I toss and turn all night. Sleep runs away while fear taunts me with images of Violet and Wilson in bed together. On top of each other. Entwined with each other.

It makes me want to puke.

I sit up with a groan and yank my bandana off. My scalp is itching, which is usually a sign that I’m frustrated or stressed. I dig my fingernails in there before tossing myself back on the mattress and forcing my eyes closed.

Except there’s no escaping the torture. Behind my eyelids, a million different scenes play on repeat—Wilson kissing Violet, loving her, assuring her that she’s the only woman for him.

And she is.

I know that. I anticipated that.

But it still sucks.

Restless and annoyed, I lumber out of bed and head to the bathroom to relieve myself. When I’m done, I wash my hands and stare at my reflection in the mirror.

“Pathetic.” I spit at the woman in the glass. “You went and fell for a guy that wasn’t yours in the first place.”

Something clatters in response.

I jump at the sound, my nerves skittering with horror. My gaze sweeps the bathroom—the sink, the shaggy blue rug beneath the toilet, the shower curtains. Everything’s in place.

“Alright, Little Bean,” I whisper to my stomach, “calm down. There’s nothing to be scared of. Mommy’s gonna check this out.”

Strengthened by the thought that my baby is depending on me, I straighten my shoulders and stalk into the living room. I’m pretty sure the sound came from this direction. Maybe I forgot to close the curtains and the wind blew something down?

Or maybe it was all in my head.

It’s hard to see in the darkness, but I don’t notice anything particularly alarming in the hall either. When I turn on my heels to head back to my bedroom, I stop short. Spin back. Fix my eyes on the front door.

It’s ajar.

My breath hitches. Why is that open? I know I locked it when I came in after work.

Fear winds its way up my throat. I should have let Wilson install an alarm system like he wanted. But I didn’t. Now here I am. A sitting duck.

I wheel around and make a run for my bedroom. My cell phone is on the nightstand. I have to get to it. Have to call Thomas and the police.

My brother will save me.

It’s a good plan. Except I don’t get that far.

My desperate rush is cut short when I bump into someone standing in the hallway. A scream wells in my chest and bursts out of my mouth but the sound is muffled when the man snatches me by the jaw, hand over my lips.

The scent of him wafts over me. My eyes burst wide.

Keanu.

My nose flares, shooting quick, tortured breaths above his palm. My heart is threatening to explode.

“Zo,” Keanu says low in my ear, “where do you think you’re going?”

I struggle, squirming to get away.

He slaps his other arm around my waist until I’m flush against his body. Tightens his hold like a boa constrictor slowly crushing its prey. Sensing that he’ll kill me if I don’t quit fighting, I drop my arms and go still.

His grip relaxes. “That’s my girl.”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Saving you.”

“Saving me?” I scoff. “You just broke into my home, Keanu.”

“I used to have a key.”

“But you don’t anymore. Leave right now.”

“And if I say no?”

My mind scrambles for a way out. “If you go, I won’t tell anybody about this.”

He chuckles, his chest rumbling against my back. “You think I’ll fall for that? I know your white boyfriend has been sticking by your side the past few weeks. You’ll call him as soon as I’m gone.”

His fingers tighten on my throat like he wants to rip out my vocal chords. I whimper. “Keanu, you’re hurting me.”

“Zo,” he removes his hand from my throat and runs it down my side, past my waist to my hip, “we were so good together. We still are.”

Nausea balls in the middle of my stomach. Disgust trembles my bones and thickens with every patch of skin he traces. I’m afraid, afraid for my baby’s life. Afraid for my own.

Is Keanu going to force himself on me?

His exploration stops abruptly when his fingers brush my stomach. He thrusts me away from him with a click of his teeth, as if repulsed. My head slams into the wall. Stars burst to life.

I groan.

“Why’d you have to go and get pregnant?” He whines. “Why, Zo?”

He’s out of his mind.

I sink to the floor and crawl toward my bedroom. If I just get to my phone…

Keanu grabs me by my feet and yanks me back. My elbows burn from the friction of rubbing against the carpet. I scream. Like a crazy woman. Like my life depends on it.

And it does.

I kick him for all I’m worth, but he dodges each of my blows. Keanu grabs me by the hair. “Shut up!”

“Help! Someone help!”

“I said shut up!” He thrusts my forehead down. Carpet fibers fill my nose. I taste dust and blood on my tongue. I’m helpless. Totally and completely at Keanu’s mercy.

“Don’t make me hurt you, Zo.”

I can’t even defend myself with my face pressed into the ground. He roughly pulls me around so I’m flat on my back. In the dimness, I notice he’s holding a bundle of rope. Keanu straddles me so his weight holds me down and then he binds my hands.

“Get off!” I scream. My neck twists left and right. “My baby… you’ll hurt it. Get off!”

Keanu rises and kicks me right in the belly. A gasp of pain and horror bursts past my lips. I turn on my side, coughing from the blow that’s so sudden tears burst to my eyes.

“Don’t mention that damn baby,” he warns.

I cough and beg him. “Please, please…”

He ignores me and ties me up so securely that the rope burns into my wrists. He secures my mouth next, binding it with tape. My frightened moans are muffled by the texture of the tape.

Keanu jerks me up so roughly I’m afraid my arms will pop out of their sockets.

“Let’s go,” he barks. His fingers band around my arm. His dark face is set, determined. The man I once admired is gone. Or maybe this was his true form all along.

I can’t do this. Can’t let him take me Lord knows where to do who knows what.

We’re halfway to the back door when I move. I slam Keanu into the wall with my shoulder. He’s caught off-guard and his hand slips off me. I make a run for it, looking neither left nor right as I sprint toward the front door.

Suddenly, a weight tackles me from behind. My entire body slams to the ground. My head ricochets off the tiles and then everything goes black.

* * *

When I wake up, I realize I’m no longer in my house. I’m in an empty building, maybe a warehouse. It’s near the sea if the strong scent of salt and the howling wind banging outside is any indication.

Moving my head invites a wave of dizziness, so I try to keep still as I regain my bearings.

A few dim orange bulbs hang from the ceiling and illuminate the dusty floor. A pipe drips in the distance. Clopping slowly as if time moves at a different pace here than outside.

Plop. Plop. Plop.

I try to get up but realize I can’t. A glance down reveals my hands and legs are tied to a chair. Keanu must have brought me here after I blacked out. At least I’m still dressed. Which means he didn’t rape me.

There’s no time to savor my relief because footsteps approach at that moment. The light reveals Keanu in a pair of black pants and a black shirt. His face is twisted in a scowl.

“Why’d you have to fight, Zo?” He reaches out and tries to swipe something against my forehead. I jerk back. He lowers what I now see is a wet wipe. “See, you’re bleeding.”

“Let me go, Keanu.”

“I can’t do that. Not until I’m sure we can be together.”

His words stump me. What do I do here? Play along in the hopes that he frees me so I can escape? Or express the anger in my heart that I feel for him?

“Here.” Keanu thrusts a bottle of water at me before I can make up my mind. “Drink this.”

“I’m not drinking anything.”

“Zora, don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

I clamp my lips shut.

With a growl, Keanu springs toward me and pries my lips apart while forcing the water down. It tastes metallic, like I’m drinking clear blood.

Most of it trickles down the side of my mouth and drains my shirt but I swallow way more of his disgusting concoction than I want to.

“Good girl,” he says like I’m a dog who drank willingly instead of being forced. “I’ll come back soon with another bottle.”

“What is that?” I ask, sticking my tongue out to relieve myself of the aftertaste.

“Our happy ending.”

I glare at him as he paces and checks his watch. It’s clear he’s waiting for something, but I don’t know what. My stomach roils. Everywhere throbs. I need to use the bathroom again. Thanks to his stupid decision to force more water in me.

“Keanu, please. This isn’t the man I fell in love with. I know there’s still some good in you.”

“Me? You’re the one who changed. I didn’t think white guys were your type.”

“This isn’t about Wilson. This is about you and me.” I close my eyes as a wave of pain hits my stomach. “Could you… please…?”

“Zora?” Keanu darts to my side and grabs my shoulder.

I can’t answer him. A searing pain tears through my middle. It’s like my stomach is being ripped apart from the inside. I scream, my eyes bugging and my hair clinging to my sweat-stained face.

“What’s happening?” Keanu yells.

I buck against the chair, shouting until my throat goes hoarse. I want to die. It’s too much. The pain… it hurts too much.

“Zora?”

Liquid seeps into my pants. I glance down. Did I just wet myself? No, it’s different. Doesn’t smell like urine.

And then it hits me.

I glance frantically at Keanu. “My water just broke.”

“What?”

“The hospital!” I screech. “Take me to a hospital now.” This isn’t right. The baby’s way too young. It’s not supposed to be here yet.

“I can’t.”

“Keanu, do you love me?” I stare him straight in the eyes.

“With all my heart.”

“Then you won’t let me die…” My plea is cut off by another contraction. I wail in pain until it passes.

Keanu looks sick. He shakes his head. “Fine! I’ll take you!”

When he unties the binds and lifts me, I notice my shorts are completely doused. Water is trickling down the leg of the chair into the ground. It’s a stray observation since most of my being is tied up in the agony cramping my stomach.

Keanu drives me to the hospital. I get out on my own and stumble into the emergency room. A few of my associates notice me and grab a gurney.

“I think I’m going into labor,” I tell them.

Their faces are grave. We all know it’s too early.

The next half-hour is cloudy. As if it’s happening in a dream. All I remember is the pain. The throbbing in my middle and between my legs.

The doctor comes in and tells me to push. I do and then he shows me my baby, cupped in his palm. Little toes. Even littler fingernails. Mouth formed in a smile.

At the sight of him, my heart crumples into a tiny ball and shatters. I weep so loudly the walls rattle.

My baby… my baby is dead.