Chapter 1

Amelia

One year later…

My freedom from my family was supposed to be my redemption. I was supposed to be happy and free to live my life as I wanted. That dream was short lived when my past barged back into my life to confront me. I thought it was a sign that I was finally free to choose what I wanted out of my own life, except that wasn't the case.

He used me as leverage!

I meant nothing to him!

All these years I blamed my father for ruining the one good thing I found for myself, he chased him off and left me alone once again. I've hated my own father for what he did. I refused to hear his reasoning and chose to believe a man who said and did all the right things. He fooled me into thinking I was special, one of a kind, he manipulated me and played me. I was such an idiot for not realizing or seeing the truth sooner.

What a fucking fool I was!

"Hurry the fuck up in there!" I flinch at the cold harsh tone of his voice. I'm pathetic. I preached for years from my high horse about never being controlled or used and yet, here I fucking am. I am a puppet and he is the master who pulls my strings. He tells me what to hear, how my hair should be styled, what shifts I can and can't work at the hospital. I even let him dictate who I can and can't talk to.

"C-coming!" I call back, as I check my reflection one last time making sure my hair is parted perfectly down the center like he likes and my summer dress is wrinkle free. I grab my cardigan from the hook on the back of the door and sigh as I push my arms through the sleeves, knowing I am going to be as sweaty as a whore house on a Saturday night wearing this thing but he would flip out if I exposed my arms and chest. I button it all the way up and quickly turn the lock and pull the door open. The moment I do, I am met with those angry black eyes.

Those eyes once lulled me into a false sense of security. I found love in the depths of those black eyes—my first love. I thought I was going to spend forever with him, run away and make a new life. We were going to be happy and I would be free of the burden of my family's last name. How fucking naive I was!

He reaches forward and grips my upper arm in a punishing hold. I bite down on my lip to keep the whimper from slipping free. He pushes in close so his face is an inch from mine. I have been trained by every single person in my family to fight, endure and beat any enemy, yet here I stand, at the mercy of a man who has stripped away every ounce of my self-worth, my will to be the best doctor in my field and my will to… live.

I am a shell of the person I once was.

"You try anything funny in front of my men and it will be your funeral. Am I clear?" His words are like a whip to my battered soul. I nod my head, which seems to only anger him. His hold on my arm turns bruising and I flinch in pain, bringing a smile to his face. I hate myself for allowing him to control me like this but I don't see a way out. The one fucking time I tried to reach out to my dad, he somehow intercepted the call, broke my ribs and fractured my wrist for daring to defy him. I'm a foolish woman. "Use your fucking words," he grits out through clenched teeth.

I swallow nervously and nod. "Yes. I won't do anything to embarrass you, I swear." I hate myself a little more inside. All my life all I have ever wanted was my freedom and the right to choose how I wanted to live my own life and now here I am, being bullied daily and at the mercy of a man I decided to try and build a life with. I never realized how much safety my dad afforded me. I saw him having guards trailing me as an invasion of my privacy but now, I would give anything to have those two men back so they could help me escape this nightmare I have created for myself.

He releases my arm and interlocks his fingers with mine. To the naked eye we look like a loving couple who are displaying all the right signs of being happy, both of us smiling as he leads me down the hallway toward the restaurant where we will be dining with his friends, but his hold on my hand is hard and unyielding, a silent warning to not fuck up.

I keep my head down, not wanting to gaze around the crowded room, as he leads us to the table in the back. If I'm caught glancing around, he thinks I'm checking for an exit or looking at another man and it always winds up with me being in pain and crying later tonight. He always wakes the next morning and takes in the damage he inflicted on my body, then spends the next few days telling me how sorry he is and how much he loves me and will seek help. I used to eat up those lies but not anymore. I don't have the luxury of time to wait on him to change. He will never change because he doesn't want to.

I'm running out of time.

I need to break away and escape him before he finds out what I'm hiding. If he learns the truth, then I am as good as dead.

"About time!" I hear a man with a gruff voice say as we draw to a stop. Colson pulls me into his side but I keep my gaze down like I have been trained to do.

"Had to wait for my girl, you know what women are like," Colson says arrogantly. The others jeer and laugh while he pushes me into the booth. I peek up through my lashes and count seven men sitting around the table with beers in front of them. I sigh internally knowing this is going to be a long night. I used to enjoy long nights at the hospital, by the end of my shift I was bone tired and ready for my bed but I always felt fulfilled. Now, I'm constantly ducking out on my shifts and I've noticed how the nurses give me a wide berth, not wanting to even cross paths with me.

Sitting here listening to Colson laugh and make plans for world domination makes me sick. He thinks starting a security company where he hires tech geniuses will help him take down my father. He has no fucking idea what he is doing. If he thinks these drop kicks he calls friends are going to stand a chance against my family, he has another thing coming! Uncle Luka, Uncle Knight and Aunt Koby are the best hackers in the world. Uncle Luka is still on the FBI's most wanted list for hacking into the Pentagon when he was a boy.

"Dr. Kingsley?" I snap my head up at the sound of my name. The table falls silent and my stomach sinks at the sight of Kevin, Amara, Lisa, Devon and a nurse I have seen a few times around the hospital all standing there with smiles on their faces, they are med students. Colson's hand on my thigh snaps me out of my stupor. I plaster a smile on my face and huddle into his side to show them how in love we are.

"Hey," I say with fake enthusiasm.

"We haven't seen you lately, you're normally always on shift," Devon says with a tinge of concern in his voice. Colson's grip on my thigh tightens and I fight not to wince.

I place my hand on his chest and bat my lashes. "This one whisked me away for a few days, you know how it is," I say with a laugh and hate how the four of them smile and laugh at my lie. I just let them believe that I ran away with my boyfriend for a dirty weekend.

"Get it girl!" Lisa adds. "It was nice to see you, Dr. Kingsley," she adds before they wave and walk away, making my heart sink. I wish I could go with them. Amara hangs back and shoots me a weird look before trudging after the others, while I sit here and remain silent like a good little prop. Colson keeps his bruising hold on me as he goes back to discussing how to take down my father, like I'm not sitting right fucking here!

Men are so predictable. He thinks because he bulked up and owns a company he can take down the biggest mafia family in the world. I want to snort at the idea. I'm not even worried about what he thinks he can do because he will never get within reach of my father?—

"I have the perfect thing to draw that cocksucker out, all I need to do is put her in front of King and checkmate!" I snap my head up and stare at Colson in horror, it never once occurred to me that he would use me as leverage against my dad. He smiles wickedly down at me like he knows he just flipped my world upside down. His friends begin cheering while he bends down and brushes his lips against the shell of my ear. "You play your part and I might just let that thing inside you live long enough for you to give birth to it."

I gasp loudly and reel back, tears spring to my eyes as I shake my head. "Y-you know?" I mutter.

His face blanks of all humor and that easy going persona vanishes only to be replaced by a vicious mask I know all too well. He grips the back of my neck. I shudder in pain when he pulls me in close so he can rest his head against mine.

"It was my insurance policy. Your daddy can't kill the father of his own grandchild now, can he?" Tears fall without mercy down my cheeks as he brings my worst fears to life. "Everything, and I do mean everything I have done from the moment I reentered your life eleven months ago has been planned out. You were easy prey. So desperate for love and for someone to see you as something other than a Murdoch you let a Viper into your bed." My bottom lip trembles as I shake my head, trying to deny what he says, but the truth is right there in his eyes.

"Was any of it ever real?" I choke out past the lump in my throat. I know I sound like a fool but a part of me did fall head over heels for him.

"You look like a fucking joke right now. Go clean yourself up and don't make me come and get you again." He slips out of the booth and grips my arm, yanking me out of my seat. I stumble on my feet but manage to stay upright. I keep my head down as I make my way to the bathroom, trying to stop my tears from falling but fail miserably. At the sight of the line to the women's bathroom I cringe and don't think as I shoulder past them, ignoring their protests and slipping into the disabled one. Before I can close the door, Amara is there pushing me inside and locking the door behind us. I swipe away the tears and force a smile to myself.

"Hey, what are doing in here?" I ask. Her face is stern and she eyes me warily for a beat before she reaches into her purse and pulls out a set of keys.

"Six years ago, I was you. I know what domestic abuse looks like?—"

"Amara, you have it wrong?—-"

"I saw the bruises at work." My face falls. "I saw how he touched you, looked at you and how you morphed into a different version of yourself earlier."

I dart my tongue out to moisten my lips. "I… I don't?—"

"Your eyes tell the story you won't." She reaches out and grabs my hand placing her keys in my palm. I snap my gaze to hers and frown. "Take my car out back, it's a Kia. Leave now while he's distracted. Don't go back to your place for anything. All materialistic things can be replaced, risking your life for those things isn't worth it. Leave now, Dr. Kingsley, before you are the one we are treating in the ER." Fresh tears fall, and without thinking I grab her and pull her to me in a hug which she returns.

"Thank you, Amara."

She pushes me back and smiles knowingly. "It will be hard and you will want to give in and return. Ditch your phone and don't come back. I'll think of something to tell the hospital."

"What about your car?"

She shrugs. "Ditch it when you get far enough away and catch a bus somewhere, it has GPS so I'll pick it up in a few days. That should give you enough time to get far, far away from Chicago."

"Why are you really doing this? We don't know each other that well and here you are helping me, why?"

She inhales sharply. "You don't recognize me and that's okay but six years ago, Dr. Kingsley, you saved me when Brent beat me within an inch of my life. You saved me." I stumble back and frown at her in shock. "In recovery, you held my hand and promised me there was a better life out there for me, I just had to find the strength to go out and find it. I did that and now here I am because of you ." I cover my mouth with my hand in utter shock at her revelation. "Now, you need to go. He'll be coming for you soon. Slip out the back and don't ever come back here unless you are ready to put that son of a bitch behind bars." I pull her in for another hug, then skirt around her to exit but stop and glance back at her over my shoulder.

"I'll never forget your kindness and what you did for me here today, Amara."