Fingers were stroking her hair.

Numbed, Dana looked to the side. For a moment she believed it was him; that he had found her. It wasn't Maddox who was touching her, his fingertips felt different. Through a blur of tears she saw blonde hair and terrified blue eyes.

It wasn't him.

She turned her face away from Kip and started to sob. Oh, if she could just feel Juice's arms around her for a while, or listen to his voice a little longer. Taking in his scent, looking into his eyes...

The call had broken her. For a long time it had felt like Juice wasn't real; as if he was just a figment of her imagination, a way to keep this life bearable. But hearing his voice, his sobs... the pain and his absence rolled through her again. Sobbing, she sat up straight. She was still in the room with the punching bag. Her back hurt and there was a burning sensation between her legs. Her head was pounding. Dazed, she stared at her wrists that were covered with red welts.

Apparently she had just been raped. She saw fragments of his furious face, felt his fingers around her throat... but the images were blurry, as if it had happened a long time ago. Her hand glided across her stomach and she thought about Juice again. About how his voice had sounded; so full of hope and despair at the same time.

She looked at Kip. There were tears in his eyes.

"I can't do this anymore, Dane," he whispered. "Next time I see him, I'll strangle him."

"Don't," she answered quietly, her voice broken. "If you – if you hadn't been here, I would never have gone through these days." She leaned into him. He swung his arm around her and pulled her close, until their heads were resting against each other.

"And I can't live like this. I just have to find something sharp so I can jam it in his head, the next time he isn't paying attention to me."

"He's always paying attention."

Kip sighed.

"He knows where you're up to, what I'm up to. At night he always locks the door and checks the room to make sure there are no weapons." She rubbed her eyes. The skin between her legs hurt like hell. What had happened? Had Maddox lost his mind when she was talking to Juice? Did he finally realize that she would never love him? Imagines shot through her mind. His fingers grabbing her hair, slamming her head to the floor, his snarl that she was his, dat nobody but him would ever fuck her.

"I think I was fully unconscious this time," she muttered. It felt like a blessing that he had slammed her head against the floor.

Kip said nothing and stared forward. There were deep lines on his forehead and the look in his eyes was embittered. He looked much older than twenty three years. Her eyes wandered to his clenched fist. She spread her fingers across his hand, squeezing it, but he kept staring into the void. Hatred was churning in his eyes and it made her shiver.

"Please Kip," she whispered. "Don't do anything stupid."

But a few days later, he did.

It was during another boxing practice that Maddox entered the room. With a grunt the man told Kip to fuck off. He bent his head and turned away immediately, but the moment Maddox passed him, he wrapped an arm around his neck and dragged him backwards.

Dana froze.

Maddox leaned into Kip. The man got him in a headlock and punched his eye. Maddox grumbled, trying to free himself.

Dana could do nothing but stare. Could Kip win this? Could he really end their misery?

Maddox's face was turning red. He pushed himself away from the ground and threw Kip backwards, so his head was slamming against the wall. Still the man didn't let go of him. With gritted teeth he kept strangling their abductor. Wildly Maddox tried to fight off the other, but Kip had done martial arts for years and he had gone through an extended military training.

For a moment Dana really believed they had a chance. Her hands clenched around her stomach, as if the baby was also watching.

In a flash, she saw how Maddox pulled a knife. Dana yelled Kip's name, but it was too late. Maddox turned around with a last effort, stabbing the knife in Kip's side.

His arms lost their strength immediately and Maddox broke away from the deadly embrace. He turned around, pulling out the shank and wrapping his fingers around the hilt.

"No!" Dana screamed. "No, stop it!" She ran towards the two men and clung to Maddox's arm. "Don't kill him. Please," she cried.

Maddox breathed loudly. Anger was smoldering in his eyes. His fingers paled around the hilt of the bloody knife. Kip had stepped back, his hands pushing against the wound. His eyes were wide with shock, as if he didn't realize what had happened.

"Please," Dana whispered. "Please, Maddox. I beg you. Let him live."

With a grunt he tore away his arm. "You can sew him yourself," he snarled, where after he turned around and strode away.