Page 54 of Forever my Love

It was as if every thought, every method Reece had taught her to defend herself, just left her brain. Instead, images of what Fred had done to her that night so many years ago played in her head like a rerun.

His hands gripped her tighter as he pulled her further down the hallway.

“I knew I’d find out where you went. All it took was searching for that boyfriend of yours. The bastard’s going to pay for touching you. You’re mine, all mine now, Princess,” Fred said as he continued to pull her further into the darkness. “Your bitch sister has protected you for the last time. I’ll get rid of her soon enough. She kept you from me for too long.”

When they got to a fire exit door, he kicked it open. Instantly, the alarm sounded, shattering the daze that she was in.

Her body reacted. The moves Reece had taught her, the hours they had spent perfecting her ability to get away from a man who was easily double her size, kicked in.

Her elbow jerked into his ribs and her fist rammed up into his nose.

Seeing the fresh bandage on his finger and remembering Nick telling them that he’d broken it, she grabbed the finger and twisted until Fred’s screams echoed in the hallway and she felt his finger pop in her hand.

“Hey!” someone shouted and then a blur rushed towards Fred and knocked him away from her. “Run!” Amber looked at her, but she didn’t budge, so Amber took her hand and yanked her back down the hallway until they stood just outside the bathroom doors with a group of women.

“Is she okay? I saw the man grab her,” the woman Hailey had just taken a photo with said, rushing to their side. “Gosh, it’s a good thing I saw him grab you and screamed.”

“Are you okay?” Amber said, breathless.

Hailey stood there, shocked and still as everything that had just happened replayed in her mind.

Her eyes moved to the hallway. She held her breath, waiting for Fred to appear and rush after her again.

“He’s not coming back,” Amber assured her as she wrapped her arms around her. “I saw him run out the fire door.”

Just then, a group of security personnel came over to them.

“Who opened the fire door?”

While the group of women and Amber filled them in, Hailey was shown to a chair and handed a glass of water.

Had that really just happened? Had she just escaped Fred? Had he come all the way to Vegas to kidnap her?

His words played over in her head.

“I knew I’d find out where you went. All it took was searching for that boyfriend of yours. The bastard’s going to pay for touching you. You’re mine, all mine now, Princess.”

“Reece,” she gasped, the first words out of her mouth since the attack.

“He’s okay,” Amber assured her. “I think…” She took a deep breath and then took her hands. “I think it’s best we tell him what happened after the fight.”

Hailey thought about how big of a distraction it would be for him. Hell, he’d probably want to cancel the fight and head out to hunt for Fred himself.

Nodding, she stood up.

“Feel better?” Amber asked.

Hailey nodded again.

“Good. I’m going to call Tom and Nick so they can have a chat with the Las Vegas police so everyone can keep an eye out for that man. I assume it was Fred?”

Hailey nodded once more. “He said that he found me by all the photos online. He found me because of Reece.”

“Don’t stress about that right now,” Amber said after a moment. “I think you need a shot of something strong.” She narrowed her eyes. “We’ll hit the bar on the way back inside. We’d better hurry, the fight’s about to start. Are you okay?” she asked again.

Hailey mentally checked out her entire body. Nothing was hurt. The man had grabbed her, but nothing more than Reece had done when they had been sparring.

“I’m good. You? That was a pretty impressive fly tackle that you did back there,” she pointed out, feeling proud at how the small older woman had taken down the giant of a man.

Amber laughed. “I learned from the best. My son,” she added with a wink. “Come on.” She took her hand and led them to the bar area. “If we aren’t in our seats by the time Reece enters the ring, I fear the outcome of this fight.” She laughed. “He loves you, you know that, right?”

Hailey, still halfway in a daze, nodded.

Yeah, she did know that. There was only one question in her mind—did Reece know how she felt?