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"I've been with your mom since I was fifteen," he said. Gross... I wanted to say it out loud, but I was trying to stay alive.
"So it was never my dad who had an affair," I said. "It was my mom."
"Yeah." He shrugged, leaning on the bathroom counter. "You would be surprised what people will do for money. I found a pregnant homeless woman on the street and offered her a couple of hundred dollars to testify against your father as his mistress. She did a lot better than I thought she would. But enough of all that." He pulled a chef's knife off the counter.
"Brandon," I said. "You don't have to do this." KJ should have been here by now unless he was out of town. Or he didn't get my text.
"Shut up," he warned. He stepped forward with the large knife in his hand. "Hold still." He dragged the knife through the thin material of my shirt, cutting it open. "We don't have to tell your mom about this part." He laughed sadistically. "Oh, wait, you'll be dead." He pulled at one of my bra straps, sliding the knife through it and cutting it in two before moving to the other side and repeating his actions.
I jerked against the restraints. "Brandon, stop," I ordered, trying to hide the tremble in my voice. Brandon froze, and I thought he was listening to me for a minute until I heard the noise in the front of the house.
"Is that your boyfriend here to save you, princess?" Brandon snarled. "Guess he'll have to die too."
"Help," I screamed, wrestling to free myself from the restraints. "He has a knife." Brandon reared his hand back on a low growl and struck the back of his hand across my cheek so hard that the chair and I tumbled backward, facing away from the door.
The bathroom door slammed shut, and he was gone. Panic surged through me. I fought hard against the rope, trying to loosen it enough to free myself. A loud crash boomed from the opposite side of the door. Fear gripped my lungs, squeezing so tightly I couldn't breathe. Something glass shattered, echoing through the house. I jerked against the rope again as my heart pounded so hard I thought it might explode. Fear was supposed to give a burst of adrenaline that gave one superhuman strength, but it wasn't enough to free myself.
I kicked, trying to spin the chair so I could at least try to see under the door, but the chair was jammed between the sink and the tub.
KJ had walked into the lion's den without warning, and I didn't want him hurt because of me. A loud pop boomed, and I screamed. Freezing, I listened for any sounds from outside the bathroom.
"KJ," I screamed.
Please let him be okay. Please let him be okay.
Not only was KJ my only chance of getting out of this mess, but I would rather die than see him get hurt trying to help me.
The door handle to the bathroom jiggled, and my entire body went stiff as a tear streamed down my cheek. My eyes squeezed shut, and I sucked in a sharp breath as I said a silent prayer that it was KJ and not Brandon pushing through that door.
My breath hitched as the bathroom door pushed open. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, like time was standing still. My heart pounded, and my pulse drummed in my ears so hard it nearly overpowered his voice as he called out to me.
"KJ!" A sob shredded from my throat. I was no longer able to fight the fear. "KJ" The heat of his hand curled around my arm, and I flinched as my eyes flashed open, tears streamed uncontrollably, burning my cheeks.
It wasn't KJ leaning over me.
It was Jayden.
"Sadie," he said. Panic spread across his face as he jerked my chair upright and quickly worked to release me. "Are you okay?" I couldn't say anything as relief lodged tightly in my throat. I had never been so happy to see him. "Sadie, please talk to me. Say something."
"I'm okay," I sucked in a sharp breath. "Where's KJ?" His brows pinched, and confusion twisted on his face as he worked at the rope wrapped around my ankles. "Did KJ ask you to come?"
"No," he said, releasing my ankles from the restraints. "You texted me, Sadie."
"No," I shook my head. "I texted KJ.”
He shook his head as he released my hands. “You texted me.” KJ and Jayden’s names were next to each other in my contacts. I must have accidentally texted Jayden in my panicked rush instead of KJ. He released my hands, and I leaped into his embrace, wrapping my arms tightly around him. It no longer mattered what he’d done. It might later, but at that moment, I was so happy to see him.
"I thought you were gone." I sobbed hysterically against his chest, realizing that he wouldn't have made it to me in time if he had been gone.
"I couldn't leave." He sighed, his grip around me tightening. I felt safe again. “I couldn’t leave you.” We sat on the floor, tangled together. My heavy sobs filled the quiet bathroom as he held me tightly against him. It felt like a heavy weight lifted off my shoulder, letting it all out.
Sirens sounded in the distance. “Sadie,” KJ shouted from the front of the house. “Jay?”
“We’re back here,” Jayden shouted.
KJ sucked in a deep breath, slowly releasing a heavy sigh of relief when he saw both of us. I shifted in Jayden’s arms, and he winced.
“What’s wro—” I trailed off as my gaze landed on the dark red seeping through his white shirt. “Omigod.” I grabbed the hem of his shirt, ripping it up. “You’re bleeding. You were stabbed.”
