On her knees, in their bedroom, Nadine wept and prayed that God would deliver Tony from his latest obsession. He wasn’t home from work yet and Nadine dreaded the return of the man she had been married to for less than a year. In fact, their marriage was barely six months old. On their matrimonial bed were pieces of the latest development in their relationship – a whip, handcuffs, some other leather apparatus she had never seen before – that just made Nadine seriously wonder about Tony’s sanity. She had long stopped doubting the validity or even the reality of his professed faith. From what she had seen of him at such close range, she was pretty sure that he was faking it … and very well too, since nobody suspected him. There was no reason to … or so they thought. Who would believe her, if she dared tell? Their lives were becoming an endless round of violence and sex, but she hid the bruises well and he was the perfect husband in public …
She had left the house for her office, early as usual … before he woke up. At lunchtime, she had received flowers and a note promising a special treat tonight. She had felt sick to her stomach as from experience, she knew that could only mean seemingly endless bouts of sex, which gratified and satisfied only him. This was always preceded by a meal she got home to find that he had prepared or ordered in, which always managed to catch her off-guard.
She had returned home early, because she had being feeling queasy all day. And she had seen items on their bed, which all but convinced her of the depth of her husband’s depravity. Her shock and horror knew no bounds when she saw those paraphernalia on their bed. It wasn’t that she wasn’t open to trying new things, it was more that they had never actually discussed any of it. There was also a note saying he expected her to be dressed up by the time he came home.
Even as she knelt down by the bed and cried, Nadine knew that she needed help to get away from Tony before he destroyed her … before he destroyed them both.