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grabbed her and held her tight, but she tried to fight him.
     
    “No!” she screeched, her eyes closed.
     
    “It’s me, baby…it’s Julian,” he said, and his words managed to break through to her. He watched her eyes focus on him, and she began to cry. He held her tightly.
     
    “Gavin sent me those texts again; he was inside the room. He got me—” she cried.
     
    “Shush, no babe, he’s not here; it was just a dream. You’re safe.” He pulled her head back and could tell by her unfocused eyes that she was still foggy from sleep.
     
    “It seemed so real,” she sighed in relief.
     
    “It wasn’t…it was just a bad dream. The gun under the mattress is real . Me firing five shots into anyone who comes near you—is real ,” he finished.
     
    “Don’t leave me,” she whispered as her lids grew heavy.
     
    “You know that I won’t.” He lay down with her and held her close.
     
    She snuggled into him and kissed his chest, before closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep.
     
    ***
     
    Julian’s cousin Julius stood on the opposite side of the gate from Ian.
     
    “I don’t think now is a good time,” Julius explained to his cousin.
     
    “I just want to help,” Ian said with desperation.
     
    “Why the sudden concern? You hate your brother.” Julius eyed Ian suspiciously. Julian and Ian’s mutual hatred was common knowledge among their family.
     
    “My little brother was almost murdered by our psychopathic co-worker. A co-worker who happens to be my half-brother. I almost lost my real brother—that changes the dynamics. That changes everything.”
     
    “Call Julian. I’m not letting you in without his permission,” Julius insisted.
     
    “Tell him I was here,” Ian said before he stormed back to his car.
     
    Ian wasn’t sure how he felt. He was scared for his brother. He had felt this same fear once before, when they were children. Gavin’s attempt to murder Julian brought back the old memories that he had forced himself to forget.
     
    As a boy, Ian had discovered that it was easier to hate his little brother than it was to defy his mother. He had tried to help him in the very beginning, but Julia, his mother, quickly put an end to that. She’d taught him that defending Julian only meant the punishment was automatically redesignated to Ian. The punishments were severe enough that Ian resented Julian and regretted helping him.
     
    He'd also received a few beatings even when he wasn't trying to help Julian. If Julia so much as suspected Ian of helping his little brother, she would punish him severely.
     
    With each beating, Ian’s hatred grew.
     
    Ian decided to sleep in his car and keep an eye on Julian’s house. Julian didn’t deserve this; none of them did. Ian was aware that his sudden concern would seem insincere, but he didn’t care. His brother almost died. All Ian could think about was the nasty things he had done to his little brother. He couldn’t live with the reality that if his brother died, he would die thinking that Ian hated him.
     
    “Death really puts things into perspective,” Ian whispered to himself as he got comfortable in the front seat of his car.
     

Mother of the Year
     
    Julia King stared at her husband with a look of hatred distorting her features. Her pale eyes narrowed as she pursed her red painted lips. She stood before him seething with rage, her body tense. Her commonsense and self-control were dissipating by the moment.
     
    “You’re a horrible, disgusting man, and I regret the day I met you! You’ve made me the laughing stock of the neighborhood! I hate you!” Julia shrieked at Ayden.
     
    “I know,” Ayden answered as he began shoving clothes into his duffle bag.
     
    “What are you doing?” she screeched at him.
     
    “I’m leaving.”
     
    “No, you’re not; you’re not that stupid. You can’t divorce me; you know I will take you for all you’re worth.”
     
    “That’s not going to happen.”
     
    “Not only