Always Faithful

Chapter 7: We Belong Together

Bragnae immediately slammed the door before Leo could get in, but he wedged his foot in between the door and the frame. Leo forcibly pushed the door open causing Bragnae to stumble backwards. Her heart was racing. Her worst nightmares were coming true. Her abusive ex-boyfriend had found her again – she didn't know how, but he did.

Her survival instincts set in as she bolted toward the kitchen to find a knife. Just as she was about to reach the drawer with the knives, she felt Leo grab her from behind restraining her arms against her body. She kicked and flailed trying to wriggle out of his grip, but Leo was too strong. He hoisted her up off the ground, and pushed her face first into the nearest wall pinning her against it.

"Don't resist, Bragnae, or this will hurt a lot more," Leo told her.

Leo restrained her arms behind her back with one hand as his left forearm pushed against the back of her neck holding her in place. He spread her legs apart and pressed his body into hers. He was using the tactics of controlling a perpetrator that he learned as a cop in the Air Force. Bragnae knew this all too well, as it wasn't the first time he did this to her. Her breathing was ragged, and her heart was pounding. Every horrible scenario of what he could, and most likely would do to her raced through her mind. She tried to calm herself, so she could think clearly. She needed to get out of this. Somehow.

"Let me go!" She screamed.

Leo pressed into her more tightening his grip on her wrists. Tears rolled down her cheeks as the pain shot through her body.

"I'm not going to let you go. Not again," Leo began, leaning closer to her ear as he spoke. "I found you, Bragnae. It wasn't easy, but here I am. You had to know that you couldn't hide from me. You could go to fucking Mars, and I'd still find you."

"Leo, please let me go. We can talk about this. Just let me go," she pleaded.

"You'd like that wouldn't you. You always wanted to talk – you always nagged me to fucking talk. You didn't give me time, Bragnae! I needed fucking time! But you decided to just leave me instead. Some fucking girlfriend you are. You left me when I needed you the most. I was going through some shit after that deployment, but you couldn't wait to get rid of me, could you?" His anger fueled him to grip her even harder.

Bragnae whimpered at the sharp pain. Just keep him talking, Bragnae, and hope to God Drake gets here before he does anything else. "That wasn't why I left you, Leo. Please, just let me go, so I can explain it to you."

"No. I know the reason. You really fucked up my life, you know that? After you told on me, the Air Force knocked me down to an Airman Basic. A fucking Airman Basic, Bragnae! That's ridiculous. And then, they gave me a dishonorable discharge. I can't do shit with that! No one will hire me with that on my record."

"Then you shouldn't have stalked me or tried to rape me. You did this to yourself, Leo," Bragnae bit back. She knew her words would only enrage him further, but she couldn't help it. She was just as pissed off as he was, but for very different reasons. Bragnae was a tough woman, and she hated to be held against her will with no way to escape. She was powerless, but her words could still fight for her.

Leo released his grip on her hands, and yanked her away from the wall only to reposition his strong grip holding her wrists to her chest, and a hand around her throat. He kicked out her legs so they stood far apart prohibiting her from making any sudden movements. She was pulled flush against his body seconds away from having her trachea crushed under his strength.

"I'm not here to talk about the past. I want to talk about the present, and what I came here to do," Leo paused. "You're my girlfriend, Bragnae. We belong together. We should've never been apart."