The Marriage Counselor

19. I Own You.

**TRIGGER WARNING: domestic abuse**

Samantha

Henry exits the closet first, slowly and carefully. She hugs herself tightly, counting to 50 in her head to give it some time between his exit and her own, in case someone decides to come upstairs. Timing hasn't always been on her side. It already looks strange enough to be hiding away in a closet. She doesn't need someone connecting the dots after watching her ex marriage counselor come out first.

Something about this darkness and the fact that you can't hear the party happening downstairs is strangely comforting. She wishes she could stay in here and wait for everyone else to leave. She could sneak away with the other guests and escape with her curly haired lover.

"I need this to be over, Agent Hansen." She pleads, her fingers feeling for the wire still strapped to her chest. Who knows if he's listening? Maybe she says it more for herself than anything else. A silent prayer to the universe.

With a final deep breath, she twists the door knob and peeks her head out into the open hallway. She looks to either end of the hall. The coast is clear. This offers a glimmer of relief as she quickly steps out and closes the closet door behind her. She hurries to smooth down the fabric of her dress.

"You won't believe who I just saw exit that same closet moments before you." His voice appears from behind her. A voice she's heard too many times over the years. A voice that sends a chill down her spine.

She swallows. Her feet feel frozen to the floor but she manages to turn herself around to face him.

Her husband stands in front of her with a blank look on his face. She can't read him; there's no obvious sign of anger, no sense of sadness, not a sliver of disappointment. But no, she's seen this look before, a long time ago. A day so far in the back of her memory, it feels like a scene you remember from an old movie you can't remember the name of. It was pure accident, that day, where she was stuck with her husband during one of his business meetings. Some kind of negotiation. The man who sat across from them at the table looked terrified. He was asking for more time. And next to her, Cody had this same look on his face. Like some kind of mob boss waiting to hear a better deal, prepared to do the worse if he didn't.

It's only a few seconds that pass but it's enough for her to take in the state of his clothes; his white blazer nowhere in sight, his tie undone, along with the first few buttons of his undershirt. On the collar, something red. A lipstick mark. His brown hair is a disheveled mess. His eyes are glazed.

"Co—" She starts.

But she's blocked from saying whatever it is she was going to say. This is due to the way his hand forcibly comes over her mouth, roughly grasping her jaw. His other hand comes up behind her neck and yanks at the ends of her hair. The cry she lets out is muffled by him. He uses these two hands and their placement to drag her out of the hallway, shoving her against one of the doors hard enough that it opens into one of the guest rooms. He kicks it shut behind him.

"Why do you have to be such a pain in my ass, Sam?" He growls, keeping his hand over her mouth as he forces her back against the bed there. "Huh? Why couldn't you just love me and behave?"

His voice is low enough that no one downstairs would be able to hear. But the way he says this, she feels his spit hit her in the face. Her heart is beating so fast. She wants to fight, she needs to, but she can't move. Cody hasn't always been the best husband. He's cheated, he's lied, he's abandoned her, he's used her, he's manipulated her. But he's never gotten aggressive like this before. She's never seen this look in his eye- at least not directed towards her. Maybe he's pushed her when he's drunk too much, thrown or broken things near her. It's the first time in their marriage she's felt physically afraid for her life.

"And of all fucking people in this world," His eyes are wide and his face is red. "You choose to fuck the fucking marriage counselor."

She shakes her head so hard it makes her dizzy. Her eyes are desperate as she tries to speak but only muffled sounds come out.

"I swear to god, Sam, all you had to fucking do was be good. You had everything, I would've given you anything." He moves on top of her now with his full body weight. His knees go to pin her wrists down against the mattress, causing her to cry out again. "You don't think I'm willing to go to jail over you, Sam?"

Hearing this seems to unlock her frozen limbs. She's kicking, trying to hit where she knows it may hurt enough to get him away but the way he's positioned over her puts her at a disadvantage. She tries to break her arms free from under him but he's too heavy. His hand is pressed so hard against her lips that she can taste blood.

"I could do it right now, Sam. Don't fucking test me." He snaps. "But you know what I'm gonna do instead? I'm going to take away everything you love, starting with your little boyfriend. Then I'll go after Rebecca. Then your dad. You will have nothing when I'm—"

It all happens so fast. One second she's desperately fighting for her life under the man she's called her husband since she was 18. The next second, he's off of her through some sheer force. When she looks, Henry is standing behind them. He's managed to grab a hold of Cody's collar and practically lift him off of her. Using the same hand, he forces Cody against the nearest wall, so hard that when his head connects, it seems to leave damage to the drywall.

"Samantha, go find Rebecca. Then get to my car. I'll be down there shortly." Henry says this to her without looking away from Cody. "Now, please."

When she stands up, she's dizzy. She thinks about simply following the orders but she's not going to leave him here. Mostly for fear of his safety but also maybe even Cody's safety, as Henry has a look that could kill right now.

"Henry—" She says, her hand reaching out to touch his back.

"I see the stupid slut doesn't even listen to you." Cody scoffs.

She doesn't have time to register the first punch Henry throws in response to this. All she hears is the damage it does as it connects with Cody's jaw. The second punch he throws meets Cody's nose and then there's a gush of blood with that, which Cody doesn't seem to notice either due to being too drunk or having too much adrenaline going on.

"Samantha," Henry says again, struggling to keep his voice from shaking with anger as he doesn't want her to interpret it being directed at her in any way. I don't want you to see this. He can never touch you like that again. "Please?"

"Henry, just let him go and come with me. I don't care if we have enough. We're done with this and we're going home." She doesn't care that Cody is in the room to hear this.

"I own you," Cody manages to say despite the blood running from his nose. He then looks at Henry as he says his next words, "And now I own you too."

"Yeah, you think so, tough guy? If your daddy doesn't scare me, what the hell makes you think you will?" Henry's voice is controlled but Sam can see the vein in his neck throbbing.

Cody smirks. "My dad's Mother Teresa compared to me. I'm going to ruin your fucking life, old man. The second you walk out of here. You better watch your back 'cause I'll be coming for you."

Henry's fists connect with Cody's face two more times. There's enough force in his punches that Cody's body falls to the floor with a heavy thud. This causes the wall hangings and furniture in the room to practically shake with him.

Cody looks like he's about to get back to his feet and fight but Henry's shoe comes down hard on his throat, pinning him where he is. Sam's about to stop him but Henry holds up a hand in her direction as if he's already predicted her stepping in. He leans down enough to make eye contact with the Chamber's son as he says his next words through clenched teeth,

"If you ever fucking touch her, or come near her again, you're going to wish the cops had gotten to you first."