Page 269 of Knot What I Expected

No.

No, no, no.

I know that voice. I would know it if I lived another hundred years.

My other nature slams against my skin so violently my knees weaken.

“Who—” My throat closes. “Who is this?”

A low laugh comes through the phone.

“You know who this is, Gabriella.”

Ethan.

The restaurant disappears around me. I don’t hear Frank yelling.

Don’t smell burgers cooking on the grill.

Don’t feel the counter beneath my hand.

For one horrifying second, I’m young again.

Trapped.

Chained.

Listening to Ethan tell me exactly what will happen to my body because he believes it belongs to him.

But I’m not that girl anymore. I force air into my lungs.

“What do you want?”

“Now, this is what you're going to do if you want to see your bastard son alive again.”

My heart stops.

Matteo.

“No. He’s safe at practice.”

The word barely makes it out. My gaze flies to the clock.

Soccer. He’s supposed to be at soccer.

“Do you really think there’s any place on this earth where you and that abomination can be free from me?”

My fingers go numb around the phone.

“You can’t touch him!”

“I can.”

Ethan pauses.

“And I did.”

My entire body starts shaking.