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“Yes,” I stated the truth, plain and simple. I didn’t care if he buried the damn knife hilt-deep in me while I did as I’d vowed. I would end his fucking life before he put his hands on Jasmine again.
“Then come on.” Billy grinned and waved his knife. “Come and get me if you think you can take me.”
“D-Don’t,” Jasmine whispered, tugging on my shirt.
“Get in the house,” I told her without taking my eyes off the asshole. “Call 911.”
She hesitated.
“Now isn’t the time to disobey me, Jasmine,” I growled.
Still, she hesitated, and I swore to myself if Billy didn’t end up sticking that knife in a vital organ, I’d redden her ass whether she wanted me to or not.
Billy’s grin widened, and he beckoned toward me with his free hand. “Come on, pansy-ass. All them muscles are just show. You ain’t got shit on me.” He spat again. “I’m a badass motherfucker. Done time.” His eyes went psycho, and like an absolute moron, he spread his arms wide, leaving himself vulnerable. “I’m a fucking—”
I leaped forward, my right hook slamming into his jaw before he could bring the knife back in front of him. His head snapped to the side, and he went down in a heap, the blade clattering on the driveway.
Anticlimactic as fuck but satisfying all the same.
Jasmine gasped behind me, but I stared down at Billy, wanting him to get up so I could punch him in the fucking head again.
He didn’t stir except for the slight rise and fall of his chest.
“Call 911, Jasmine,” I repeated, my fists still clenched, my ears ringing as I towered over the scum of the earth who thought to fuck with my woman.
I glanced over my shoulder. Jasmine hadn’t moved. She stood trembling, hands over her ears, widened eyes staring at the asshole at my feet.
“Jasmine,” I said, forcing my voice to calm. “He’s out cold and not coming to any time soon. I won’t let him touch you.”
She tore her focus off him and met my gaze, dropping her arms to wrap around her waist to hug herself tight.
I tried for a reassuring smile although I lusted to fucking rip the fucker to shreds. “You’re all right. Be strong like you have been the past couple of months. You can do this. I have faith in you.”
She nodded, took a stumbling step backward, and hurried into the house.
I turned my attention back on Billy who hadn’t moved. “Fucking piece of shit,” I hissed. “You’re lucky I hit you in the jaw and didn’t crush your nose clear into your brain like I wanted to.”
My spiked adrenaline hadn’t gotten completely used up, and I fought against the need to shake. I opened and flexed the hand I’d crushed his jaw with. It fucking hurt.
But was better than a stab wound any day.
Chapter22
Jasmine
Ihad nightmares for three days in a row.
Micah’s security cameras caught Billy in the act of sneaking up on me as I’d used my hip to shut my car’s back door. He’d humped against my backside like he’d done as a kid before I’d even realized someone stood behind me.
My restraining order still stood, and he’d directly violated it. Add in the blade he’d had in hand while threatening my life along with Micah’s, and Billy wouldn’t be free again for a long time.
But my mind instinctively tossed my emotions into a slammer of sorts along with him.
Dry-eyed, I curled in on myself, unable to work or even function. My parents suggested I move back home, but I felt safer in Micah’s house even though every time he had reached for me in the hours following the attack, I’d flinched. He’d stopped trying after the third attempt, giving me space.
I hadn’t broken down but had gone from shock to stoic silence. Bottled up tight. I slept in the guest room. Alone. Lights on.
The fourth night I woke gasping for breath, Micah stood in the doorway, knuckles white from how he grasped the doorjamb.
