AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’s pushed me too far, and there’s no coming back from it. And he can see it now.
“You deserve to be punished,” he repeats, but he sounds lost, and the only person he’s trying to convince is himself.
I suck in my breath. “The hell I do. I saw you in a basement standing over the body of over a dozen dead rodents holding a knife. Any sane person would have reached the same conclusion that I did. Tell me, Bastien, why did your parents believe me over you? They knew you better than anyone. So what, exactly did they know? What did you do before that, and how many times did you do it, to make them have so little faith in you?”
It's something I’ve said before and just like last time, it cuts.
He lets go of my arm and pushes me away from him, breathing hard. I hit him right where it hurts. What a sick couple we are, constantly jabbing at each other’s tender spots in a war that will never end.
“Don’t fucking talk about my parents. Ever.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you were such a tender little flower.” I’m poking a tiger. But I’m hysterical with humiliation at what he just did to me in the club, and I can’t stop myself.
His face flushes red. “Get the fuck away from me, Camille.”
A sharp sting lances my heart. Why does it hurt that he wants me to leave? I’ve wanted to escape him from the minute I first saw him at the coffee shop, haven’t I?
I have to go. I can’t live like this.
There’s nowhere you can go that he won’t find you.
But the chase will be fun. Maybe then he’ll do us both a favor and end this once and for all. If I’m to be stuck to him for life, I’d rather die.
“I thought you’d never ask!” I force the words from my lips, and then I turn and run past him down the alley to the street in front of the club. We’re in a warehouse district. The street’s nearly empty. My arms pump and my feet move me over the pavement quickly. It occurs to me that I don’t hear Bastien behind me.
I look over my shoulder to realize he’s not in pursuit.
I’m so preoccupied that I almost miss the two limos parked in front of the club, and a big SUV with darkened windows that’s driving too fast— toward me. Alarm bells ring in my head.
The car screeches to a halt and men in dark clothing swarm from the car, barreling toward me. Before I can even scream, shots ring out, and three of them crumple to the ground.
I whirl around to see Bastien holding a pistol. He shoots a fourth man; there are two left. Before I can say anything, there’s an odd noise, and a dart appears in Bastien’s shoulder, as if by magic. He staggers and falls to his knees. The two remaining attackers run past me, ignoring me now. Bastien is their prize. I was just bait.
Two men grab him by the arms and haul him to the waiting car as I stand there, helpless.
They’re going to kill him.
I could just let them take him. My nightmare would be over. Bastien would never threaten me or anyone that I love, ever again. Instead, my body goes on automatic, and I move without thinking. I pick up the pistol that Bastien dropped, holding it between both trembling hands. I run over to one of the limos that’s idling in front of the club, and rap on the window. The driver rolls down the window, scowling. “What?”
As if in a dream, I stick the pistol in his face. What have I become? “Get out!” That’s my voice barking at him, that’s my hand holding the pistol steady as he tumbles out of the car, his face pale with fear.
I slide behind the wheel, put my seat belt on, and take off, panicking—the dark SUV is disappearing around a corner. I blast through a red light to catch up to them, narrowly missing a car. As I approach, I don’t think through my plan, I rear-end the SUV so hard it spins out and hits a wall.
The airbag explodes in my face with a loud bang, and my ears ring. There’s a powdery, weird-smelling dust, and the smell of smoke surrounds me. I sit, dazed for a minute before the sound of a blaring horn as me snapping out of it.
Bastien needs me.
I scrabble to release my seat belt and bend over painfully to pick up the gun off the floor. My stomach rolls and I can feel the imprint of the seat belt diagonally across my body. There will be time to assess my injuries, but I have to live for that to happen.
If anyone in that car is still alive, they’ll be after me.
I climb out of the car, blinking. My eyes tear and my legs wobble, but I make my way toward the SUV as quickly as I can, gun raised and ready.
Landon was a gun owner and many times we visited the gun range. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert shooter, but I’m good enough. As long as I keep my wits about me.
The man who was driving the getaway car was thrown halfway through the windshield and he hangs there, vacant eyes gaping at nothing, dripping gore onto the hood. My stomach lurches. I did that. I killed a man. Again.
He was a bad man. Someone intent to kill. I got to him first.
