Glass Ceilings by A. M. Madden

incarceration. Jase and Eve were livid with the circumstances…even more so when the realization hit them that they knew nothing about Nick.
    “I’m not worried about them. They’ll get over it. I’m worried about you.”
    My heart squeezed at the sound of his voice. I could tell over the phone how much he desperately missed me. It equally warmed and saddened me. I missed him, too, more than I ever thought I would.
    “I’m fine,” I said forcing my voice to be positive. “I’ve discovered that I’m a really great actress.”
    “I bet. You even had me convinced you weren’t falling in love with me.”
    His comment stunned me silent. How could he possibly know, when I barely did? “You’re crazy,” I responded flippantly.
    “No, I’m not. You have. Do you want to know how I could tell?”
    “Yes.” My response sounded winded.
    A few seconds of silence passed before he added, “Angela, just thinking about the way your eyes darken right before I take your lips, and the color of your cheeks after I’ve kissed you, and even the way you grip my shirt wanting more once our lips part all tell me how much I affect you. I could easily tell you the signs of how you affect me over this call, but I’d much rather show you once you get here.”
    My insides clenched from his words. I could feel my desire for him in every part of my body. “Nick, I miss you.”
    “I know you do. I miss you, too.” I heard him drag in a breath before he asked, “Is he back yet?” I knew immediately which
he
Nick was referring to.
    “No.”
    “When is he due back?”
    “The end of the week.”
    “Angela, it’s time to tell me about Ronnie.”
    I considered what I would tell Nick. “We met in college. Nick, he wasn’t always the way he is now. The Ronnie I broke up with was worlds apart from the Ronnie who swept me off my feet. In my so-called fairy tale I had met the prince first, only for him to turn into the frog. It had a lot to do with why I resisted you so much when we met. He was charming, handsome, wealthy, and considerate—making it easy to fall for him. Our time together in Jersey was perfection. He always treated me like a princess, one he held high on a pedestal…until recently. Do you want to know more?” I asked, assuming he didn’t want to hear the details of why I had fallen in love with Ronnie.
    “Yes,” he quickly said.
    “With graduation approaching, and a job offer in Chicago, it was easy for him to convince me to move here with him. I had family here, and I could easily start my career where he would be. So I went. We found an apartment, he started his job, and I started working for Eve until something in my field came along. Life was fantastic.”
    “And then?”
    “And then as time passed, he turned into his father right before my eyes. Possessive, controlling, intimidating…he became a different person. I became consumed with leaving him. Every time I tried, I’d lose my nerve. After he left for Italy two weeks ago, I packed my things and moved into Eve’s place.”
    Nick cleared his throat, but otherwise remained silent. I could only imagine what was running through his mind.
    “Was he ever physically abusive?” Nick asked quietly over the phone. This was killing him.
    The look on Ronnie’s face when I said it was over flashed in my mind, along with the fear I always felt when confronting him.
    “We’ll discuss it when I get home,” he said without so much as a backward glance.
    “Ronnie, it’s over!”
    The tone of my voice captured his attention. He strode over to where I stood, and with a forceful grip on my throat, he shoved me hard against the wall, squeezing my flesh hard enough to hamper my breathing. He held my eyes to his and repeated his earlier declaration.
    “It’s not over until I say it’s over.”
    Our eyes locked; the familiar sense of fear caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand at attention. The way he held me in his grip caused panic to take what little