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The stalker was standing right in front of her.
TWENTY-SIX
Cole groaned. Every part of him hurt.
He pried his eyes open. A penlight illuminated the bathroom. He was still in Susan’s house. A satellite phone rested next to him and his gun was gone. So was Olivia. Rain beat against the windows. Then a gunshot rang out.
Olivia! Cole willed his body to move, gritting his teeth against the sheer agony threatening to take him back into unconsciousness. Using the bathtub for support, he got himself into a standing position. The room spun for a moment but then settled down. His vision had cleared. The pain of his gunshot wound hadn’t lessened, and it was still bleeding, but the bandage kept the worst of it at bay. He stumbled for the door.
Olivia was in danger. He had to save her.
If he could find her.
Please God, help me.
Fear shot through Olivia, freezing her in place, like a deer caught in the headlights.
Then the attacker lunged for her.
She raised the gun and shot at him. Again the bullet went wide, but this time, it didn’t give him pause. He slammed into Olivia, knocking her backward. Her head rapped against the damp earth and the wind whooshed from her body as the stalker landed on top of her. The gun fell from her hand. It bounced out of reach under a bush.
Instinct and an embedded need to survive took over. Olivia scratched and clawed. She desperately tried to wriggle out from underneath the man trapping her. Air couldn’t get into her lungs. Dots danced across her vision.
“Stop fighting me.” He grabbed her wrist and tucked it underneath his powerful thigh.
Olivia attempted to use her other hand to gouge out his eye, but he reared back and then smacked her across the face. Pain exploded along her cheekbone. It momentarily stalled her movements, which gave him enough time to secure her other hand.
She was helpless.
He chuckled, leaning over her. Rain dripped from his hair onto her face. Darkness prevented her from making out all of his features, but she could see enough to confirm it was the man from the wedding. The waiter who’d drugged Jackson and Felicity. His high forehead led to beady, dark eyes, and a crooked mouth. Something about him was familiar, but she couldn’t place where she knew him from.Maybe it was simply because she’d seen a photo of him in disguise just an hour ago.
“Who are you?” she wheezed. His weight on top of her prevented Olivia from fully inflating her lungs. “Did Justin send you?”
“All my secrets will be revealed in good time.” He took her chin in his hand, studying her features with the gaze of a snake about to devour its meal. “For now, you can call me Master.” He stroked her chin. “You are beautiful. I knew I had to have you from the moment I saw you.”
She shuddered. “You sent me letters.”
“Yes. Love letters.” He twisted her head and leaned closer until he was inches from her face. Then something warm and wet scraped across her skin. His tongue. He was licking her cheek.
Bile rose in the back of Olivia’s throat as disgust twisted her insides. She didn’t know if Justin had hired this sicko, but one thing was certain: this man had stalked her in part because he was obsessed with her. And now she was trapped and at his mercy.
“This can be fun, if you let it.” His breath was hot against the shell of her ear. “Say it. Say my name. Master.”
He was disgusting. Olivia gagged and then gritted her teeth, refusing to give him the satisfaction. “You won’t get away with this.”
His hold on her chin tightened. He twisted her face until she was forced to look him in the eyes. They were dark recesses of evil. “Resisting me will only get you punished.”
He was going to kill her anyway. Olivia had nothing to lose. She was fighting for her life, and knew it. This man holding her down thought she was weak. He was counting on it. But that wasn’t the case. Olivia was brave. Cole had said so. Only hours ago, he told her she was the strongest person he knew. It was time to prove him right.
She head-butted her attacker. Agony ripped through her skull as her forehead collided with his nose. It crunched. Blood flew. He screamed like a baby and reared back enough for Olivia to wriggle her arms free. She closed her fist and punched him right in the apex of his thighs. He toppled to the side.
Chest heaving as she sucked in air, Olivia turned and scrambled to her feet. A hand shot out and grabbed her ankle. He yanked and she tumbled back down to the ground. Dirt and leaves broke her fall. In the next second, he was on her. His hands wrapped around her neck. Heart pounding, Olivia tried to jab him with her elbow. It didn’t land. He bent her head back until she thought her spine would break, all the while squeezing her throat, cutting off her air supply.
“I told you not to fight me!”
He was unrelenting. Her body screamed for oxygen.
This was it. He was going to kill her.
