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A sharp pang assaults my heart, an icy hand squeezes it tight.
I want to fall into bed, grab the pillow, and bawl into it for almost falling into Zak’s trap for the second time. I’d hoped I was wrong for being suspicious of his motives. For so long, I’d wanted him to tell me he loved me. I fantasized about hearing those words. Then he finally said them, and all I could think about was his agenda.
Because Zak’s not the fall-in-love kind of guy.
He’s the kind of guy who’ll slit your throat for a nickel and revenge.
Those words must have tasted like poison on his tongue.
Typical man, thinking he can get what he wants by saying something completely disingenuous.
I ball my hands into tight fists and storm into the bathroom. Reaching into the glass shower enclosure, I turn the knob on full blast to buy myself a little time. Then I walk out and close the door behind me.
“Are there any people whodon’twant to completely fuck my life?” I mutter to myself through gritted teeth. I grab the skimpy denim shorts I wore yesterday and quickly pull them on. With a quick glance around the room, I notice Zak’s wallet on the desk.
“Please have cash.” I pick it up and open it to find a bunch of fifties and hundreds stuffed into the billfold section. Finally, a fucking break. Letting out a relieved breath, I grab it all and stuff it into my back pocket.
Then I stuff my feet into my slippers, put the baseball cap on, and run toward the door that leads to the parking lot out front. For a second, I stop to glance down at the car keys by the door, but knowing Zak and his family, they’d be all over me like maggots on rotten meat if I tried to steal it.
Then I remember the cameras that are supposedly set up all over the room.
“I hope you’re watching this, Alek. Here’s what I think ofyou.” I flip him off with both hands before turning on my heel and darting out the door. Once I’m outside, I hunch over with my head between my knees. My chest tightens, each breath of hot and muggy air that I pull in chokes me more.
Of course he was going to choose his family.
Of course he was going to screw me over.
He’d done it before, and there were plenty of other empty promises precedingthatbetrayal.
Why the hell did I think he’d be any different this time? I mean, yes, he can still make my panties evaporate from my body with one flash of his eyes.
But the chip on his shoulder is bigger. Correction—it’s the size of California.
And he’s even more vengeful now than he was a few years ago, because now he doesn’t have the promise of a hugely successful NFL career in his back pocket, an escape from his family obligations.
He has nothing anymore, including me.
It’s all his fucking fault. He drove me to this. He begged for this hell when he barged into my bridal suite a few days ago.
At this point, I’m so devastated by loss that I don’t even give a crap who’s after me anymore. But what I do know is that anyone who tries to snatch me will be the focus of my wrath. I will fight like a hellcat for my freedom.
I drag myself to a standing position, push back my hair, and run. Tormented thoughts pop between my ears like gunshots.
I’ve never felt so alone in my life. Where the hell am I even going? It’s not like I can haul ass back to Brown in Rhode Island. If they don’t already have surveillance on my friends up there, they’ll invade the campus and scatter like cockroaches, just waiting to swarm me if I’m dumb enough to show up.
It hurts to breathe. My lungs are so damn tight, I can barely gulp down air. I sob harder with each panicked step away from the safe house. Zak won’t be outside forever, and he’ll eventually figure out that I’m not actually in the shower. I can’t stand around and lament about how my life is being sucked down the drain.
I can do something to stop it.
To save it.
My skin prickles with sweat. Brickell Bay Boulevard is crowded with cars, bikes, bikini-clad girls, and bare-chested guys. The sun shines bright in a clear blue sky, a perfect beach day for these people who smile and sway like they have zero fucks to give about anything in the world.
I wish I was one of them.
My calf muscles tense and tighten as I wind my way around the crowds of people littering the sidewalk and blocking my path. I ignore my grumbling stomach. The broken heart in my chest has pretty much killed my appetite. Right now, I’m feeding off my need for freedom.
That’s the only thing I need fueling me right now.
