The next Sunday morning I get up and walk into the kitchen and start coffee. Once the coffee is done, I sit at my kitchen table sipping the cup enjoying the quite. I can't believe how happy I feel.

My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door. I get up and peak out of the window - it's Sophia. I swing the door open and she hands me a basket. "Mom sent some goodies since you missed family dinner night to spend with Aiden. Uncle expects to meet the man taking his daughter away from him."

I smack her arm, "you told them?" She nods, "I'm not lying to our family. You're a big girl, you can explain why you're not introducing Aiden to the family."

I roll my eyes. "Soph, I don't even know what we are. I'll introduce him once I figure it out." She grins, "have you had sex with him?"

I shake my head, "no, but honestly I want to so bad. He's makes it so hard to resist him."

She squeals, pulling me to the couch. "Oh my god...well if he's anything like Caleb, it's worth the wait." I squint at her in confusion. "Soph, I'm going to be honest. Sex with my ex wasn't great so I'm a little nervous that I won't enjoy it."

She shakes her head at me, "Look Mia, I know you hate talking about your past, but what did he do to make you not enjoy it?"

I took a deep breath, "he would say I wasn't attractive enough to get him hard. It was my fault because I was ugly. Because it was my fault, I had to give him a blowjob to get him hard enough to have sex. Once he was hard, he would just take it. No kissing or touching. It was painful and awful."

She shakes her head in horror, "Mia, sex is never suppose to be like that. It's a mutual pleasurable experience. What he did to you, was wrong. I see the way Aiden looks at you, he would never do that. God! That pisses me off that your ex did that to you!" She yells.

She pauses, breathing deeply, "Mia, your orgasm should feel amazing. Like your head digging into the pillow, toes curling and screaming your head off amazing."

I laugh and get off the couch, "yeah, definitely never had that." Sophia watches me as I pour another cup of coffee. "Mia....that day you came to our restaurant, were the bruises from your ex?" I eye her as I sip my coffee, "yes."

She gets up and makes her way to me. "Is that why you don't have family?" I take a deep breath, with a tear rolling down my cheek. "Soph, I can't talk about it. I'm only keeping everyone safe by not talking about it. The only thing I can't tell you is my Dad killed my mom and he use to beat me. He got tired of me and basically gave me to another man who was far worse. I ran from him and ended up here. I'm scared that one day he will find me and kill me after what I did."

Soph grabs me and holds me, "what happened? Mia I'm not going to say a word. You're my sister. I love you. You can trust me. You need to talk about it to move on." I sob on her shoulder. "Soph...God my ex was so mean."

She rubs my back, "please Mia. Talk to me. I would never speak a word of this, but you need to talk about it. You need to let it out."

I nod, "He was evil....much worse than my father. He tried to take my virginity away, but I would refuse him. He would beat me until I couldn't move. One day I came home from visiting a doctor for my broken ribs and he was fucking another woman in our bed. When I walked in, he stopped and made me sit and watch. It was awful....the beatings got worse when I refused sex. So...I gave in because I couldn't take the broken bones and bruises anymore. I gave him what he fucking wanted. I though once I gave it to him, he would be nicer. I was wrong."

Soph sits us at the kitchen table. Just watching me and rubbing my hand.

"Soph, it got so much worse. He would make other women do things to me while he watched. He would humiliate me sexually. The beatings never stopped. I tried to runaway one time and he found me and fractured my skull. He would tell me how worthless I was and that nobody wanted me. The night I ran away, he gave me the worse beating of my life. He did this because we were arguing. According to him, a guy looked at me "the wrong way", he accused me of cheating. He grabbed my arm and I tried to get away from him. I told him I wasn't and I tripped down the stairs. Once I stood up, blood dropped down legs. I was so confused on what was happening to me."

Sophia looked at me angered and confused.

"Nick took me to his doctor to be examined. His doctor explained I had a miscarriage from my fall. I could see the anger in his eyes. We left the doctors office and he grabbed me, throwing me in the car."

Sophia gasps, "you were pregnant?"

I nod, "I didn't even know I was pregnant. Nick was so furious, he said I did it on purpose. That I killed his baby and he was going to kill me now. When we got home, he strangled me and beat me for what felt like hours. Once I woke up on the floor I could barely move. I sat up in the bathroom and looked into mirror wondering who I was and if this was going to be my life. I decided in that moment I was going to run. I cracked the door to see if I could hear him. I could, he was upstairs in our bedroom with a couple of women. I turned on the shower and slipped out of the window and ran away. I ended up here."

She grabs me hugging me, I sob onto her shoulder. "Mia you are an amazing woman. Aiden would be lucky to have your love."

I take a deep breath. "Soph, I've always wanted children, but apart of me was relieved when I had a miscarriage. I knew if I had his baby, he would never let me go. God, I'm a terrible person." I sob more. Sophia rubs my back, "no you're not, anyone in your situation would probably feel the same. What happened is not your fault. You cannot blame yourself." I nod, wiping my tears.

"Does Aiden make you feel uncomfortable or remind you of your ex?" She asks.

I shake my head, "no, not even close. They are like night and day different. Aiden is so good to me, but apart of me is scared that one day he is going to flip a switch and turn mean. He's a lot bigger than Nick. I know I couldn't handle beatings from him." A tear rolls down my cheek.

Soph wipes the tear away, "Mia, Aiden would never do that. Hell, you have that man wrapped around your finger."

I smile at her and kiss her on the cheek.

Sophia gets a call and I can see Caleb's name pop up. She turns to look at me, "go get cleaned up." She kisses my forehead.

I walk into the bathroom and realize I look like a fucking disaster. I wash my face, trying to get rid of the blotchiness. I walk into my bedroom and throw on shorts and a tank top.

I walk down the hall and Sophia has a huge grin, "grab your bathing suit, we are going boating." I grin and walk back to my bedroom throwing on my black string bikini.