OBEDIENT. (Book Four)

5

I loved him and he broke me.
-Unknown

~

Morning comes way too quickly and I groaned as the desk clock shows 15 past 5. Throwing my sheet off me, I dragged my still tired behind off my bed and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the long day ahead.

The sky outside was a dark grey and I knew it wouldn't take long for the never ending storm to hit, so I left the windows shut as I just opened the blinds. Heading into the kitchen, I turned on the tea maker knowing fully that Austin will want tea and then continued on my early morning cleaning session while listening to the radio's hot 100 picks.

Two hours and a spotless house later, I sat by the island as most of my work was finally done. I wanted to take another shower and crawl back into my bed and just sleep till forever but one look at the time made me reconsider. It was only a few minutes to eight and I hadn't eaten breakfast and knowing my twin, he'd be crawling out of his bed in another two hours scouring the house for food.

Sighing deeply, I got up from my seated position and started putting together some pancakes and cheese sandwiches before resuming my task of now, washing all the dirty laundry. That took me another hour to complete and I released my hair from its restrictions just as the doorbell rang.

Withholding my deep sigh, I lazily walked towards the door, pulling it open to reveal Tom, also known as my ex husband.

With quick reflex, I tried to slam the door in his face but it seemed he was quicker as he positioned his body between, preventing the door from closing.

My breathing was already in shambles at the sight of him and although this is my second time seeing him since he got out of prison, I still can't stop the mixture of emotions exploding inside me. The most powerful one being fear and I backed up, hitting the wall as he advanced towards me.

"My sweet, what have you been up too?" He asks, a sick smirk atop his face.

Back in the days I used to swoon at the sight of his smirks and the way he called me his sweet but now, he just looked and sounded like a crazed man. His choice of clothing did nothing to help him as I quickly observed the stained faded jeans he wore with what I prayed to be red paint and the slightly hole filled shirt that was too tight for him. His feet were covered in a dirty pair of timberlands and I wondered just where he was coming from.

"Tom... please leave, I don't want any trouble." I almost cried, my voice small and cracked.

"Now who said anything about causing any trouble, pretty thing?"

"We have nothing to say to each other and there is no reason for you to be here."

"Oh isn't there? You're my wife and if I wanna see you... I damn well could."

He inches closer to me, closing the already too small gap and I inhaled as his dirt filled fingernails brushed against my flushed cheeks.

"You are no longer my husband... and-"

"And nothing!" He snapped, the previous smirk now replaced by an angry scowl. "I loved you, fed you, took care of you... gave you that ungrateful piece of shit you call a daughter and yet you had the audacity to get me locked up for fucking years?!"

His dark eyes are boring into mine and as his hand increased its hold on mine I can't stop the flood of tears that liters my face as I don't recall him haven touched me.

"Tom, you're hurting me."

"I'll do much more than that if you don't behave."

I stay quiet and release a shaky breath as his hold on my arm loosens. He smirks again and at this point I was begging my twin to appear. Tom might not be afraid of me but he sure as hell wouldn't stand a chance against Austin and as my internal pleas for my brother increased, Tom's lips captured mine in an aggressive kiss that hurt way more than it felt good.

I could feel bile trying to push its way upwards as his hand brutally grabs a fist full of hair and I futilely tried to hit against his chest when I felt his free hand slip beneath my sweatpants and into my underwear. At this point I knew the bile was minutes away from exiting my mouth and I forcefully tried to get him off me as pain exploded down below when his thick fingers forced their way inside of me.

One second Tom was a heavy burden holding me hostage and the next, he was flying across the room and crashing into the door side table. I immediately crashed to the floor as my body violently started to shake and I wasn't afraid of loudly hyperventilating as the tears took over.

I vaguely heard the sound of crashing and grunting and arguing coming from around me but when a gentle hand gripped my shoulder, I immediately tensed and thought of the worst. If it was indeed Tom, I had no way of winning against him and I braced myself for what was to come. It physically pained me to go back to the way things were in the past; him using and abusing me and me not being able to stand up to him but if I couldn't do anything then, I definitely couldn't do anything now.

Isn't it better to just go with it than to be left battered and broken by the one who was supposed to love you?

"Justine it's okay, it's just me." Austin said softly, afraid of scaring me any further.

Instead of sighing in relief like I wanted to, I broke into intense sobbing as I looked up into my twin's face seconds before I was engulfed into his embrace and I inhaled his heavenly scent that was the desperate change I needed.

It felt like I had been crying on his chest for ages when I finally calmed and as I opened my eyes, I realized he had somehow taken me to the couch. His concerned eyes looked down at me and I don't miss the way they scanned my face, looking for any sign of abuse. That caused me to look around the room and I involuntarily shivered as I saw Tom's crumbled body towards the wall.

"Is he-"

"He's knocked out but no, he isn't dead." Austin paused as he genuinely looked at me and I wanted to start crying all over again. "Do you want him to be? I can say it was self defense."

"What?! No, I..."

As much as I never wanted to have to worry about my ex husband again, I couldn't stand the thought of having to visit Austin behind bars and I shook my head as he kissed my forehead.

Gently pushing me aside, Austin stood up and walked over to the phone where he proceeded to call the cops and I pulled my knees against my chest as I wrapped my arms around them. All I wanted was to lock myself inside my bedroom and never come out as I tried to scrub away the feel of him but I knew no amount of washing would rid me of that.

So instead, I stared at his limp body as Austin rejoined me and I never took my eyes off him until we heard knocking on the front door. Austin once more slipped out from next to me and I sighed as I recognized the uniform of the guys standing on the other end.

My eyes connected with the officers as Austin told them what he witnessed and what caused Tom to be crumpled in the corner and I averted their gaze only for my eyes to land on a familiar pair that had my heart racing all over again.

"Ms. T." My small voice whispered as she advanced towards me.

<~>

A/N
Too tired to check back and see if I already named Justine's ex husband so if I did please correct me. Otherwise... meet Tom. 😊

Happy New Years and I do apologize for my late release but as I keep saying... I have severe writers block.

Hopefully you still enjoy. Much love and as always... stay beautiful my #MindyClan.