PROLOGUE
CARMEN
Everything hurt. Carmen shivered, lying on the kitchen floor. The cold from the marble tiles seeped into her bones, turning them into shards of ice. Yet, somehow, her cheek that wasn’t plastered onto the floor felt burning hot.
Why couldn’t she move?
Something dripped down her cheek and got caught on her broken lips. A coppery taste; blood.
Her breath caught as the last gruesome hour of her life came back to her with the velocity of a Mack truck. Then she heard the most hated and feared sound in the universe—her husband’s voice.
“There’s no more loyalty left in this world. You think you can just leave me? I’ve bought you, slut. Paid good money for your virgin body. You can’t leave me. You will never leave me!”
Carmen’s head pounded. She tried to open her eyes, but he
