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I knew Steven wouldn’t give me up without a fight, but I figured I had more time. I’m not ready to leave yet. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to leave.
Once I’ve forced my breathing to calm a little, I contemplate how much longer I have before Steven makes his move. He’s calculating and I know he won’t show up guns blazing. He’ll have a plan in place and that takes time. I figure I have a few days before he shows his face. That leaves me with enough time to either tell Jaxon what’s going on and hope he can help me some way, or pack my things and hit the road again.
I have no idea why I’m not freaking out more than I am. Maybe it’s because I’m tired of living in fear. It could be because I’ve seen the softer and nicer side of humanity. It might even be because the reality of Steven being here truly hasn’t hit me yet. Either way, I get up on shaky legs and grab the crate half full of bottles and slowly make my way back up the stairs.
I don’t want anyone to know something is wrong so I try to act normal. The place has more people than before my trip to the basement. Almost all the tables are occupied. I look at the pool tables and find a group of guys hanging around them, but Jaxon and Nick are nowhere to be found. Mia and Andrew are busy serving customers from behind the bar.
I walk over and lift the partition and bring the crate over to the mini fridges. After setting the crate down I stand back up. Something close to the door catches my eye.
There, casually leaning against the wall, is the one person who has almost shattered me beyond recognition: Steven.
My eyes lock on to his while he quietly watches me.
My heart pounds heavily in my chest. I’m not breathing because I’m too scared to move. My ears start to buzz and a white film appears in my peripheral vision. Sweat starts to bead on my forehead and the beating of my heart can be felt pounding inside my head.
Here is the freak out that I was lacking earlier. The rational part of my brain tells me.
Oh my God! He’s here! He’s here and now he’s going to kill me!
Because my body has no choice, and I’m on the verge of passing out from the lack of oxygen, I take in a deep breath. Steven notices my reaction to his presence and it satisfies him. I see him smirk at me while taking a drag of his cigar.
At the expression on his face and what it means for me my vision goes even blurrier, the buzzing in my ears gets louder, and my heart rate kicks up even more.
I feel someone at my side saying my name, but I can’t look away from Steven. His gaze holds me captive and I’m powerless to look away. I feel the muscles in my legs starting to give way and I know that I’m on the cusp of blacking out.
Right before my body gives into the demand of too much fear and angst and I hit the floor, I hear two things.
First, is me uttering the word, “Steven.”
The second is someone screaming, “Jaxon.”
15
YOU KNOW HOW PEOPLE say that when they come to from blacking out they are disoriented and don’t know what happened before they went down? Yeah, well, not so much for me. I know exactly what happened and what caused me to pass out. My vile piece-of-crap husband showed his face.
I lie there, on what I assume is a couch, listening to the voices around me before I actually open my eyes. I’m not ready to face reality yet.
“What the hell happened?” I hear Jaxon growl off to my left. I can tell by his voice that he’s extremely pissed.
“I don’t know. One minute she was standing there looking across the room with a strange look on her face and the next minute she just dropped.” This is from Mia. There’s worry in her voice, something I’ve never heard from her before.
“Well, she didn’t just pass out for the fun of it. Something happened and I want to know what the fuck it was!” Jaxon again.
“Jax, man, calm down.” Nick.
I feel a presence get close to me, and I immediately know it’s Jaxon. He reaches down and grabs my hand. “Angel, can you hear me?”
I decide it’s time to face what is set before me. I flutter my eyes open and take in Jaxon’s worried face right in front of me.
“Hey, baby,” he says softly to me.
“Hey,” I say back to him while I try to get up.
He gently pushes me back down. “Just stay there for a few minutes.”
“I can’t. I have to leave. I can’t stay here any longer,” I tell him.
The hand still wrapped in mine jerks and I look into his eyes again. “What? Why? What happened out there?”
