As Jackson turns onto Sylvia’s street, I see the dark whiskers on his strong jaw jump as he tenses up. His thick fingers curl tight around the steering wheel as his grip tightens and his muscles in his forearms pop into rigid peaks and valleys.

I know he’s angry about how she has treated me. He’s angry about this entire situation. Is it terrible that I notice how hot he is when he’s angry? I know it’s not appropriate, but my body doesn’t care about social graces.

When I glance down over his steel eyes, made more intense and smoldering by being pissed off, when every firm muscle in his athletic body looks like it might just tear the flimsy fabric of his clothes, it’s impossible not to notice just how sexy and in control he looks. My pussy clenches and my nipples grow into sensitive, hard peaks. Being with him has awakened a lust inside I’ve only ever read about before. I want him.

Jackson brings the car to a stop and my attention slides over to the front door of the house I’ve worked in since I came to this country. This is the only home I’ve known for years. It’s sad to think that after all the time I spent here, I can pack up my entire life and disappear from Sylvia’s and Raymond’s radar forever simply by taking one simple photograph and leaving.

With the exception of a few clothes, nothing else in that house is mine. Guilt splashes around in my stomach as I remember how, when I first met Jackson, I was wearing Sylvia’s things. Strutting around Denver like I had any business wearing her expensive designer clothes.

I push the thought down. None of that matters now. I didn’t steal anything, not like the countless hours of labor and time she’s stolen from my life. Not like the dignity Sylvia and her boy-toy have enjoyed stripping from me. Not like the dreams they ripped from my heart as I realized that if they had it their way, I would have lived a life of fear and servitude forever.

All of a sudden I don’t feel so bad about borrowing a dress she never even wore. Instead, a quiet rage builds up, growing angrier with each passing second. Today is the day I walk away from them forever. Today will be the first true day of my freedom.

I unbuckle my seatbelt, my eyes locked on the front door, and fling the car door open. “You don’t need to come with me. I can do this.” I can’t see anything but the door that sealed my fate for more time than I’d like to recount.

“The hell I don’t,” he answers, jumping out after me.

I should know better than think he’ll ever let me walk into a dangerous situation without his protection. I instantly feel secure, just from him walking next to me.

The front door swings open unexpectedly and I stop dead in my tracks as Sylvia walks out, disgust tattooed on her face, and she points to the inside. “Get your ass in the fucking house right now.” Her words are eerily calm, but I can hear the threats she’s not speaking hidden in her tone.

“I will go in there.” My voice shakes and I hate myself for the trembling warble. I want to sound brave. I want her to know she doesn’t control me anymore. But my words betray me. “I’m getting my things and I’m leaving.” I clear my throat and continue, “And I’m never coming back.”

“Raymond, come deal with this.” Sylvia snaps her fingers together and her shaggy-blond goon scurries over like the little lapdog he is.

“I think you should get the fuck outta here, buddy.” Raymond stands tall as he comes flying out the front door and down the steps at Jackson.

I watch as Jackson moves into him, twisting his arm up hard at an angle that could pop his elbow out of the socket. Raymond yelps.

“I think you better stay the fuck out of our way,” Jackson barely breathes the words, but everyone hears him loud and clear. He puts his arm around me and flashes his teeth at Sylvia like a feral dog. “And you better back off, lady,” he snarls at her and she steps back, cowering in fear.

As soon as we step through the door, I can hear her start to scream at Raymond to “fucking man up,” as I lead Jackson through the lavish house to my modest room. I know exactly where my photograph is and I waste no time rushing over to the bed I’ve slept in all these years, stuffing my hand underneath the mattress edge until my fingertips touch the smooth, glossy paper.

“Got it.” I tug it out and quickly look down at the moment in time captured on the sheet. The genuine smiles on my parents’ faces. The goofy grin on my big brother’s lips, back when he was trying to practice his pick-up lines and sexy stare for the girls in our neighborhood. My younger brother, Miguel. His cheeks still carrying a bit of baby fat, giving him a look of innocence we lose as we age. There I am in the middle, my eyes sparkling with happiness, my future still not determined. My possibilities still endless.

I swallow the hard lump forming in my throat, but it just comes back again. I tuck the photo in my pocket and nod over at Jackson, who is watching me closely. He holds out his arm and I let myself get lost in his calming hug as he strokes my hair.

“I’m ready to go.”

He nods, holding my hand. He leads me back out into the hall.

We only make it a couple of steps when Raymond charges at us and Jackson quickly scoots me behind him, barricading me from danger with his body.

I watch as Raymond lifts his fists, like he knows the first thing about fighting, and tries to throw a feeble punch. Jackson easily sidesteps the weak haymaker and jabs Raymond hard in the gut, dropping him to the ground like a wheezing cry-baby.

“I told you to stay back. We’re fucking leaving now.” Jackson leads me past Raymond and then unexpectedly turns back, giving him a swift kick in the gut for good measure.

He grabs onto his stomach and grimaces on the floor as he fills the house with yowling. I don’t even glance at Sylvia as we march past her. I have nothing to say to her. I know I’ll never see her again, and I couldn’t care less.

It’s all going so fast and yet so slow, like a dream, as we get back in the car and Jackson pulls away. As we drive down the street, I look at Sylvia’s house, growing smaller and less significant in the passenger side mirror until we pull around the corner onto the main street and it disappears altogether. I focus my eyes forward. For the first time since that photograph was taken, my eyes are full of hope and once again the possibilities for my life, my new life with Jackson, feel endless.