Bash pulled out his cell phone and pressed one button before placing it to his ear as Morgan watched in horror. She fought him for that phone, but one hand pushed her away. She fought harder. Reaching for it.

“Bash, stop. Don’t do this,” she pleaded. “You can’t do this.” She was over his shoulder, trying to walk around him to get to that phone because she knew whoever was on the other end had the power to blow up her life. Bash spun around suddenly, and the blow he delivered to her midsection pushed all the air from her lungs. Morgan folded into him, grabbing his forearm as he caught her. He rubbed her head as she gasped for air. Her fingers dug into his skin. Her face crushed in destruction. No one had ever put so much malicious intent behind touch that was meant for her. An aching spread through her as he stepped back, letting her fall to the ground.

“Bash, please!” she gasped, holding her side. Her ribs. She could barely pull in a breath. She was sure her ribs were broken. She was curled in a fetal position, and even the notion of standing up straight sent waves of pain through her body. Morgan tasted metal, and she lifted a shaky hand to her mouth, pulling back a bloody hand. He had hit her so hard she was spitting up blood.

“Ezra Okafor and Messiah Williams. Take care of it,” he said. There was a pause, and then an afterthought forced more out of Bash’s mouth. “Oh, and Ahmeek Harris. Let’s attempt to make something stick there too.” Morgan’s heart plummeted. He paused and looked back at Morgan smugly. “Yeah, I owe you one, Bill.” Bill Lance, commissioner of the Michigan State Police, and a friend of the Fredrick family. Bash had called in a favor.

“What did you do?” Morgan cried as he backed her against the wall.

Bash gripped her chin, and Morgan snatched her face away. He gripped harder. He pressed his lips to hers, and when he pulled back, her blood was on his lips. He fingered his lips and smirked triumphantly like he had won, like her pain meant victory for him.

“What you made me do,” Bash answered.

“Even if I stay,” she said as she staggered to her feet, using the back of the couch to add strength to legs that didn’t work. She was trembling, but she was determined to get up from the floor. “If you trap me here, I will never stop trying to get to them. They don’t even have to love me back, but I’ll always love them. It’ll never be you.”

Bash scoffed and then brought his face close to hers, so close the smell of his breath made her stomach turn. “Love them from the other side of a glass wall, Morgan, because by the time I’m done, they’ll never be free again,” Bash stated. “In the meantime, get your act together. There is no out. It can be a very good life if you let it.”