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I paused automatically, my ears pricking. As I leaned closer to the door, I made out the words of what sounded like one side of a phone conversation.
Quentin’s tone stayed low and a little hoarse. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. It was fine when we practiced— Yes. Yes, I know that. Of course Jess and I tried our best. No, you can’t blame it all on her. I was just— Mom, it wasn’t like that. I still have another chance. I’ll do better, I promise.”
An uneasy twinge ran through my gut. This didn’t sound like the arrogant prick I knew at all, but someone brow-beaten into submission.
I was way too familiar with having those kinds of conversations with my mother. Who’d have thought Quentin had a shitty one too?
Maybe that was where he’d gotten his shitty attitude from. I squared my shoulders and pushed myself onward.
I had bigger things to worry about. Our rival’s family situation didn’t even make the top ten.
I edged down the hall, stifling another shiver. The red blotches on the floor grew larger with every step I took. The smear on the wall continued on to a bend several feet ahead, where one more puddle of paint seeped around the corner.
I hesitated, inhaling the stale air and wishing Rafael had made it here already. My fingers tightened around my knife.
For all I knew, Haggard was already gone. Laughing to himself about how he’d freaked me out yet again. I’d just get to the end of the trail, see what was what, and then I could shut him out of my mind at least for tonight.
I pushed myself forward, my eyes peeled, alert for any hint of a threat. But I still wasn’t totally prepared.
The second I edged past the bend in the hall, a gangly body in a denim jacket hurtled into me. As my attacker tackled me to the floor, a blade flashed in his hand.
The side of my skull slammed into the linoleum floor. I thrashed against the man’s hold, my thoughts spinning with adrenaline and pain, and caught a glimpse of a hooked nose and a cruel mouth I recognized even in my daze as Haggard’s.
He snatched at my wrists, brandishing his knife with his other hand. “I’m going to paint the place with your blood next, Cordova bitch!” he snarled, his spit flecking my cheek.
I shoved at him, squirming away from him with all my might, and the swipe of his blade only nicked a shallow line in my forearm. With a growl of frustration, he heaved me toward the floor again.
I’d gotten my torso briefly free, but he had my legs pinned beneath the weight of his body. Even as I flailed, I couldn’t unseat him to aim a knee at his balls or any other vulnerable area that might have turned the tables.
So I did the best I could with my upper body. Ignoring the swipe of his blade, I jabbed at his chest with my own knife. When he smacked my arm to the side, he gave me the opening to punch him hard in the nose.
Haggard grunted and clamped his hand around my throat. “Fucking cunt. You deserve everything that’s coming to you! You’re a stuck-up, stupid whore, just like your mother.”
Just like your mother.Those words echoed in my ears, sparking a blaze of denial that reverberated through me like a battle cry.
I wasnothinglike Mom, and I’d proved it out there just hours ago. I’d proved it despite this psycho’s best attempts at shattering my confidence.
I hadn’t let him win then, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to roll over now.
Rage flared inside my chest. This prick had been hurling so much shit at me, messing up my life and dragging everyone I cared about into that mess, just to get back at someone I had no association with anymore.
I was nothing like Mireya Cordova, but I was still her daughter, with all the lessons that had come with the role. I would do whatever it took to end this sicko’s campaign of terror.
With a renewed surge of strength, I wrenched to the side, just as Haggard stabbed at me again. His blade pricked my shoulder, but I rocked his balance. As he swayed, I rammed my elbow into his gut.
Haggard’s breath spurted out of him in a pained huff. Anger twisted his features. He jerked around to pin me more solidly again, but I was already whipping up my hand at the perfect angle.
I grabbed his wrist with my other hand, yanking it down to clear the way, heedless of the scratch his knife drew along the side of my bicep. With all my strength, I jabbed my knife into the side of his neck.
It plunged in all the way to the hilt. Haggard’s lips parted with a gurgle; blood splattered from the wound down over my chest.
As his body crumpled, I scrambled out from under it. My back banged into a pair of legs that had just jarred to a stop behind me.
I almost struck out before a big, brawny form dropped down to encircle me in his arms. Rafael held me tight and glowered over my shoulder at the slumped body spilling its life blood across the dingy floor.
I stayed frozen for a few more beats of my heart until Haggard’s corpse sagged with total limpness. There wasn’t a single sign of life left in him, not even a twitch of his fingers.
Rafael tucked his head over mine, his stance taut with tension.
