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First published by The Writer’s Coffee Shop, 2011
Copyright © E L James, 2011

The right of E L James to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her
under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968,
no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system,recorded or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people
living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

The Writer’s Coffee Shop
(Australia) PO Box 2013Hornsby Westfield NSW 1635
(USA)
PO Box 2116 Waxahachie TX 75168

Paperback ISBN-978-1-61213-058-3
E-book ISBN-978-1-61213-059-0
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the US Congress Library.

Cover image by: E. Spek
Cover design by: Jennifer McGuire

www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/ejames

E L James is a TV executive, wife, and mother of two, based in West London.Since early
childhood, she dreamt of writing stories that readers would fall in love with, but put those
dreams on hold to focus on her family and her career. She finally plucked up the courage to
put pen to paper with her first novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

E L James is currently working on the sequel to Fifty Shades Darker and a new romantic
thriller with a supernatural twist.

I owe ahuge debt of gratitude to Sarah, Kay, and Jada. Thank you for all that you have
done for me.

Also HUGE thanks to Kathleen and Kristi who stepped into the breach and sorted stuff out.

Thank you too to Niall, my husband, my lover, and my best friend (most of the time).

And a big shout out to all the wonderful, wonderful women from all over the world whom I
have had the pleasure of meetingsince I started all this, and whom I now consider friends,
including: Ale, Alex, Amy, Andrea, Angela, Azucena, Babs, Bee, Belinda, Betsy, Brandy,
Britt, Caroline, Catherine, Dawn, Gwen, Hannah, Janet, Jen, Jenn, Jill, Kathy, Katie, Kellie, Kelly, Liz, Mandy, Margaret, Natalia, Nicole, Nora, Olga, Pam, Pauline, Raina, Raizie,
Rajka, Rhian, Ruth, Steph, Susi, Tasha, Taylor and Una. And also to themany, many talented, funny, warm women (and men) I have met online. You know who you are.

Thanks to Morgan and Jenn for all things Heathman.

And finally, thank you to Janine, my editor. You rock. That is all.

He’s come back. Mommy’s asleep or she’s sick again.
I hide and curl up small under the table in the kitchen. Through my fingers I can see
Mommy. She is asleep on the couch. Herhand is on the sticky green rug, and he’s wearing
his big boots with the shiny buckle and standing over Mommy shouting.
He hits Mommy with a belt. Get up! Get up! You are one fucked-up bitch. You are one
fucked-up bitch. You are one fucked-up bitch. You are one fucked-up bitch. You are one
fucked-up bitch. You are one fucked-up bitch.
Mommy makes a sobbing noise. Stop. Please stop. Mommydoesn’t scream. Mommy
curls up small.
I have my fingers in my ears, and I close my eyes. The sound stops.
He turns and I can see his boots as he stomps into the kitchen. He still has the belt. He
is trying to find me.
He stoops down and grins. He smells nasty. Of cigarettes and drink. There you are, you
little shit.

A chilling wail wakes him. Christ! He’s drenched in sweat and his heart ispounding. What
the fuck? He sits bolt upright in bed and puts his head in hands. Fuck. They’re back. The
noise was me. He takes a deep steadying breath, trying to rid his mind and nostrils of the
smell of cheap bourbon and stale Camel cigarettes.

I have survived Day Three Post-Christian, and my first day at work. It has been a welcome
distraction. The time has flown by in a haze of new...