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“Andrea! Where the fuck are you?” he screams.
His footsteps pound on the marble floor, the sound of each one sounding like a mortar shell as he comes running up the stairs towards the bedroom. I scramble to throw my stuff into my suitcase as fast as I can.
The door swings open, slamming hard into the wall behind it. It bounces back towards him in the doorway, as the sound of crumbling drywall meets my ears. He stands there with a menacing expression on his face. I freeze, terrified.
He looks around, taking in the room and assessing what’s happening. His expression goes from menacing to raging in the blink of an eye.
“Oh no, bitch. You arenotleaving!” he says as he lunges towards me.
I yelp in surprise and crawl across the bed to escape him.
“Christopher, stop!” I yell.
He circles back, blocking the bedroom door. “Where is the key?!” he yells.
I look around, realizing there’s no way out. A full-blown anxiety attack is speeding toward me, but I try like hell to push it down. Now isnotthe time to freak out.
“What key, Christopher? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say calmly, trying to steady my breath. If I can calm him down, I can still leave.
“Don’t play dumb with me! Where is my fucking safe deposit box key?” he screams as he steps toward me.
Fuck, why did I hold on to it? This may be the biggest regret of my life.
Barely two feet between us, he continues. “I know you were there. I saw the ledger. You crossed a fucking line. Nothing in that box concerns you. You had no reason.You had no right!” He closes the distance between us the moment he finishes speaking.
Oh, God. He knows.
He’s barely an inch from my face.
I have to think fast. I shove him as hard as I can, catching him off guard.Fuck him. He isn’t pushing me around anymore. He stumbles back, tripping on the edge of the rug before hitting the floor. He looks at me in disbelief.
“YOU STUPID BITCH!” he roars, jumping up and charging me.
I ready myself—or I thought I did.
He slams me against the wall next to my bedside table. His hand is on my throat, applying just enough pressure to make me panic. My eyes dart around, looking for any way out. His eyes are black, and I’ve never seen him like this. This monster isn’t someone I know. The man I loved is gone.
“You think you’re so smart,” he says, sounding like some kind of maniac. He laughs loudly. “You have to be alotbetter than you are to beat me,love.”
Him calling me ‘love’ turns my stomach. I try to steady my breathing again.Think, Andrea, think!
He applies more pressure to my throat and speaks again. “What? You thought you’d uncover all my secrets and expose me? Jonathan thought the same thing, but you aren’t even as good as him!”
He releases pressure, pulling my head away from the wall for a brief second before slamming me back into it and slowly restricting my airway again.
He’s going to kill me.
I struggle against him, desperately gasping for air. An evil smile spreads against his lips before saying, “I should have just killed Swank myself. I could have saved a lot of fucking money. Besides, this isn’t so bad.” He increases his grip on my throat, and I soon feel like I’ll black out.
My eyes search for something, anything I can get my hands on. My arms flail as my hands struggle to find purchase on anything within range. My fingers brush against my bedside table.
Stretching to reach it, my fingertips brush the base of a lamp. My eyes lock on his, keeping his attention. He’s lost in the rage, lost in the bloodlust. Far too gone to notice me stretching or two of my fingers pinching the cord between them to pull it towards me.
The lamp makes a sound as it scoots across the bedside table, distracting him enough that he loosens his grip. Precious air fills my lungs as I suck in a deep breath, taking advantage of the distraction. His eyes dart over to see what I’m doing, but before he can move, I grab the lamp, swinging it at him with everything I have.
It slams into the side of his head with a sickening crunch before he hits the floor with athud.
Fuck!
