Page 157 of Where Broken Wings Fly

“We’ve been patient, but I want the truth,” he orders.

“He’s a monster. I told you what he did to me.”

“You’ve drip fed us crap for months now,” Killian growls at her. “This goes beyond domestic abuse. What scared you so badly you had to flee halfway across the world?”

“You promised to give me more time.”

“If that piece of shit back there is a threat to your safety, I need to know,” he seethes. “You are my priority, whether you like it or not. Why did you run?”

“I had to run because if I stayed there, I would be dead right now.” Willow glares through her tears. “If he killed me, Arianna would be left alone in the world.”

“He threatened to kill you?” I spit out.

“Mr Sanchez didn’t give two shits about beating me close to death or making me watch as he brutalised a revolving door of women, supplied by Mason and his associates.”

Killian punches the steering wheel. “Fuck!”

“He threatened to kill Arianna just to make me behave. All I cared about was protecting her and taking the beatings myself, but he was so unpredictable.”

“He hit the kid?” he utters.

Willow gulps hard. “Once or twice.”

Arianna is everything that’s good and pure in the world. What kind of twisted bastard lays a hand on a child? His daughter, no less. I had no idea things had gone that far.

“Just tell us what really happened, once and for all.” Killian’s voice is resigned. “Did he try to kill you the night you ran? Was that the final straw?”

Willow twists the ring around her finger. “He was angrier than usual about some business issue. I called him weak and pathetic. That’s when he pulled out the baseball bat.”

“Jesus,” I curse. “He used a bat?”

She nods. “I couldn’t move afterwards, and he held a gun to my head while he… he…”

“You don’t need to go on, babe.”

Willow draws in a ragged breath. “When it was all over, he told me that if I kept this up, he would kill Arianna. I knew then it was time to take the risk and run.”

“Your friend helped you?” Killian supplies.

“Pedro got us out and we ran as fast as we could, sticking to the plan.”

“Why didn’t you go to the police?” I interject.

“Because that wouldn’t stop him. He has friends who wouldn’t hesitate to silence me if I went public with this.”

“Bullshit!” I hiss back.

“Nobody is above the law,” Killian agrees stonily. “Let’s report this son of a bitch.”

“Seconded.”

“Stop, both of you!” Willow begins to hyperventilate again. “I can’t… I can’t…”

“Breathe, babe. Come on. Nice deep breaths.”

She frantically tries to suck in air that continues to escape her. Killian climbs out of the truck to clear his head, the door slamming shut behind him. I watch him shout into the sky and fist his long hair.

Willow peels her eyes open, staring at me with bone-deep terror. “Everything I’ve done has been to keep Arianna safe. I can’t risk her falling back into her father’s clutches.”

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