Sleep never came easily that night. I lay beneath sheets softer than anything I had ever owned, but no amount of comfort silenced the storm in my head. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw blood dripping across the leather of my car seat. I heard his voice—deep, commanding, impossible to disobey. And worst of all, I felt the strange pull in my chest that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with him.

By morning, the sun painted the wide windows in warm light, but nothing about the ...