Finally, as if he realized he’d lost the edge, he stepped backward, out of the closet. I followed him at the exact same pace. He never turned his back on me. He watched me, as I’d seen him watch many opponents in the past.
“You know this isn’t over, Jules. The next time I find you, you won’t have your little toy. We will be together.”
“Go fuck yourself,” I spat. All that confidence had returned to me while I held the only thing keeping me from a miserable existence.
We made it out of the bedroom and to the front door.
“And, if I can’t have you, Jules, then no one can have you. I’d rather kill you myself than see you with that asshole.”
I shivered at the intensity of his words. He really believed it. He really believed that, the next time he saw me, if I didn’t go with him, he’d kill me.
“I hope you burn in hell,” I told him.
Dillon shot me a cocky grin. He liked that he’d gotten under my skin. He liked knowing that, anywhere I went, I’d be thinking about him, wondering if he’d show up, wondering if he’d kill me.
He had to turn to slide the locks and open the door.
“I will never be yours, Dillon,” I told him when he was finally on the other side of the door. “And I’m not afraid of you. If I see you again, I won’t fire a warning shot.”
“Big threats, Jules.”
“Not a threat,” I said. “A promise.”
I slammed the door in Dillon’s face and hastily locked the place back up, not that I felt safe here anymore. He’d been here. He’d been inside. Every inch of my safe space had been violated.
My knees gave out, and I sank to the floor with my back against the door. All the strength I’d held on to, to face Dillon left me. The hand holding the gun was shaking so violently, I had to put the gun down.
I’d fired it. Oh, fuck, I’d actually fired it.
My breaths started coming out in short gasps right before I burst into tears. What the hell am I supposed to do now?
Thirty
Julia
I didn’t know how long I’d sat on the floor and cried.
By the time I found the strength to get up, I had seventeen missed calls from Heidi, Emery, Landon, and Patrick. Not one from Austin. My mind immediately went to the worst. Maybe I’d left him dead on the pavement. I hadn’t looked. I hadn’t checked. I’d just walked away.
I called Heidi back first, holding the phone in one hand and my gun in the other. This little hunk of metal had saved me from a fate worse than death. I wasn’t about to let it go anytime soon.
“Julia!” Heidi nearly screamed into the phone. “Oh my God, Julia!”
“How’s Austin?” I asked.
“He’s fine, Jules. Are you okay? Where are you? Where did that psycho take you?”
My heart restarted. Austin is fine. He isn’t dead.
“I’m at home. I’m okay.”
No. No, I’m not. I was about as far from okay as I’d ever been. And that was saying something.
“Oh my God. Okay.” I heard Heidi turn away from the phone and repeat what I’d said. “Em and I are going to come get you. The guys are giving statements to the cops about Dillon-slash-Evan, trying to give them information to find him. Austin has to finish up with the EMT, and then he’ll come over, too—”
“No,” I said abruptly. “No, uh, tell him not to come over.”
“Julia, there’s no way in hell I can tell him that,” Heidi said with a sigh. “He’s totally messed up. His face looks like he got hit by a train or some shit. I think he has a concussion and maybe some broken ribs. I don’t know.”
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“But he doesn’t give a shit about himself. All he’s been talking about since he regained consciousness is you. His phone died or broke or something, so he couldn’t even call you. The fact that we’re going to see you before him is going to be hard enough. I know I won’t be able to convince him to stay away.”
I sank into the couch. Of course she was right.
“All right. I’ll just…be here.”
“Oh no, do not get off the phone with me.”
“I need to call the police,” I told her.
“Emery is already on it. She called 911 when I told her where you were. The cops are going to meet us at your place.”
“Oh,” I whispered. Is this what it’s like to have people take care of you?
“Just stay on the phone with me, okay? This whole thing scared the shit out of me. I want to know you’re safe.”
And I never would be again. The last two years had been an illusion anyway. I’d never been safe from Dillon. I never would be.