Sticks and Stones and Occasionally Leather

Chapter 4

"Yes, I'm seriously crying!" I practically yelled. Careful not to be loud enough to let the boys hear. Archer laughed at my pathetic tears and my anger only built.

"You really are the worst nanny huh." He sighed, rubbing at his side as if laughing so much caused him pain.

"Yeah well, I've been told you really are the worst son so looks like you'd know." I shot back and anger flashed across his face.

"You don't know anything about me." He snarled as he took a step closer. Squaring my shoulders, despite being a whole foot shorter than him, I stood my ground.

"I know you were a mess. I know you caused trouble and gave Charlotte hell. I know she wanted to send you away but you ran away before she could like a little coward." I spat at him, not regretting a single word. Fury burned behind his eyes and in a split second, I was pushed against the wall, his hand firm around my throat. He squeezed slightly, not restricting airflow but enough that I could feel his fingertips dig into the sides of my neck.

"You. Don't. Know. Anything." He growled calmly, his face inches from mine, his eyes wild and dangerous.

"You say I don't know anything. Yet I don't hear you correcting me." I boldly continued, holding my ground and acting completely unfazed by his grip around my neck. His breathing grew heavy with rage and without a second to react, his lips smashed against mine so hard it was almost painful. After the moment of surprised wore off I kissed back angrily and his tong slipped in, raking every inch, assaulting my mouth. He but my lip hard and a small noise of pain escaped my mouth before I kissed back harder and rougher. Then just as quickly as it began, it ended. He released me, grabbing his keys off the table before leaving through the front door, slamming it behind him. I stood against the wall where he left me as I listened to his car start and drive away. Catching a glimpse of myself in a mirror across the room, I touched my lips to find a small drop of blood on my finger when I pulled it back.

What the actual heck just happened?

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"Lock yourself in the bathroom," I whispered to Chloe as we sat in my room, " I'll distract him but you can't come out until mom is home understand?" I asked and she nodded. Her big scared eyes staring at me. I walked down to the bathroom where I made sure she went and then checked to make sure she had locked it before going downstairs.

"Oh, there you are! I want to play a game with you." My brother Mike said innocently and my stomach clenched but I swallowed my fear knowing my sister was safe. I'd take a million beatings if it meant that not a finger touched her.

"I need some target practice," Mike smirked, raising his pellet gun so I could see.

"Start running."

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I woke in a cold sweat, feeling frantically at my back, trying to get the stinging to stop. Realizing it had merely been a dream, I hugged myself tightly to encourage the shaking to stop. Normally if I'd wake in the night, Braydon would be there to console me and nurse me back to sleep, but without him, I knew any attempts at sleep would be futile.

Suddenly reminded of the emptiness in my apartment and my heart, I trekked over to the freezer to get ice cream only to find that I was out.

Dang. Talk about disappointments.

With nothing better to do at 2 am, I decided to go to the gas station to get some. I threw a robe over my skimpy pajama shorts and a tank top and put my hair into a bun before making my way to the car.