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His face shifts, the rage and tension melting off, and his lips curl into a slow smile. “I knew it,” he whispers. “You can never love anyone like you love me, baby.”
“No one,” I agree.
Before I can even brace myself, his lips are hard on mine. I scream against him, but the sound is muffled against his mouth. I jerk my head away and he steps back, smiling.
“Oh, Hattie. The things I have planned for you…” He leers at me, eyes roving over my body in a way that makes terror fist my heart.Oh God, he’s going to…he plans to…I choke back a sob and bile burns my throat. I have got to get out of here, have got to figure something out.
My phone starts buzzing yet again and Josh sighs, pulling it out of his pocket. His face twists in rage as he looks at the screen.
“Connor.Again. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was obsessed with you, Hattie Jane.” He smiles widely, like it’s a funny private joke, like we’re sharing a laugh about it with him using his pet name for me. “I met him, you know. Talked to him.” I already know this, but hearing him say it still makes me jolt. “I was trying to get inside to deliver your flowers. I knew you weren’t there, of course, but I wanted to see where you worked, see how hectic your office is,” he grins at me, like we’re sharing a funny joke about my work habits, “to prove to you that there’snowhereyou can go that I can’t follow, Hattie.”
I take a deep, shaky breath at the idea of Josh finding his way into my office, touching my things, being there without my knowledge. It’s such a violating feeling, it makes my skin crawl and my pulse race.
“I’m sure one of those other hockey imbeciles would have let me in eventually, buthecame along, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk to him, to see how he reacted to someone mentioning your name.” Josh’s eyes darken, looking cold and terrifying. “He wassohelpful, agreeing to take the flowers to you for me. He had no idea who he was talking to, the fucking idiot.” He tilts his head slightly as he studies me. “I should have killed him right there,” he says as if it was an afterthought, a missed opportunity. My chest constricts painfully and I can’t seem to see for a second.
Before I can say anything to that, my phone buzzes again, a text this time. His face settles into a mask of rage mixed with deranged glee as he reads the message.
“Your new little boy toy is on his way here right now.” My stomach flips. Would Josh really try to hurt Connor? To…killhim? In a fair fight, I would bet a million dollars on Connor taking Josh out easy, but if Josh blind sides him with a knife that might as well be a small sword?No, no, no.
“Josh, please don’t do anything stupid. I’ll go with you, I’ll do whatever you want, ok? Just don’t hurt anyone else. Look, right now, you haven’t done anything wrong.” The words taste like ash on my tongue, but I force them out. I need him to think I’m on his side. He narrows his eyes at me, but there’s a hint of interest there. I press my luck. “You came to get me, just like I wanted you to. I needed to see how much you loved me, remember? It was a test. If you cared enough to find me, then it would prove that we were meant to be together. And youdid. You found me. We can leave and be together again.” I see the hope light in his eyes, just a flicker, but it’s enough. “But,” I continue, “if you hurt anyone else, then they’ll try to keep us apart again.”
We both tense when we hear a car turn into the driveway, tires screeching. My mouth goes dry and my heart feels like it’s going to beat right out of my chest, but I try to sound calm.
“Josh, you have to let me get rid of him. I’ll tell him to go away and then I’ll leave with you, alright? We can just go, I swear.”
He looks like he’s fighting some kind of inner argument, literally shaking his head like a dog trying to get rid of fleas. Is he honestly hearing voices in there telling him different things? Hell, maybe he is. I hear Connor’s door slam shut and panic rises in my chest.
“Josh. Look at me. Cut the ties and let me get rid of him, ok? Please, baby. Let me get rid of him and then we can be together.” My voice shakes and my bottom lip trembles, but I take a deep breath, trying to keep my shit together.
He stares at me for a heartbeat that feels like an eternity but finally nods. He rushes forward and yanks me up, turning me so he can slice through plastic ties. A painful rush of relief sears through my shoulders and I roll them trying to ease the ache. I glance down and barely stifle a gasp—my wrists are cut and bleeding, and pain flares, but I push it away. I don’t have time to worry about my stupid wrists right now.
Josh throws an oversized hoodie at me from the back of the couch and I tug it on, pulling the sleeves down to hide my wrists just as the first pounding sounds at the door. Oh the irony that this is one of Connor’s old hoodies, but Josh doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to it other than to confirm that my injured wrists are hidden. I start for the door, but Josh grabs my arm—hard. I gasp as he tugs me towards him, leaning in so his face is inches from mine as he pulls my hair down to cover my cheek.
“If you try anything, Hattie, I’ll gut your boyfriend like a trout while I make you watch. You don’t want to know what will happen to you afterwards.” His voice is calm and frighteningly cold, and I don’t doubt him for a second.Doting boyfriend has left the building, maybe permanently by the look in his eyes. I nod just as Connor pounds on the door again, this time even more urgently.
“Hattie?! Hattie open up!”
Josh stows the knife in a sheath on his belt and reaches back behind him. My eyes widen and I instinctually shrink away when he pulls out a gun. A small pistol, maybe a .22. I had no idea he had it and things just got way, way more real. I don't know why, exactly. A knife is plenty scary and extremely capable of causing life-ending level damage, but a gun? I think I might be going into shock or something. I can barely breathe, but I will myself to remain in control for just a little bit longer.
"Nothing stupid," he whispers and walks with me to the door. He crouches down behind it and shoves the muzzle into my side. I don't know what the fuck to do, but things just turned way more serious. I take a heartbeat to come up with a plan, and can only pray to God that it's the right one. I take a deep breath to try to settle myself. It doesn't work for shit, but I open the door anyway, keeping half my body hidden behind it.
“Hattie,” Connor breathes, relief clear on his face and making my chest clench. “Jesus.” He runs a hand roughly through his hair. “Are you alright? I've been calling and texting!”
I try to sound and act normaI so that Josh doesn't think I'm trying anything, but I need to somehow tip Connor off. I give him a small smile and lean my head against the door frame.
“Sorry, I fell asleep on the couch. I was wiped out.”
Connor lets out a long exhale and glances around, eyes scanning the streets and looking like he’s on high alert. “I was worried. Look, Rand called me and—”
I cut him off quickly. Between Rand’s superior skills and connections and Connor’s freaking out, I can do the math: they know about Josh.
“Oh, yeah, he called me earlier too. I think he found my purse at the arena, I left it last night.” Connor’s gaze narrows and I try desperately to have one of our weird, intuitive, silent conversations.Please understand.Please, please, please.I continue, “I’m sorry I worried you, but there was no reason to be. I’m fine. Just really sleepy.” He studies me in that way of his, where his entire body seems to shift and get hyper focused on one particular thing. He moves forward but I give him a tight smile, not moving to let him inside like I normally would. Hell, I normally would have thrown my arms around him as soon as I opened the door, so he probably already knows something’s up, but I just pray he doesn’t make it obvious.
“So, can I come in, or…?”
“Um, you know what, I’m not really feeling all that great actually—I think that may be why I’m so tired—and I don’t want to get you sick.” He tilts his head and arches a brow in question, and I can tell it’s clicking. His body tenses and my heart thuds in my chest. I shake my head imperceptibly, telling him he can’t react, and I just hope he understands. Josh presses the gun further into my side, the threat clear:get rid of him. NOW.
“Aw, I'm sorry baby,” Connor says, eyeing me critically.
