Beautifully Shattered (The Beautifully Series Book 1) (65 page)

Once we’re both done
eating and have packed lunch for the boat, we’re ready to go.

“Can I use your phone
please?” I ask to Kohen’s back.

“For what?” he
asks.

Deep
breaths.
It shouldn’t matter, I want to shout at him,
but I find the calm that I’m not feeling and say as nicely as
possible, “I want to check on my brother.”

My earlier pep talk is
flying off towards the horizon. I have to end things with him. I open
my mouth to demand that he take me home, but nothing comes out. I
need to break up with him in a crowd, not when I have no escape if he
loses control over his rage.

Kohen doesn’t answer
me. So I’m forced to wait . . . and wait. Finally, he turns around
to face me. “How about you call him when we get back? We need to
get going or we won’t be able to enjoy our day because of the
storm.”

Forcing myself not to
groan, I smile at him and pick up our towels. “Sure. Let’s go.”
I don’t wait for him to respond. I stomp out of the house and walk
over to the dock, and to the waiting sailboat.

Our day has yet to
begin and I’m already wishing that I never got out of bed . . . or
came. Kohen is acting strange. He isn’t being mean or anything, but
something’s off. I can’t explain it. I don’t know why, but I’m
nervous. Not nervous in a scared way, but in a way that I fear that
I’m about to lose him. I can’t find it in me to care. I wonder if
it’s because everything that happened with Jax is fresh in my mind,
or if deep down I know I don’t belong with Kohen. I’ve been
trying to push myself towards him while I’m still in love with Jax.
Even though Jax and I are through, I need time to myself before
jumping into anything.

Two long, dreadfully
painful hours later, I jump off the white sailboat and march toward
the house. I’m fuming. I don’t think I’ve ever been so upset in
my life. And I can’t even get out of here because he
stole
my charger! I don’t care what he says, I know I packed it. It
didn’t just disappear. For some reason, Kohen thought having me all
to himself meant that I couldn’t communicate with the outside
world. He needs to take a class on how to be a boyfriend, because
nobody wants a controlling man in their lives, overstepping at every
turn.

“Calm down, Adalynn,”
Kohen says, racing behind me.

I ignore him and pick
up my pace. Our “romantic” boat ride was anything but pleasant.
It started off fine. I left everything that happened on the beach and
tried to enjoy the rest of the day with him. Wishful thinking on my
part.

Kohen freaked out when
a group of guys on another boat were watching me. I can feel a
headache coming on just thinking about it. He pulled me into the
cabin and practically forced me into one of my dresses that he packed
in our bags. Apparently I look like a slut in just a bikini top,
shorts, and a cardigan. Yeah, cause the girls on the other boats were
dressed ready to go to church. They didn’t care that it’s cold
out. Most didn’t bother with a top and their bottoms were swallowed
up by their asses, leaving everything on full display. But I’m the
slut. Yeah.

I just laugh as I stomp
up the stairs to the house. Kohen reaches me before I’m inside. My
hands shake at my sides. I want to smack him, that’s how upset I
am. That was so embarrassing! He treated me like an errant child. I
force my arms to stay at my sides, even though I’m itching to take
the control Kohen has stolen from me.

“I’m sorry. I need
to think before I say anything. I’m working on it, Adalynn. I’m
not perfect!”

Flashes of the bruises,
the hateful words Kohen has spoken to me, and Jax’s secrets rush
forward. Making the anger I keep bottled up, erupt.

I turn on him, each
word laced with the rage crackling inside of me. “I never asked you
to be perfect! All I’ve asked is for your respect, but you can’t
give me that! I already had a dad, I don’t need another one. YOU.
WILL. NOT. TELL. ME. WHAT. TO WEAR.”

Kohen raises his hand
and hits me across the face. The force of the blow makes me stumble
closer to the steps of the house. The exact steps I should be running
up to flee. Instead, I square my shoulders. I will not run scared.

Tenderly I touch the
side of my face. I wince as soon as I feel my cheek. It’s burning
hot. I force the tears not to fall. I will not cry in front of him, I
won’t give him the satisfaction. HOLY SHIT! I’ve never in my life
been slapped and I never want to be experience this again, especially
from him.

I grit my teeth and
match his stare. He smirks at me. Actually fucking smirks. I think I
missed that day in high school when they taught boys like him to
smack girls around and then smile.

I find my voice. “DON’T
YOU EVER FUC—”

Slap! That first smack
was a whisper of a caress compared to this one. The asshole didn’t
even bother to hit my other cheek. No, that would have been too nice.
Kohen gets right in front of my face. It takes every ounce of
willpower to stand my guard as he strokes my injured cheek.

“You will not talk to
me like that again. You will learn your place by my side.”

I laugh, which I know
is the last thing I should do in the situation. I can’t help it. He
must be high. Does he honestly think I’m going to stay with him
after this? I open my mouth to tell him just that, but then close it.
Panic takes over . . . I need to escape. Now. I turn around in an
attempt to flee, but Kohen has other plans for me.

“Where do you think
you’re going?” he says into my ear as he painfully jerks me to
him.

“I’m leaving,” I
whisper but it’s loud and clear.

My teeth chatter as I
tremble against him. Kohen laughs, enjoying the fear he’s causing.
He presses his lips to my ear. I try to squirm away, but he’s
gripping me too tightly that I can’t breathe and I’m forced to
let him lick my neck. I swallow down my lunch.

“Just let me leave. I
won’t say anything.”

Kohen chuckles again
and trails one hand down to my chest. Roughly he grabs ahold of my
breast and grinds his thick erection into my ass. I close my eyes,
willing myself to find that empty void I used to live in. If I can
find that place, I can get past this. I can get past Kohen and his
disgusting hands.

“I told you that I’m
not letting you go, Em. You’re mine.”

Who the fuck is Em? I
want to ask but I remain silent. He’s stolen my ability to speak.
I’m that terrified.

Releasing the death
grip on my breast, he licks my neck again. “And I plan on taking
what’s mine tonight.” He shoves me away from him and spanks my
ass before striding into the house.

I don’t even think
about it. I run.

Before my feet even
reach the sand, I’m yanked back. I cry out in pain, frustration,
and angery. Of course it wouldn’t have been that easy. Kohen isn’t
going to let me go. Okay, I need to be smart. I can’t go for the
obvious moves or he’ll stop me.

I’m crying while
Kohen drags me back into the house. None of my tears are for the pain
I’m feeling. No, they’re all for my stupidity. I should have seen
this coming. God, how could I be so stupid? He’s shown me his true
colors before, I just chose to ignore everything. I wanted him to be
better, I wanted to move on from Jax. I desperately wanted to be
loved by someone.

Because of that, I’m
stuck in a house that could be in the middle of nowhere. Kohen said
we were going to the Hamptons, but we could be anywhere. I slept the
entire way here. That false security I was feeling seconds ago has
vanished. If he does have neighbors, I doubt I’ll be able to reach
them before Kohen finds me. He knows the area, I don’t.

It dawns on me that
this was his plan the entire time. That’s why the fridge and pantry
are stocked, and not just for the weekend, but a few weeks. I thought
him buying all my favorite things was a sweet gesture; it was
anything but sweet.

“You never texted
Harper or my brother.” I don’t ask him. I know the answer. I’ve
known the answer the entire time. I just ignored it. I hoped for the
best.

“No, but you knew
that. That’s why you’ve been wanting to call Logan, isn’t it?”

I spit in his face. He
backhands me again. At least this time he hit my other cheek.
Generous. I grin as I watch him wipe my spit off of him. The searing
pain in my cheek was worth it.

Seizing my forearm,
Kohen ushers me along with him. I try in vain to grab anything within
reach as he forces me from the kitchen and into the hallway. I can’t
take anything without him seeing.
Be
smart.
I can get through this, I’ve survived worse. I’ll
survive whatever Kohen has in store for me.

“Where are we going?”
I ask.

“
We’re
not going anywhere.” Kohen opens a door to the right of the
hallway, the door directly across from the living room. It’s the
same room I didn’t bother to look at last night. I skipped the
“tour” saying that I was tired and wanted to go to bed.

Throwing me into the
dark room, Kohen gives me a sad smile. “I didn’t want to do this,
but you gave me no choice, Em.”

“My name is Adalynn!”
I shout.

He doesn’t say
anything as he turns to leave. Oh my God. He’s going to lock me in
here. “You don’t have to do this Kohen. You can still walk away.”
You psycho.

Kohen ignores me. “If
you’d just let me love you, we wouldn’t be here. You forced me to
do this, Ads. But you’ll see I’m right. You’ll thank me. We
belong together.”

“Don’t call me
that.” For some reason I don’t care that he’s going to lock me
in here anymore. I never want to hear him use Hadley’s and Jax’s
nickname for me. I can handle anything he throws my way, but not
that.

“Oh, right. Only your
precious Jax can call you that. Don’t worry, you’ll realize he
doesn't love you like I do.”

“You’re right,” I
say, surprising him. “Jax loves me. You’re incapable of loving
anyone . . . especially me.”

His dark expression
returns. “We’ll see.” Kohen closes the door and locks it.

There’s no light.
Putting my hands out in front of me, I stumble around, trying to find
a way out even though I know it’s pointless. I take three steps
before I hit a wall. I trace every inch of the wall I can reach, but
nothing. I do the same thing to the other two before slamming my
hands against the door. There’s no hope. The only escape is through
the locked door. Leaning my ear against the door, I strain to listen,
but that’s pointless too. I can’t hear anything. The tears
finally come.

I’m locked in a room
smaller than my closet, in pitch darkness. My only way out is the
door. A door that can only be opened from the outside. Ignoring the
pain in my hands, I punch the wood over and over again, begging for
help at the top of my lungs. In the back of my mind I know that
Kohen’s probably soundproofed this room, but I don’t give up. I
scream for Logan, for Connor, and lastly for Jax. I scream for them
to rescue me.

Nobody hears my cries.
Nobody is coming to save me.

I’m still screaming
as I remember my dad telling me bedtime stories when I was younger.
The princess always found her way out. She would realize that she was
strong, strong enough to take on anything that came her way. After
that, I always hated fairytales that ended with the prince saving the
day. I almost forgot that I don’t need anyone to save me. I’ll
save myself, just like the princesses in the stories.

I sit down across from
the door. I wipe my tears. I’m not going to cry. I’m going to be
the princess my Dad believed I was. I won’t let Kohen break me.
Eventually he’ll open this door and let me out. I know that. I need
a plan. Because the first chance I get I’m running and I won’t
look back. I’ll either get away, or I’ll die trying.

The light stings my
eyes. I squeeze them and cover my face to block the sudden blinding
light. They snap open when his hands brush my cheeks. He cradles my
face so gently that if I wasn’t locked into a dark hole, I would
think he feels guilty. I’m not falling for that again.

“I’m so sorry, Em.
You just made me mental. I’m so sorry. Forgive me please. You just
have to listen and I’ll never hurt you again.” Kohen kisses my
sore cheek.

Reaching up, I cup his
face. “I know. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that. You were
right.” I’m positive that I’m about to throw up that I cover my
mouth. I pass it off as a sob and lean my head against his forehead.

Play
nice. You need to escape. Fake it.

“I can’t believe I
hit you. You make me so mad. Promise me you won’t anger me anymore.
It kills me to hurt you, Em.”

There’s that name
again. I don’t bother asking who she is. I’ve seen the movies.
She’s a girl that I resemble. A girl that he’s killed. How many
Ems have there been before me?

“I promise . . . Can
. . . I . . .” I pretend to stumble over my words.