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Again, she anticipates my next move. “I don’t think so.” She shakes her head, reaching behind her, revealing a slimmer version of the metal bar. “Not this time. If you so much as make a sound, I’ll slam this into the side of Jaxton’s head, and all of your perfect family dreams will smash right along with his skull.”
“Why are you doing this? You have to know he’ll never choose you, especially now that he knows everything you’ve done. Just let us go.”
The smile slips from her face, as anger flares her nostrils. “Hedoeslove me! If you weren’t here, we’d be together now, having a baby of our own.”
“Then why am I wearing this?” I thrust my left hand front and center.
“Not for long.” She mumbles before launching forward, grabbing my hand, and ripping the ring off my finger. She swings the bar wildly, catching my shoulder, and knocking me back. Pain explodes down my arm, but I’m able to wiggle my fingers so nothing’s broken.
I continue to prod the fragile grip she has on reality by laughing. When she crams the ring on her finger, it doesn’t fit, opening another opportunity. “No wonder Jax doesn’t want you. Bigger boned girls aren’t his style.” Truth be told, fat shaming breaks a part of my soul. All women of every size are beautiful, but I know this is a sensitive topic for her from our times in the basement together.
Just as I’d hoped, her face glows red with fire, snapping that thin barrier of control she’s barely hanging onto. “You fucking,bitch!” She screams, charging forward. I try to dart around her, but the baton catches my side, echoing the snap of a rib. A sound I’ll never forget, as I scream in pain.
Scurrying across the room, she trails after, mumbling to herself. Hopefully, security heard our screams, and will come to my aid. In the meantime, she catches me easily, and pins me by standing on my hand. “You’re fucking crazy.” I grit through my teeth, holding my free hand protectively over my belly, knowing the baby is still the ultimate prize.
She leans down—her agitated eyes blown wide. “You’re like a cockroach. Every time I try to get rid of you, there’s a reason that I can’t—but you’re far enough along now that the baby can come out. So, tonight’s the night, darling!” She pets my hair lovingly. “And you’re going to be a good girl, because if you’re not…” She steps off my hand and over to Jax, running the bar up the middle of his back, to his head. “Lover boy won’t live long enough to see if it’s a boy or girl.” Dread curdles my stomach like sour milk. Understanding there’s no bluff to her words, she’ll kill him without a second thought.
Obviously, letting her cut my baby out isn’t going to fly, so we’re going to have to square off, and hope I’m victorious on the other side. Adrenaline pumps faster than a speeding train, sending bursts of white stars across my vision, threatening to drag me under. If that were to happen, she’ll win—we’d be at her mercy.
I fight with all my might to stay conscious while calculating a plan. Instantly, I stop evading her, as if I’ve given up. Hands up, placating her pursuit. “I can’t. I don’t have the strength to keep running.” My words aren’t entirely untrue, since keeping this pace isn’t plausible. “Just… please let me say goodbye to Jax. He’s not a threat. Please—”
Giving control to Sarah by pleading is exactly what she craves, to hear that she’s won. “Fine.” She flicks the baton in Jaxton’s direction, signaling to hurry and get on with it. “Make it quick. And don’t cry all over him.” Her nose wrinkles in disgust, like having emotion over death isn’t normal.
Slowly, I sidestep towards Jaxton, knowing he’s out cold, with no hope of regaining consciousness soon. As much as saying I love you is on the top of my list, the cellphone in his left pocket is my actual goal.
He’s slumped against the wall at an awkward angle. Once I’m kneeled, I slide him onto my lap, angling my belly so it covers his left side, giving me the perfect opportunity to slip into his pocket. She’s watching too closely to pull it out, so I glide my fingers across the screen, hoping I’ve dialed someone that’ll help.
To keep her distracted from my actions, I lean close to him and whisper as if these were our last moments together. “I love you, Jax. From the moment you and Liam walked through the Sweet Tooth’s door, I knew there was something different about you, connecting us instantly. Since then, we’ve been moving at warp speed, but I wouldn’t change anything for the world—well, almost anything.” I glance over my shoulder at Sarah and glare. Leaning down to kiss his lips, I glanced down his length, stretching his pocket to see that there was a call connected. Relief rushes through me, even though I don’t know who I dialed. “Someone, please help us.” I plead.
Sarah takes this as one last plea. “No one’s coming for you. This ring is mine. Jaxton’s mine. And soon enough, that baby will be mine, too.” A commotion sounds from the living room, slicing another predatory smile across Sarah’s lips, while her eyes remain latched to me. “Looks like they figured out I jammed the door. Did you know a fork can completely disable a door?” Her question is rhetorical, and she answers herself. “I didn’t either until I stumbled on a video. That should give us enough time.” She agrees with her statement by nodding, but how the hell does she plan on getting out of here, especially with the “family” she claims she’s stealing?
Distraction is the best tool, so I ask the questions that are on internal rapid fire. “If they’re outside waiting, how the hell do you plan on getting out of here, not to mention withmybaby?”
The tick in her right eye tells me she doesn’t like my doubts or the fact I’m still claiming them as mine. “It doesn’t matter. You won’t be alive to worry about it.” Reaching behind her back, she reveals another surprise in the form of a giant knife, brandishing it giddily.
The stakes are high, and fightandflight are thrumming like electricity powering my body. A loud thud echoes through the room, distracting Sarah and dragging her attention toward the door.
Now’s your chance.
The words are whispered by some unforeseen force—a sixth sense—ordering me into action. I lunge forward while protectively covering my belly with one hand and swinging a statue I snagged from a table with the other.
She evades the swing at the last second, missing her face but hitting the hand with the bar, knocking it to the ground. That does nothing for the knife that slices across my face, ripping a violent scream from my throat as warm, wet liquid drips down.
“Fucking, bitch!” Sarah cradles her disfigured hand against her chest, confirming several broken fingers.
Still clutching the statue tightly, I glare from under my lashes, blood dripping off my chin, giving off feral vibes. By the way she flinches back momentarily, I must be a sight.Did she think this would be easy? That I’d go down without a fight.I huffed, laughing, because that’s exactly what she thought would happen. People like her aren’t used to hearing the word, no.
“Hope you’re not right-handed.” A crazed cackle escapes, pleasure mixing with the concoction of sentiments brewing within.
She lunges and swipes again, this time catching my upper shoulder but gets clipped on the side with the statue, winding her. The pounding against the door has grown to a crescendo, echoing around the room like thunder.
“What’re you going to do now?” I question, as we circle one another like predators in the jungle, waiting for the other to pounce. “You going to take me out, stealmybaby, and drag Jax out of here, all in one go? There’s no way out!” I scream.
She laughs in my face condescendingly. “There’s an old service tunnel attached to the kitchen. Took me longer than expected to clear a path, but the hotel hasn’t used it for years, so they didn’t think to tell Kam’s precious security team.” The snarl twisting her face is pure evil.
If she hustles, there’s a chance she could escape undetected, and I’m the only person able to stop her. Fuck this and fuck her, too. When we get out of here, we’re moving the hell away from this place. I wanted to begin my dreams here in my first home, but the stigma of this situation’s going to haunt my every move.
Several things happen at once. Sarah lunges, swinging wildly, hitting her mark when the entire knife pierces my side, and sinking to the bone. The shriek of pain that escapes provides the adrenaline I need to slam my sculpture into her face, spewing blood and what appear to be teeth across the floor.
