“The call you made from my room, who was that?”
She spun around, damp hair clinging to her face, as if she didn’t expect me to know that information.
“You forgot about that, huh? The room was registered to me. I can find out all of that information. You might want to remember that next time you scam someone.”
“I wasn’t scamming you,” she yelled back angrily. “I called someone from my work to let her know I was okay. That’s it.”
“Careful, Ella, you’re not thinking your lies through. I already called the number.”
“No.” Her head shook and her eyes widened.
I nodded as my tongue swept across my lower lip, wiping away the dampness of the rain.
“You wouldn’t have done that.”
I cocked my head to the side and smirked as my eyes narrowed. “Are you sure about that? I think you’d be surprised at the things I would do.”
“Oh God.” Her hand went to her stomach.
“There’s no God here.” I stepped closer, stopping within arm’s reach of her. She looked up, eyes sad and searching mine. “He turned his back on me a long time ago.”
“You really are crazy.” Her eyes narrowed as they searched mine, desperately hoping it was all a sick, twisted joke.
“That hurts. You violated my privacy first, Ella. Of course, I guess this makes us even.”
“What did you tell him? What did you say?”
“Who is he?”
“What did you do?” The absolute terror in her eyes was unlike anything I’d seen before.
I could see the wheels spinning in her head. She shoved her hand into her purse and let it fall to the ground as she held her gun toward me again. Newspaper clippings scattered on the ground around us. I bend down and picked up one of the damp papers with Katie’s face on it. I stood up, eyeing Ella as hate pumped through me.
“I hope you remember what I told you. If you’re going to aim that gun at me, you better pull the fucking trigger.” Her hand shook as I stepped forward, pressing it against my chest. “Pull the trigger, Ella.” I stepped forward again, causing her elbow to bend. “Pull it.”
“I’ll do it. I’ll do it this time.” She shook her head, but I could see the indecision in her eyes.
“Pull the fucking trigger!”
And.
She.
Did.
The click of metal against metal was deafening in our heated state. The look of confusion on her face was priceless as the weapon failed to discharge. I smirked, not out of cockiness, but pride that she finally found the guts to stand up for herself. But it meant nothing. Her weapon was empty, like my heart that she so desperately wanted to quiet.
“No.” She looked down at the weapon as if it would give her answers.
“That’s unfortunate.” I sighed as I grabbed the gun and tossed it to the ground. I’d underestimated her. She was a fighter. But she picked the wrong side.
“Now tell me who you called from the hotel room.”
Her whole body seemed to vibrate with fear as her eyes darted around, landing anywhere but on mine.
“You have no idea what you’ve done.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” My patience was wearing thin.
“You don’t understand.” She looked down at her shaking hands. I placed my fingers under her chin, tilting her gaze up to meet mine.
“Then fucking explain it to me, Ella. Give me a chance to help you, or I am walking away.”
“You’d still help me?” Her wide, emerald eyes searched mine for the truth. “Why?”
“As much as I want to hate you right now, I don’t. Something about you has made me start to care again, to feel. I owe you for that, but make no mistake—when that debt is paid, I want you gone.”
Her bottom lip quivered, and I had to look away. I didn’t want to hurt her, and I had to resist the urge to comfort her. As much as I wanted to know what brought her into my life, I was dying to find out who had her so scared.
“I understand,” she whispered with a sniffle.
“Then you better start talking.”
She motioned with her chin toward the overhang of the building, and I followed her to get out of the rain. Her hair was dripping water over her shirt, which now clung to her curves.
She was good at appearing fragile, and it was hard to separate the image she portrayed from the reality of the situation.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t. I’m not asking for more of your lies. Just tell me the truth.”
With a heavy sigh, her shoulders fell. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“Stalker?” I shook my head. “Too simple. You can do better than that.”