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“Summer?” Bonnie spoke up so softly I almost didn’t hear her. I saw her black curls poking out of her hat and her eyes fixed up at me.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Do, um…” She paused, and I slowed our walk so she could focus easier. “Do you know if… if Santa will still bring presents if I was bad?”
“Were you bad?” I asked gently.
“Only one—once.” She held up a small hand, and my heart ached suddenly.
“Oh sweetie, yes Santa will still come. You know, you can be bad sometimes, but Santa looks at everything over the whole year. As long as you are good more than you’re bad, you’re okay.”
“Okay.” Bonnie fell silent once more.
“What did you do that was bad?” My curiosity couldn’t be calmed.
“Mummy says it sometimes,” Bonnie murmured. Bonnie’s mother, Jax’s ex. She sounded awful from the little info I gained from Jax yesterday, but I couldn’t say a word, not in front of her child.
“Well, your Daddy told me you were the best little girl this year, so I think you’re fine,” I smiled and squeezed her hand gently. She looked at me again, her eyes brighter and her cheeks rosy, then she fell silent.
As we turned the last corner and approached the kiosk, my phone vibrated harshly in my pocket. I peeled off one glove with my teeth, dug the device out of my pocket, and pressed it to my ear without glancing at who was calling.
“Hello?” I asked, expecting Tabitha.
“Summer,” came Felix’s nasal drawl. My heart plummeted to my gut and my blood ran cold.
“Felix.”
“Surprised to hear from me?”
“Hardly. You’re like a cockroach.” Yes, I was fucking surprised. I hadn’t given him a proper thought since arriving here, not at length anyway, but in the back of my mind, I knew it was only a matter of time before he slipped through my blocks. “What do you want?”
“Well, I wanted to check in with you and see how you were,” Felix said. My steps slowed. “After all, you thought you could fuck off halfway across the world, and I wouldn’t be able to find you?”
Instinct had me glancing around at the passing crowds, searching faces and more for any glimpse of familiarity. I saw none.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied quietly.
“Bullshit, Summer,” Felix snapped so harshly that I jumped. “You can’t escape me, Summer. You ruined my fucking life you twisted little bitch, and there’s no corner of this world that you can run where I can’t get you. The fuckingAlps?How did you manage that one, huh?”
“It’s for work,” I replied hoarsely, and my heart began to pound. How did he find that out? How did he always find these things out?
“Bullshit, you got fired, remember?” Felix’s laugh sounded cold and hollow. “You really tried to build a little life for yourself while I rotted away, didn’t you?”
“You deserved it,” I snapped, trying to keep my words low for the sake of Bonnie.
“We were both in that car,” Felix growled.
“You weredriving.”
“Doesn’t fucking matter.” He snorted and that laugh scraped through me once again. “I had a lot of time to think. A lot of time to plan exactly what I will do to you when I get my hands on you properly, Summer. You’re not safe. You’ll never be safe—”
I hung up before he could say any more. My heart thundered in my chest, and I stared at my phone until my eyes blurred and something tugged at my hand. Blinking slowly, I glanced down to see Bonnie staring up at me with wide eyes.
“You’re hurting me,” Bonnie whined.
“Oh God…” In my fear of Felix, I’d accidentally tightened my grip on Bonnie’s hand. In a flash I had her in my arms, cuddling her close.
“Bonnie, I’m so, so sorry, I’m sorry.” I apologized repeatedly, cuddling her close and rocking her slightly, more to soothe myself than her as she seemed relatively unphased.
