I stood.

Derek pointed toward me. “Sit down, sweetheart. This doesn’t concern you.”

I glanced at Ryan. He wiped blood from his mouth, watching me intently. He knew. He always had. He alone understood that walking away was the safest thing I could do for Derek.

Then Derek seized my wrist.

His grip was tight enough to leave bruises. He grinned wider. “You gonna cry now?”

That’s when my sister-in-law Marissa screamed.

“Derek, let her go!”

Everyone faced her. Marissa stood near the patio door, pale and trembling, a phone in her hand. Its screen showed a paused video of me ten years younger, hair tightly braided, a gold championship belt around my waist, standing over a defeated opponent as an announcer called my former name.

Evelyn “The Quiet Storm” Carter.

Former national MMA champion.

Derek glanced between the screen and me, bewildered.

I looked down at his grip and whispered, “You have three seconds.”…

He refused to release me.