Jessica looks like a feather could push her over. “Fifteen? How is that even legal?”

  She shrugs. “I’m not from here originally. I’m from Kentucky and it was legal there when I was a child with my parents’ signature. My parents were poor, and they chose someone for me. He was almost thirty years old and I had just turned fifteen when I walked down the aisle.”

  She can’t even look at us. I can tell she is lost in her thoughts. “It’s been nothing short of hell here. I couldn’t bring my kids into this world. I am sorry I gave you up, but I did it to protect you in the only way I knew how. I can’t even protect myself…” A tear falls down her face as she gathers herself to continue. “From him.”

  My heart shatters at the way she says from him. “I had you when I was fifteen Jessica and I almost died because I was so young, small, and underweight. It was hard but I had you.”

  The pain of her life just keeps getting worse, making slashes deeper and deeper on my heart. She looks at me. “I had you a few years later, my sweet River.” I smile at her kind words.

  Jessica looks at me quizzingly. I nod. She leans closer to her. “If you had a chance to leave, would you?”

  She nods without hesitation. “I want out of here. I tried to leave but he found me, and I was in the hospital for weeks because of how bad the punishment was. I just didn’t have anywhere to go. No money, family, nothing.”

  “You have a family; that is why we are here to get you.” I tell her, moving closer wanting to wrap her up.

  She looks thoroughly shocked that we even would think of this. “But why would you want to, after everything I did?” she whispers.

  Jessica smiles at her and I reach over taking her hand. “You did it to protect us. You were fifteen years old, a baby. What you did was so brave and selfless.”

  Tears fill my eyes as she feels the power of Jessica’s words. I know they are a balm to a small part of her fractured heart.

  “Okay,” she agrees and she bursts into tears. She lets out pain and suffering she has felt throughout the years, leaving it in this house and never feeling it again.

  Jessica wraps her up in a hug, holding her and I cry along with them. An arm is thrown across my shoulder and I smile at Chase.

  Minutes later, she gathers herself, smiling and it’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. “Want to pack your things and get out of here?”

  She pushes herself out of her chair and walks to the back of the house. Chase lets in his friends, Lani and Emily join us to help her pack.

  Our eyes go to the bed where cuffs are lying on the headboard with blood on them. The thought of what happened to cause that has me ready to tear him limb from limb.

  I look away and the others do too. The last thing I want for her is to feel embarrassed. She starts pulling her clothes from the hangers and sits them on the bed. We all help her place her stuff in the small suitcase she got from us.

  I eye the blood on the bed, trying to advert my eyes. “I’m sorry it’s so cold in here,” Bell says, “he doesn’t like the heat on unless he’s home.” She says it like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

  Her face changes to one of determination. “You know what? It doesn’t matter now does it?” She stomps to the thermostat and turns the heat on and soon a blast of warm air fills the room.

  “That’s right, Bell,” Lani says, folding one of her shirts. I look at everyone that Jessica has her in her life, they are all so supportive and great for her.

  Jessica’s phone rings and I turn my attention to Bell waiting for any kind of distress from her, but she looks happy and it’s like the world has been lifted off her shoulders.

  I am amazed by her; she has been through so many years of hell, and I bet her childhood was fucked up too. She has probably never gone a day in her life without being in hell. She traded one version of hell for another.

  That is so fucked up.

  I want to see her thrive and give a big middle finger to this fucked up shit of a life she has suffered and put those who have hurt her in ten times worse suffering.

  Bell’s eyes are glued to the screen watching Hunter through it. “You have a baby?” she asks Jessica once she hangs up.

  Jessica smiles stuffing her phone in her pocket. “You have a grandchild.”

  Bell smiles for the first time and it shows on her whole face, pure happiness. “That makes me so happy.” She zips her bag and we take it from her.

  “Ready?” I ask her, putting my hand on her forearm.

  She is so exhausted, I can see it written all over her. It’s not just physical, I can see it with every part of her being. I can’t fathom the horrors she has suffered, and she is still here; that is a miracle.

  We take her hands, and we lead her out of the room. I breathe deep the closer we get to the front door.

  We walk into the living room and the guys are standing against the wall waiting on us. Bell is looking at every part of this house like she is trying to memorize every little detail.

  “She ready to go?” Chase asks, walking over to us.

  She lets out a deep breath. “I am more than ready.” We all turn to the door ready to leave and it flies open, crashing into the wall.

  All of the guys fly into action moving in front of us. I stand in front of Bell blocking her from his view completely. He doesn’t even notice us standing there as he throws his lunch box down. “Bitch, what did I say about turning the heat on?” he yells, slamming the door. He looks up and finally sees us all standing there.

  His eyes go to me and then to Jessica who is peeking out from behind Chase. But I am standing here right in front of him and I would fucking love for him to try to get to her through me.

  “What the fuck did you do, bitch?” he snarls, his eyes going crazy looking back and forth between Jessica and I. “Are those the two fuckers that you gave up?” He flings his hand in her direction and I can feel her flinch from where we are touching.

  He rants to himself, yelling and screaming, completely hysterical. He moves toward all of us suddenly and Chase is there in a second halting him from getting any closer.

  Jessica is whispering to Bell behind me. “It's okay, we will protect you. He can’t hurt you anymore,” she whispers over and over.

  I peek around and see Bell is staring at her husband, full on gripping Jessica so tight. “Angel, why don’t you ladies go on out to the vehicle?” Chase hands us the keys and the guys surround us, leading us to the door.

  “Bitch!! Where the fuck are you going? Get back here!!” he screams at the top of his lungs and I feel him bump into one of the guys but he is pushed back to the ground.

  We help her inside the vehicle and slam the door closed. She looks out the windshield.

  We don’t speak. What can we say?

  I eye the house waiting for the guys to come out and they do thirty minutes later with the biggest smile on their faces. I smirk and look away knowing that someone is suffering today and it’s not her.

  I hug her knowing it will never be her again.

  Never.

  CHAPTER 1

  River

  A YEAR LATER

  “When will you be here?” I ask my dad over FaceTime as he packs up all his stuff. It’s been a year of him not seeing me every day as he said he has decided to move to Texas.

  I walk into my mini fridge grabbing my dinner from the shelf. I peel back the wrapper and take a bite of my chicken salad.

  “You better be eating more than that, baby girl.” He glares at my bowl.

  I roll my eyes. “Why must you have an opinion on everything, Dad?” I pretend to be mad and kick my legs up on the desk, sighing at the ceiling.

  “Because I am your dad and it’s my job to torture you,” he jokes but honestly, he is telling the truth.

  “I can’t wait until you meet everyone, especially little Hunter.” I smile at the thought of my little nephew; he turned a year old a few months ago and it’s hard to believe.

  “I can’t wait to meet him too and your sister. I want to see if she is as mean as you.” I glare into the camera at his sassing. “Hey, all of this is your fault, you made me mean.”

  He grumbles under his breath hefting a box into the back of his truck. “Don’t I fucking know it.”

  I laugh. “Well, I love you, Dad. Let me know when you’re on your way.”

  He smiles into the phone. “I sure will.”

  Before I can tell him goodbye, a loud bang comes from the front door of my office. My stomach turns and I can hear my dad asking what that sound was.

  I look at the clock on the computer and it reads ten o’ clock as another loud piercing sound rings through the office.

  Fuck.

  I reach into my desk drawer and grab my pistol shoving it in the front of my jeans just as the door is burst open.

  I lean back in my seat. “Well, what the fuck do we have here?” I ask.

  Three guys are standing in front of me wearing white long sleeve shirts, buttoned all the way up to their chin. Their hair is slicked over to the side and they are as pale as a fucking ghost with a mark on their skin.

  It's the cult my mother was rescued from.

  Fuck.

  “Look, you are going to come with us or we can make you,” they say with such confidence standing in front of me, three against one.

  I look at the screen where my dad is yelling at the top of his lungs. I push the button turning it off not wanting him to see this.

  “I think I want it the hard way, boys.” I stand up and throw the small lamp off the desk, hitting the one on the far right in the face. His hand winds back and he cups his face.

  He turns to glare at me. “The hard way it is, bitch.”

  I laugh at getting called a bitch. I pout, “Is this really the only name you guys can come up with? Bitch? Whore? Blah blah blah.”

  I know it’s not very smart for me to egg them on but it’s not in me to just roll over and be like please don’t hurt me, no.

  They all run for me at once deciding that I’m not going to be easy to take. I kick at the first guy who reaches me hitting him straight in the balls. I had a second of satisfaction before the other two grab my arms, pulling me to them.

  I throw my head back and forward headbutting the one on my right in the face. He screams and loosens his grip and I swing my arm free, hitting him in the face.

  I pull with all my might trying to dislodge my other arm, but he grips hard. I know I will have bruises after this.

  I stomp my boot into his, pressing harder and harder twisting until he screams in pain with my boot crushing his toes.

  He pushes me away from him and I grip my desk lifting myself up, ignoring the stabbing pain from my scalp where I am getting pulled back toward them.

  Hands grip my pants lifting me from the ground and into a pair of arms, wrapping me completely up so I can’t move.

  “Tie her fucking hands and legs!” he screams holding me. I kick my legs not making it easier on them as one of them holds my legs while they tie them together. Fucking amateurs. You don’t use rope.

  I’m thrown across my desk causing my computer to almost slide off the desk, my ass up in the air as they tie my arms behind my back.

  They grip my hair lifting me off my desk, turning me around to face them. “Oh, how I’m going to love tearing this ass up, you are our pussy and I think you will need reminding of that soon.” His hand strokes my face.

  I jerk away not wanting their touch on me as he grins at me trying to pull away. I look him dead in the eyes; I want to look into the eyes of the man I am going to make suffer.

  I’m carried out the back door and thrown into the trunk of an old beaten down car. They laugh as the trunk is slammed down.

  I’m encased in darkness and I let out a deep breath willing my mind to not panic. I’m not good with being stuck in small spaces.

  I turn over on my side to take the weight off my hands. I wiggle my wrists back and forth to see if I can loosen the slack any. I pull with all my might and bite my lip so I don’t make any sound and alert them to what I am doing.

  The rope slips down to the largest part of my hand and I pull again, twisting my hand and moving my fingers to make it smaller. I give one final hard pull and my hand is free.

  I rub my wrist and take the rope off my other hand. Lifting my knees, I reach down and untie the rope from my legs.

  Remembering the tracker in my bracelet my dad gave me, I push the SOS button that sends out my direct location. I’m not sure what good he is going to do me considering he is hours away but maybe he can get in contact with someone close to me.

  Right now, I’m thanking the heavens I listened to him and I didn’t panic in this situation.

  An hour passes and I can hear them talking from in front of the vehicle, laughing and having the time of their life.

  I don’t understand how this can happen. How someone can treat women as objects just to take care of them.

  My mother has suffered so much because of them and because of us, we were meant to be in this life. We were promised to men but she didn’t allow that to happen to us. She did it for us, she suffered for us.

  All of a sudden they slow down and then I feel gravel beneath the wheels. Turning around so my back is lying against the back of the seat, I lift my foot and kick at the break lights so I can see outside to get an idea of what is happening.

  It’s completely pitch black out and I can barely make out the slight shapes of trees and the gravel below the vehicle.

  I lay back in the trunk praying that my dad and my mom don’t blame themselves for this. I can put up with a lot but someone I care about hurting is more than I can bear.

  I know one fucking thing. If I am going down, I am going down fighting like hell.

  We pull to a stop and I pretend that my ropes are still on my hands. I can hear them talking, laughing, and making jokes about me in this trunk. How many girls has this happened to?

  The trunk is popped open suddenly and I’m faced with the ugliest motherfucker I have ever seen.

  He is disgusting, just the sight of him looking at me makes me want to barf. He opens his mouth to start to say something to me when I kick my leg out, kicking him straight in the face.

  I push my way out of the trunk, walking straight up to the ugly fucker and kick him as hard as I can in the balls. A face like that doesn’t deserve to be reproducing.

  “Kidnap me again, bitch!” I snarl, ready to finish his reproductive system off when I am punched hard on the side of my face.

  I stumble to the side completely dazed by what just happened. He hit me hard. They lift me off the ground carrying me into an older log cabin style house.

  Inside of the house there is nothing but a chair right in the middle of the room and an old filthy mattress lying to the side against the wall under the window that is barred with metal so you can’t get out.

  Well, isn’t this lovely.

  They set me down into the chair and I stand straight back up, pushing them back. Both charge me, one hits me so hard I fall back hitting my head hard on the chair.

  Everything around me is blurry. They take my moment of confusion tying me to the chair. The pain from my head is so overwhelming, I can feel the pain pulsing in my skull.

  I move my feet back toward the chair in a way that my dad taught me if I ever got into this situation so I can get loose.

  They finish their shitty knots, looking down at me, proud of themselves. I know one thing they have is shit for brains. I bet they are all daddy fucking cousins.

  A man walks out of the back of the house, wearing all white. He has to be at least sixty years old if not older. “What do you want?” I ask them, glaring.

  The sixty-year-old man grins at me flashing me his yellow teeth. “You’re here to be my wife.”

  CHAPTER 2

  River

  I burst out laughing, full bent over at the stomach laughing, tears rolling down my face. “I would rather scoop my eyeballs out with a spoon than marry you. You’re a disgusting motherfucker. Have you never heard of a toothbrush?” I hiss at him, loving the anger flashing over his face.

  His smile drops and I want to sigh with relief not seeing those nasty teeth anymore. “I can’t want to beat that fire out of you, cunt.” He splits the distance between us, gripping my face with his hand hard, his nasty long nails digging into my skin.

  My eyes never leave his, I want to brand his face into my mind. I can’t wait to watch him die for daring to touch me. His eyes are lifeless as mine show the promises of what I am going to do to him.

  His grip tightens on me. I grin through the pain in my jaw, not caring that he’s going to bruise me. “Just know everyone goes to sleep sometime.” I wink.

  He lets go out of my face hard causing my head to snap back. He moves away from me, staring. The others are watching him and not me.

  I take that moment to twist my wrists and bring my hands free from the ropes. They did an even worse job this time around.

  He is having literally a fucking fit, spouting about how I’m the devil in the flesh. My ropes hit the floor and I reach inside of my pants pulling out my gun. In seconds, I’m pointing at the fat fuck who said he was going to marry me.

  He stumbles back against the wall in shock as the other three following him stare at me in disbelief.

  I laugh at their faces. “God, you are all a bunch of worthless fuckers.” I pull my legs free easily and then the rope that is spread across my belly to keep me in my seat.

  I sigh dramatically. “I’m not sure why you fuckers think you’re God. You love to beat down women because your dicks are so small.” I frown looking at his small package through his pants. “Shit, I have a pussy and I have a bigger dick than you. That must be hard, oh wait,” I mock him before bursting out laughing at my little joke.