These people were all dressed in business suits or business skirts for the women, and I recognized their type. They’d come for happy hour from their middle-class white-collar jobs. I actually recognized one of the couples since they often stopped by the restaurant to get a reservation, but they never heeded the advice to call the day ahead to reserve a table. We were always booked out a day in advance, but this couple never listened. They would get miffed when they were denied.
As both of them were watching me, I knew they had recognized me as well. I stiffened and tried to keep myself from glaring at them, but I didn’t think I was succeeding. The woman’s eyes sharpened, and she started to glare back at me. The guy didn’t seem to like me much more. Slowly, one by one, their group of friends noticed the exchange, and they grew silent.#p#分页标题#e#
One of the guys asked, “You know these two, Harold?”
Harold. I snorted. He looked like a Harold—old and stuffy with an ego that didn’t match his bank account.
Harold’s wife hissed at me, “You have a problem, little girl?”
I drew upright, slowly going to my fullest height.
“You’re nothing but a little girl who’s going to be a gone little girl.” Edmund’s sick taunt washed over me.
I started shaking.
This woman had no idea what she’d said, but I was right back there.
I was in the bedroom as Edmund started forward, but Kian was there. He stepped inside. I saw him, saw the complete calm over his face, and I couldn’t look away. His eyes were dead. A part of me knew that I should’ve been scared. I should’ve cowered, run away, but I didn’t. I stayed there, and I knew, somehow, that I would be safe. When Edmund realized someone else was in the room, it was too late.
For him.
The flashback ripped through me. The old fear crept up inside of me, mixing with the rage that was really directed at Edmund. I jerked forward, my nostrils flaring, and my hands were in fists. This woman and her husband had become Edmund to me. I wouldn’t take their disrespect. I had taken it for too long from him, and I never would again.
They were talking.
But all their voices faded to the distance.
I just heard their laughter. I saw the mocking looks on their faces. They thought they were above me. They thought I was dirt beneath them because that was how they treated people. They thought they could hurt me.
Never.
Again.
Then I was swinging. I was ready to take them on, all of them, but that one couple in particular. Suddenly, there was shouting, but I still couldn’t make out the words. They were moving away from me. Someone yelled out. Satisfaction surged through me. Good, I wanted them to be scared. I’d been scared for too long.
An arm was around my waist, and I was being picked up. Someone carried me away, and a hand started rubbing down my back. That someone, whoever was holding me, was trying to soothe me as we hurried away from the group at a fast clip. The group was almost running, coming after us.
I felt the tension from whoever was holding me. I reacted to it, going with him and slowly, the anger started to leave me. A buzzing sound dissipated in my head, and I became aware of my surroundings.
Jake was running down the sidewalk with an arm tucked around my waist. He kept an iron grip on me, and his other hand touched the top of my head, covering it every now and then. He ducked around groups and then into a building’s doorway. He dropped me but kept his hands on my waist. I felt them digging into me.
He was saying something to me.
The need to protect myself was still strong, and I stared up at him, unable to fully make out what he was saying. The buzzing was still there. I shook my head. I needed to let him know, but he shouted something and dug into my pockets. My phone fell out, but he pulled out my keys and started looking through all of them. He produced my building key and shoved it into the door. After unlocking it, he swept us both inside.
My phone was on the front stoop.
I couldn’t leave it there. Kian’s number was on there. Ducking from his hold, I darted outside. That was when I heard the shouts from the street.
“Where did they go?”
“That bitch was going to hurt my wife.”
They were in full pursuit. I couldn’t believe that.
Jake hauled me back inside and whirled both of us behind the door, so the group couldn’t see us. Just as he did, they ran past us. He clamped me to him, one arm firmly holding my head to his shoulder and the other on my waist. He wasn’t letting me go. I didn’t fight him. As everything began to register in me, I felt the fight starting to leave me, and I became exhausted.#p#分页标题#e#
What had I almost done?