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I immediately threw my weight against the door to try and close it, but Felix was faster than me. He shoved his whole shoulder into the door, pushing it open, and the wood slipped from my grasp as I stumble backward. The cold gust of air that followed Felix as he stalked inside was nothing compared to the chill that shot down my spine at the steel glint of a large knife in his hand.
“I think it’s time we had a final chat, don’t you?”
38
SUMMER
“Tabi—” I tried to scream for her, to warn her so she could get the kids to safety but Felix was on me in an instant with his hand around my jaw and the tip of the knife grazing against my abdomen through my shirt. Fear closed my throat, and a whimper managed to slip past as he leered at me, alcohol breath ghosting over my face.
“Ah, ah, ah, none of that,” he snarled. “Don’t want to ruin the surprise now, do we?”
“What—Felix, wh-what are you doing?”
“Y’know, I keep asking myself that. Over and over again, what am I doing? If I had my way, you’d be dead already, and this place would be nothing but a scorch mark in the mountainside but Marina? Oh, no, no, no, she had other plans. Big plans!” His eyes widened, showing me the entire white around his irises, and in a flash, I was twenty-one again, back in that shitty apartment with no way out.
“I-I can help you,” I stammered, “with Marina—”
“Don’tlieto me, Summer,” Felix hissed, and the sharp prick of the knife against my stomach increased in pressure. “All you rich bitches stick together. Doesn’t matter. She was supposed to pay me, Summer, for what I did for her, but she didn’t. So I’m here to collect.”
“Money? Felix I-I have nothing, I—”
“Summer?”
My stomach dropped like a rock as Bonnie’s small voice drifted up from behind me. The moment Felix looked behind me, my heart stopped.
“Who is this?”
“Felix don’t you dare, don’t you fucking dare!” I grasped his wrist and dug my fingernails into his flesh, twisting out of his grip as he yelled in pain.
“Bonnie! Go get Tabitha or Theo!” I yelled but Bonnie just stood there clutching the hem of her T-shirt with doe eyes.
“Grandma’s getting my juice,” Bonnie said. She took a step backward, and Felix’s hand fisted into my hair, pulling sharply. I yelled and fought against him, not caring about the pain of my hair ripping out at the roots. Felix was stronger than me and he bore his weight down on my shoulder, forcing me to my knees.
The blade grazed my throat.
“Bonnie, eh?” Felix said, his dark eyes on her as she took another step over. “C’mere.”
Bonnie glanced between the two of us, and I shook my head. Felix tightened his grip and jostled me.
“C’mere Bonnie,” he snapped, and she jumped, tears filling her eyes.
“Leave her alone,” I croaked, hyperaware of the blade as my racing pulse pushed against it every split second.
“Call her over,” Felix snarled.
“No.”
“Call her over!” He leaned down, his lips stroking against my cheek as he spoke. “Or I’ll gut you in front of her and traumatize her for life.”
Fear consumed me, wrapping tight, cold coils around my limbs, but even as I tremble in his grasp, my resolve didn’t waver.
“No,” I said hoarsely.
“You’d die for her?” Felix growled in my ear, and I nodded shakily.
“Yes.” Never had I been more sure of anything in my life than in this moment. Bonnie’s tears fell, her mouth opened, and she wailed. At the same time, the door to the game room opened, and Kane appeared in the doorway.
“Where’s Grandma? I’m thirsty!” he declared, only to trail off when he spotted the three of us. His little face crumpled. “Summer?”
