Anton

I’m about to jump out of my skin by the time I make it to the stairs in Mia’s building. I take them two at a time, knocking on the door as soon as I get to it and then knocking again three seconds later.

“Mia,” I say, laying a palm on the door. “Are you here?”

After the text saying she needed me, she texted her apartment number. She didn’t respond to any of my frantic messages after that.

Finally, the door opens, but it’s Anita on the other side, her expression sober. She steps aside to let me in and when I walk into the small living room, I see Mia sitting in a chair in the corner, bent over with her forearms on her thighs.

“Is she okay?” I ask Anita, not giving her time to answer before I rush to Mia’s side.

I drop to the floor on my knees, trying to see her face.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

Anita disappears into a back room as Mia raises her face to look at me.

“Adam.”

Her neck has dark bruises encircling it. My urge to break something—preferably him—is overwhelming.

“Where is he?” I ask.

I’ll do so much more than just punch him. This goes beyond anything I imagined he was capable of. He choked Mia. I’ll crush his bones. Break his fucking nose. Knock every one of his teeth out.

“The police took him,” she says numbly.

“Tell me what happened.”

I cup her face in my hands and look into her eyes, trying to reach her. I know she sees me, but the trauma seems to have made her retreat into herself.

“I got home,” she starts in a soft tone. “I locked the door. I went to check on Dre. And then my neighbor Lilian knocked on the door. I could tell something was wrong, but…I thought something was wrong with her, you know?”

“So she knocked on the door, then what?”

She wraps her arms around herself. I take off my coat and wrap it around her.

“I opened the door. That was stupid, wasn’t it?”

“No. You opened the door, and your neighbor Lilian was there?”

Mia nods. “And then I saw Adam. He told her he’d hurt her dog if she didn’t knock on my door.”

“Jesus.”

“He pushed his way in, and…” She shakes her head. “He was following me. He knew I was at your place, and…”

“Fuck. Mia, I’m so sorry.”

“He got the divorce papers and he accused me of fucking you.” She looks at me blankly. “But I didn’t. I wouldn’t cheat.”

“I know, sweetheart.” I rub her upper arms. “I know. It’s okay.”

“He kicked me. He pushed me down and kicked me in the stomach. And then he got on top of me and…I couldn’t breathe.” Tears fill her eyes. “I thought he was going to kill me. He was squeezing my throat and I thought I was going to die right there on the kitchen floor.”

I lean my forehead against hers. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. I swear to you, I’ll make him wish he never even thought of coming here.”

“He was going to kill me,” she says softly. “He said I’m a ghetto whore and he would have killed me, but Anita knocked him out with a baseball bat.”

I’ve never felt this kind of anger before. It’s a helpless, all-consuming rage. If I could find Adam right now, I could easily kill him with my bare hands.

“Thank God she was here.” I slide my arms around Mia and hold her close.

The tears she cries against my neck and the steady thump of her heart reassure me she’s still here. Still alive. She’s safe now.

“He’s staying in jail,” she says.

“He better fucking hope so. Jail’s the only safe place for him, because I can’t get to him there.”

“Anton?”

“Hmm?”

Mia’s soft sigh is warm against my skin. “He was right. I am a ghetto whore.”

“Don’t say that. Don’t you ever say that again. Adam’s a fucked up piece of shit. He just says things to hurt you.”

She squeezes me a little tighter. “What did I ever see in him? How did I not know it would end up like this?”

“You couldn’t have known, Mia. I’ve spent lots of time with Adam; I thought I knew him. And I never would have thought he could do this.”

“I…I…wanted to kill him. I grabbed a knife and I just wanted to stab him a thousand times so I never have to feel this way again.”

“I know.” I rub a palm over her back. “I want to do the same.”

“Maybe I’ll crawl into bed and never leave.”

“Can I come visit you?”

She gives me a tiny hum of amusement. “Sure.”

I lean back and look into her eyes. “Let’s get you to the hospital to get checked out.”

“I’m okay,” she insists. “I told the police I didn’t want to go.”

“We’re going.” I stand up and reach for her hand.

“I’m fine, Anton. Honestly. I’m a Southside girl; I’ve gotten my ass beat a time or two.”

“I just want to get the all clear. I can call the team doctor and ask him to meet us at the hospital so you don’t have to wait.”

She shakes her head adamantly. “I don’t want to.”

“I get it, but you need to. We need to have your injuries documented. Once the media gets wind of this, Adam’s gonna get shit-canned. You need to stand up and get what’s yours while you can, and this will help.”

I take out my phone and text Kevin, Mia’s attorney, to let him know what’s up. He writes back immediately.

“Kevin says we have to go,” I tell Mia.

“Dammit, who put you in charge, anyway?” she snaps. “You didn’t even ask me if you could tell him.”

“This ends right now,” I tell her, crossing my arms over my chest. “You’ve got a chance to nail his ass to the wall, and you’re taking it. I’ll fucking carry you kicking and screaming to the hospital if I have to.”

She just looks at me for a second before bursting into tears. Covering her face with her hands, she sobs until her shoulders are shaking.

“I know,” I say softly, getting back to my knees on the floor in front of her. “I know this is hard, but—”

“No you don’t.” She takes her hands away from her face, her eyes wide and her cheeks wet with tears. “You don’t know, Anton, because you’re strong. You take no shit. But this is just another time I fell fucking victim to Adam. I don’t want to go to a hospital and have pictures taken of the bruises on my body. I’m so…ashamed.” She weeps again. “He treats me like a worthless piece of shit and it makes me feel like a worthless piece of shit. He hurts me over and over, and every time, he gets away with it and I end up crying and ashamed.”

I put my hands on her thighs. “He’s not getting away with it this time.”

“I wanted to fight back so bad, Anton. So fucking bad. I wanted to put bruises on his skin. I wanted to make him hurt. Show him how it feels.”

“You’re gonna hurt him in a different way. You’re upset and I get that, so let me help you. We need to do this, Mia. I’ll be with you every second we’re there.”

She sighs heavily and nods. I tell Anita we’re leaving and get Mia’s coat. And in the quiet moments on the drive to the hospital, when she’s silently staring out the window and hardly moving, I think about her words and vow to do what she couldn’t.

I’ll bruise him back. I’ll make him hurt. I’ll show him how it feels. And then some.