AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She faltered, and I frowned. “What?”
“I know this is such a bad time to say this, but… I love you.”
“I love you, too.” I wrapped her in my arms, heart soaring. “I’ve always loved you, Sienna. Even when I thought I hated you, I didn’t. Not really. I loved you and I still do. I always will.”
“I feel the same,” she murmured against my chest.
I drew back, lips curving into a slight smile. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
She nodded and let me take her hand to help her off the bed. Her legs were a little wobbly at first due to the hours she’d spent lying tied up in the same position, but I held her steady as we quietly left the room.
“Do you know if Michaela has a gun?” I asked in a low voice as we headed down the hallway toward the staircase.
Sienna shook her head. “I’m not sure. I doubt it, though. Her parents are very anti-gun, so there wouldn’t be anything like that in this house, and she wasn’t planning to shoot me. She told me she was going to push me off a cliff to make it look like a suicide.”
“I figured she’d probably do something like that,” I said, lips twisting into a grimace. “Still, we should be as careful as we can. It’s best to avoid her just in case she does somehow have a gun.”
“But can we really avoid her? She’s right downstairs,” Sienna replied, voice barely above a whisper as we slowly crept down the stairs.
“We just have to do our best,” I said, rubbing her back. “We can try—”
I cut myself off as we turned the corner on the stairwell to reach the second floor landing. Michaela was standing five steps below it, staring up at us with pure shock etched on her features.
She was holding a bottle of water in one hand and a large hunting knife in the other. Several folded bits of toilet paper were hanging out of her left jacket pocket. Clearly, she’d intended to head upstairs to give Sienna a drink and let her use the bathroom while threatening her with the knife to ensure she didn’t try to run or fight.
The shock on her face instantly morphed into fury, and she charged up the stairs, waving the knife high in the air. I pushed Sienna behind me to get her out of harm’s way, and then I grabbed Michaela’s forearm and twisted it to the side as she shrieked and flailed with the knife, doing her utmost to sink it into my chest or side.
“You know what, Michaela?” I snarled, eyes narrowing. “I think it’s my turn this time.”
“Your turn for what?” she replied, voice dripping with hatred as she tried and failed once more to plunge the knife into me.
“This.”
With that singular word, my other arm shot out and shoved her in the chest, hard.
In the split-second that followed, Michaela’s eyes bulged and her mouth dropped open. Then she plummeted backward, sailing through the air before her head and back smashed into the banister with a sickening crunch. Her now-limp body fell to the side and tumbled down the rest of the stairs, coming to rest on the ground floor landing with a heavy thud.
After a long, heavy moment of silence, Sienna stepped around me and peered down the staircase. “Is she…”
“I’ll check.” I held out an arm to keep her back for now. Then I strode down to the bottom of the stairs and kicked Michaela in the side. She didn’t react at all. Blood seeped out from one side of her head, leaving a crimson pool on the floorboards around her.
I looked back up at Sienna. “She’s dead. Or at least very, very unconscious. We’re safe.”
Sienna exhaled deeply. “Thank god,” she choked out, face crumpling with a mix of relief and sorrow. “It’s over. It’s finally over.”
I strode back up to her on the landing, one hand lifting to her cheek. “But we’re not,” I murmured. “We’ll never be over.”
“No.” She smiled up at me through the flood of emotions. “We won’t.”
I ran a fingertip down her face, tracing the curve of her cheek. “You’re mine, baby,” I muttered. “Forever.”
“Yes.” She stood on the tips of her toes and tilted her chin to bring her lips closer to mine. “I’m yours, Paxton. Forever.”
Sienna
3.5 years later
With bated breath, I sat on the edge of my seat, watching the action unfold on the ice. The anticipation in the arena was electric, with the 2026 Stanley Cup game clock ticking down fast while the score sat deadlocked at 2-2.
