Page 12 of Break Me Not

He hung up before I could respond. Fear was still running through my veins, and it was threatening to freeze me, but I forced myself to push through it and tried to call him back but was hit with a disconnected tone.

I cursed under my breath. My heart was racing at a million miles per minute.

Would he really go this far?

I was lucky before. Yes, he made a fuss about the divorce and me forcing him away from Claire, but after the restraining order, he went quiet. During the divorce, I might have threatened to go public with everything he’d done to us, but I never truly thought I would need to.

At least not until now.

I imagined him sitting in the house that I bought with my own money, stewing in his own anger and rage. Watching toxic online videos that only reinforced his messed-up ideals.

He was getting worse, and I didn’t know how to stop him.

I always secretly thought he hated me for bringing Claire into this world. I also thought finally being rid of him was my chance to start over.

But he was back now. And just when things were going so well.

I knew deep in my heart that if I called the police, they would do nothing. So instead, I dialed the number of someone I knew would be able to help.

“Liz! Let me guess, you enjoyed your night so much that you're asking for⁠—”

“I need your contact for club security,” I said, cutting off Sloan. “For the gallery and… for myself.”

“Are you safe? Your daughter?”

I swallowed a knot in my throat thinking about Claire, but I knew he wouldn't take it out on her. It was me he wanted to hurt.

“I'm safe for now. My daughter will likely not be implicated. But the sooner I handle this, the better.”

Sloan didn’t even miss a beat. Internally, I would complain about her laissez-faire attitude, but when it came down to getting things done, she’d never disappointed me.

“You’re working today, right? I’ll have her meet you at the gallery in… a few hours?”

“Sounds good. Thank you, Sloan. I owe you.”

“Nonsense. Maybe after this we can finally consider ourselves friends.”

I let a little smile show on my face.

“Maybe.”

Once we hung up, I stood there, taking deep breaths. It took everything in me not to go into a panic attack. I could feel it rising in my body. It had the power to take over at a moment’s notice, and I needed to get a handle on it. I couldn’t let him continue to control me like this.

I can feel the ground underneath my feet.

I can feel the cool air against my body.

I can smell the dry paint, wood, and clay stored here.

I can hear the pounding of my heart.

When I finally got it under control, I let out a breath and opened my eyes.

“Liz?”

I turned to look at Jen, who was holding her iPad close.

“I won’t be going to the police, but I'll be meeting someone today about this. Don’t worry too much, okay?” I said. “Do you mind handling the cataloging? I’ll cancel the rest of our appointments.”