Chapter 66

“Exactly.” Shaun shook his head. “He’s not going to give up until it happens again.”

“Or I’m dead,” Ryan said under his breath.

“No. He doesn’t want you dead. That defeats his purpose. If he were able to have emotions, real ones, I suspect he’d think he’s in love with you. He wants you to love him back.”

“I did, damn it!”

“It’s obvious he didn’t believe it. No, I take that back. Whether he did or not, you broke the boundaries he’d set up for you. Beating you was his way of saying it was unacceptable. He was the one in control of your life, as far as he was concerned. You obey, or you pay. That’s the way it is with abusers—whatever the underlying cause for why they feel they have the right to own another human being.”

“And there’s no way to know you’ve…you’ve fallen for the wrong man, until it happens to you,” Ryan said, his voice bitter as he stared at Shaun.

“No, there isn’t, unless you get to know them well before you take the step from friendship to what comes next.”