“Take what back?” I hold steady, even when he stops as close as my horse and Ada will allow. I’m fighting the urge to cower, past trauma wanting me to shield myself from him.Don’t make waves. Don’t make a sound.
Instead, I tilt up my chin and steel my spine, showing Cal I’m not afraid of him anymore. Not on the outside, at least.
“Your fucking statement!” He growls, eyes scanning for an opening he won’t find.
“You need to leave,” Ada demands sternly.
“And who the fuck are you?” Cal spits.
“The woman about to knock your ass out.” She threatens.
“Yeah?” Cal sneers, reaching behind him. My stomach bottoms out when I see the gun, the way the metal reflects the sunlight reminding me of the night that person was in front of Silas’s house. “Wanna try it?”
He points thegun toward me.
“I was patient with you, Juniper.” He growls, his thumb flicking off the safety, “Let you have your little tantrum. I waited for you to come home, but you’re too fucking stupid to know what’s good for you, and my patience has now run out. So, you’re leaving with me now, and you’re going to retract that statement so we can just go back to normal, yeah? Tell them your lover made it all up, that he forced you to make that statement. You do that and I’ll forget this ever happened.”
“And if I don’t?” I tilt my chin up, hoping to appear strong even though my knees are shaking. Ada steps even closer, pushing her arm up to mine.
“If I can’t have you, Juni, no one can. You really fucked it up this time.”
“I did nothing.” I snap back, “This is all on you, Calvin.”
“Let’s go.” He jerks his hand in a come-here motion, the gun trained on me. I don’t move.
His upper lip curls, and dread has my stomach rolling when he turns the gun on Ada, “Move, Juniper, or I'll shoot her.”
“Don’t,” Ada snatches out her hand, stopping me from stepping toward my ex. “Don’t take one step near him, Juni. I’m serious.”
“I won’t let him hurt you,” I whisper to her and gently shrug off her arm before I pass her Ginger’s rope. “Keep her safe.”
“Juni,” Ada begs, “Don’t.”
“It’s okay,” I assure her.
It was him all along. The man from the night, the same one waiting for me outside the bar. He’s been here the whole time. He wanted to scare me. Scare me into coming back to him.
Ginger lets out a distressed neigh as I step out of her protection, and once I’m in reach of Cal, his hand wraps around my arm tightly. He snatches me to him, fingers bruising where he grasps my arm.
My whole body shuts down when he slams his mouth onto mine. I don’t move, don’t react except to try and not vomit as I feel his tongue on my lips. I keep my mouth firmly shut, even when I feel the barrel of the gun press into my side, biting in just below my ribcage.
He snatches away from me. “You’re going to make this up to me.”
“I hate you.” I spit, fire in my veins as I stare at the man who made my life an utter hell.
“Hate me all you like,” his eyes roam over my face, “I don’t give a shit. You’re my property, fucking mine, and no matter where you run, I’ll always find you.”
“Juni,” Ada cries when he forces me to move by shoving the gun into my body even harder, the pain forcing a cry from me.
“You follow us,” he says to Ada, “And I’ll shoot her.”
The look of horror on Ada’s face is the last thing I see before he starts yanking me toward the car. I trip as I walk, but his tight hand forces me to remain upright.
I realize now why I didn’t recognize the car initially. It’s not his truck.
“Where’s the truck?” I ask.
“They fucking seized it,” he snaps, “because of you. They tookeverything!”
