The Scars He Left: A Second Chance At Happiness

"Fifty strikes," Floyd ordered, his voice devoid of warmth.

I knelt in the freezing snow, watching the man I had taken a bullet for five years ago stand beside his new fiancée, Jaylah.

Because Jaylah tore her engagement dress and blamed me, Floyd let his men beat me until my face was unrecognizable.

But that was just the beginning of my hell.

To save his alliance with Jaylah's family, he drained my blood to save her mother, ignoring my own fading pulse.

When Jaylah lied that I tried to burn her, Floyd forced me to thrust my hands—my architect's hands—into glowing coals until the flesh…