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“You’re here!” I say, heading toward it but stop when it’s Sylvia who appears.
“You!” she hisses. “I knew something was off. He didn’t kill you!”
Before I can answer, she’s on me like a rabid cat. She claws at me, slapping every part of me she can make contact with.
Startled, I raise my hands protectively over my face, afraid to hit her back and severely hurt her. As it is, Noah already hates me for any part I might have played in the death of his father.
The woman may be older and weaker, but her strikes are impactful. She shoves against me, slapping her palms against my shoulders and chest, driving me toward the rear of the deck. It all happens so fast that I don’t realize I’m so close to the glass rail until it hits my lower back.
“You have to calm down!” I plead.
“Why did he have to want you? You look nothing like me! But Leonardo always liked them younger. Tell me, did you like how he fucked you?”
“What? You think I slept with your husb—” Another whack, this time right across the chin.
My head snaps sideways, and for a moment, I see stars. When she goes to hit me again, I’m able to grab her wrist. Finally done with her, I shove as hard as I can, throwing her several feet away. She lands ungracefully hard in that pencil dress, sliding across the concrete, skinning her hands and knees.
When she rights herself, she looks at her wounds and cries out, “You bitch!”
Though I’m still discombobulated, I’m able to see the gun she’s produced and is now aiming my way. I jump just in time, throwing myself to the ground and rolling as she fires shot after shot.
Somewhere behind me, I hear glass shatter. When I turn to search for the source, I spot a segment of the railing missing and several others sporting bullet holes.
Sylvia continues to shoot, missing me completely, and her terrible skills are almost laughable. She pulls the trigger until there’s nothing left but a click.
That’s when I stand, intent on getting the hell out, but before I can move, she rams me like a bull, her head to my gut. It knocks the wind out of me and I stumble back. Then she does it again and again, and that’s when I realize her aim wasn’t terrible. It was fucking accurate.
Little by little she pushes me toward the missing rail. I dig my feet in and shove back the moment I can catch my breath again. But she’s a beast.
She grasps my shirt and shakes me like a ragdoll. And even though I manage to keep my footing, she’s so out of control, she loses hers. Her foot slips off the edge and she falls, bringing me with her.
As if in slow motion, we slide off the side of the building, the concrete scraping painfully at the skin of my ribs as I go. My mind rushes and my heart pounds as pure, unadulterated adrenaline rushes through my veins.
In a last-ditch effort to save myself, I cleave to the side ledge, almost tearing my fingernails off in the process. Sylvia also tries to grasp onto the ledge, but she slips and somehow manages to get a hold of my legs. The sudden pull on my fingers has me screaming.
It’s sheer luck that I was able to catch myself. But the fact that I can hold on with Sylvia’s weight on me must be divine intervention.
I can’t die. I don’t want to die!
“Oh God!” I cry out, my fingers feeling like they might break off.
The odd thought of that last meal flitters through my mind. Maybe if I’d skipped it, I’d weigh less. Or maybe I should have hit Sylvia back harder so that I wouldn’t even be in this predicament.
I risk a peek down and regret it instantly. Maybe I should just be grateful I’m still alive.
“Die already!” Sylvia screams as she begins to climb me.
“You’re insane!” I attempt to pull myself up, but when I do, the soles of my sneakers skid off the side of the building. Again, I try, this time managing to grab onto a post above me.
All the while, I’m supporting this crazy woman, then watch in horror as she reaches the top and tries to unclench the tight grip I have on the building.
“Get off m—” My words are cut off when she slips and manages to wrap an arm around my throat.
Breathing becomes a challenge, and I feel myself losing strength with each passing millisecond.
Oh God. This is how I’m going to die. Falling off the side of a building with a bitch on my back.
But my biggest regret is that I didn’t get to warn Noah.
