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When my lungs burned in protest, I flashed back to something I learned from a self-defense class years ago.
If someone is trying to hold you, ram your head into theirs. If they’re behind you or in front, it doesn’t matter. It’s going to hurt them and give you a few seconds. Use those seconds well.
I stomped on his foot just as I was about to gasp in air. His grip relaxed on my hair just enough for me to rock forward and crash my head into his nose.
His howl split the air again and I stumbled back, taking in deep breaths now that the cloth was away from me. Sweeping the room, I nearly shuddered with relief when the familiar shape stuck out from under the bed.
Harvey recovered quickly, lunging for me just as I jumped for the gun. It all came down to five seconds. My hand closed around the grip just as I could all but feel his breath on the back of my neck.
Spinning to face him before he could get a hold of me again, I pointed it at the center of his chest and snapped.
“Get away from me, or I’ll shoot!”
My hands were shaking to the point I’d probably miss, but at least he hesitated, eyes trailing down to it with wariness and amusement.
“No, you won’t. You can barely hold it from how bad your hands are shaking.”
He moved to step forward, and in that second, I knew it was going to come down to him or me. Taking a deep breath, I forced my hands to stop shaking and made my decision.
It wasn’t going to be me.
I was finally happy. I had Oliver, and I wasn’t going to let Harvey ruin my life. He’d betrayed me in the worst of ways and wouldn’t stop until he had my money.
If the only way to ensure I was safe from him was by permanently removing him from the equation, then…so be it.
He must have sensed how serious I was because he stopped moving forward, considering me again and for longer this time. “You’ve changed since this whole mess started; the old you wouldn’t have even had the guts to pick up the gun, nonetheless intend to shoot it.” He said, and a hysterical laugh bubbled in my throat.
“You intended to marry me for my money, stalked me, hidbodies, and now are saying you’ll kill me. Of course, I’ve changed!Youmade me change!”
He rolled his eyes, “Don’t be so dramatic.”
Seriously.
Seriously?!
Anger turned my vision red, but before I could do anything, he lunged toward me. Everything happened in a blink, then.
His hand closed around mine on the gun, the trigger biting painfully into my finger as he tried to twist it out of my grip. As we struggled, he shoved me against the wall, the pain radiating from my hand getting worse the longer he had a hold on it.
Just as I thought he’d break my finger, a deafening shot rang out. We froze.
Adrenaline screamed through me, and my blood rushed in my ears until I couldn’t hear anything else. It was only when I looked down, half afraid of what I’d see, that relief hit.
A bloom of red was branching out across his chest, and he stared at me with wide, shocked eyes.
“You shot me…” He said, as if he still couldn’t believe it despite the injury on his chest.
I shoved him away, my finger pulsing angrily as I put space between us. “Of course I did! You’re trying to kill me!”
He staggered back, slumping against the wall as he stared at his hands. They were covered in blood as he tried to stop the bleeding, and the sight turned my stomach.
The sound of a car speeding into the driveway cut through the silence just before Oliver came running, his pace deathly pale as he took in the situation.
“How in the fuck did you even find my house?!” He snarled, gently taking the gun from me and tucking me into his chest. It was only after he did that I realized how badly I was shaking again. His chin rested on my head, offering something solid to focus on as Harvey answered.
“Had some help from a chick you used to date. I thought I was gonna have to ambush her on the way to work or something and take you out too, but then fate droppedherin my lap.”
Diana. She’d seriously gone so far as to set my insane ex on me.
