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"Try me. I'll just leave the two of you to get reacquainted.” He stood up, unfolding his long legs as he pinned me with a glower. “You have your freedom because I allow it. Don't forget that, Nissa. I’ll leave you two to get reacquainted.”
My heart slammed against my ribs. There had to be a way out, because I could not live like this anymore. Constantly in fear of what he might be capable of and of what that would mean for me. And then of course the constant fear of who he might hurt to get exactly what he wanted.
I heard footsteps behind me and whirled around, my heart and my belly doing a free fall, my blood pressure dropping so suddenly I started to feel dizzy. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, and I shook my head. “No.”
There he was in all his sharp-jawed glory. His face had gotten more angular. Like he had turned from a boy into a man. He’d filled out too. Though lean, he’d clearly found a weight room wherever he’d gone.
He wore his hair shorter now, just barely an inch longer than a buzz cut in the front. His strong nose looked like it had maybe been broken before.
His eyes, though, they were the same. Bright clear aquamarine.
He approached slowly, as if approaching a dangerous wild animal. And just like always, the gravitational pull to Westin St. James was one I couldn't ignore.
“Hey, Nissa, you look good.”
Hearing the low timbre of his voice made me tingle. Every nerve ending stood at attention. When he was within a foot of me, close enough to touch, close enough to hug, close enough to taste that forbidden kiss, I drew my hand back and slammed it straight into his nose.
WESTIN
The blood tasted acrid on my tongue, and pain bloomed along my cheekbones, up into my forehead, and down to my mouth.
She’d learned well. I had taught her that punch.
And now she's using it against you.
I knew better than to toss my head back and pinch. Instead, I grabbed a napkin from Julian’s tea setting and quickly applied pressure. “This doesn’t feel like happiness to see me.”
“I swear to God, I will kill you.”
“I encourage you to try. But Nissa, this is not going to go how you think.”
To be fair, I had completely underestimated her. That sweet girl I’d left behind was gone. Instead, she was replaced by this woman who knew how to throw a punch. And a kick. Oh, and look, there came an elbow.
I blocked them all easily. And when she roared and launched herself at me, I knew that she wouldn't stop until she did damage, most likely to herself.
I threw the napkin aside and wrapped my arms around her, tucking my face into her neck so I could avoid a bite coming for anything major. I encased both of her hands in one of mine, pinning them behind her.
When I had her secured, I backed her up against the wall, towering over her, making sure she knew that I was stronger and that, for now at least, she was beat. The wall had the benefit of the shadows and a camera blind spot.
Maybe you don't underestimate her this time?
I leaned over until my lips were against the shell of her ear. “Stop it. You will behave, do you understand?”
The sound of her breath coming out in short, shallow pants was kicking my blood into high gear. Nissa had changed. She wasn't much taller, but she'd certainly filled out more. She was also stronger. More agile. And her face was more sculpted. When I’d left her behind she was sixteen. Now, with her twenty-first birthday on the horizon, she was the kind of woman you couldn't forget.
She lifted her gaze and met mine, and the two of us stood locked in that embrace for what could have been minutes or hours. I had no idea, because with her, time stood still.
With my body pressed up against hers, all I could think about was every moment I had spent wanting her and not being able to have her the last time. Needing her, knowing full well there would be repercussions for her and for me, until finally my control had snapped. It had been the best damn night of my life.
And then you left her behind with that psychopath.
For four years, I had told myself that I hadn't had a choice. That I had needed to survive. That one day I would go back for her.
But the more distance I put between myself and Julian Montgomery, the more I started to feel like I was a free man. And that guilt, that clawing need to go back for her, I’d buried it deep. Because if I gave into it, I would have come back. And we both would have been worse off for it.
But you still ended up right back here, didn’t you?
When Nissa spoke, her voice was low but strong and firm. “If you like your bollocks where they are, I highly suggest you release me.”
