserable. It was like the magic had completely gone away from our interactions. Now that we were married, I was going to have to rely on Jace for protection every day for the rest of my life. At least until Troy is taken care of.

 

After he left, I got back in bed and tried to close my eyes. Sleep wouldn’t come, but a new, troubling thought started to plague me. Just why exactly had Jace married me? What was in it for him?