“Clarissa, I’m sorry. I told my mother you were coming, but I should’ve done more. I should’ve made it clear who you are to me.”
She twists in her seat to glare at me accusingly. “You should have told her what? Who I am to you? Who is that, Maxwell?”
“You’re…” My voice falters.
“I’m really curious,” she continues, her eyes flashing. “Who am I to you?”
“You’re the woman I’m falling in love with,” I make myself answer.
It sounds so plain when I say it out loud. It doesn’t begin to convey the complex push and pull of everything that’s going on in my mind right now. But at least I’ve said it.
She stares out the windshield of the car for a few moments, saying nothing. Then she opens the passenger-side door and gets out, closing the door behind her. I watch her walk up into her townhouse, alone, and close the gate without saying another word.
She just needs space, I tell myself. Perfectly normal reaction.
But I’m not giving up. I hope she knows that.
Chapter 16
Clarissa
On wobbly legs, I climb the steps to my townhouse, wanting to turn back around more than anything. He’s falling in love with me? He said that?
That’s a lot. I wasn’t expecting it.
And yet, the words dropped like water onto a hot griddle, immediately turning to steam. Noisy. Explosive.
I need to catch my breath. I need to clear my head.
With trembling fingers, I fit my key in the lock of the security gate and pull it open. The hinges squeak and groan as usual. Holding it open with my hip, I reach forward for the front door but it opens on its own, swinging inward and taking me with it.
Confused, I tumble into the hallway, off balance and breathless. Before I know what’s happening, I hit the wall behind me and slide upward. A hand covers my mouth. A shoulder jams against mine, forcing the air from my lungs.
Automatically I start kicking, screaming against the hand on my face. My keys are still in my fingers and I frantically try to maneuver them, try to find the pepper spray among the keys and the fobs. I know it’s here. I’ve had it since I was a teenager.
“Where is she?” comes a rough, low voice. “Where the fuck is she!”
Helpless, I twist in the viselike grip, using every ounce of strength I have to find some part of me to fend him off, but I’m not strong enough. Terror tints the edges of my vision crimson, and I wonder if this is it, if this is the end of everything.
“Tell me where she is!”
I scream against his palm again and he backs up, letting me down. In the little bit of light that comes to the door, I realize it’s Ronnie. It’s fucking Ronnie.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing!” I yell as he backs away, his hands in fists, hovering at his sides.
Surreptitiously I tuck my hands behind me and continue fumbling with my keys as quietly as possible. Finally my fingers close around the cylinder of pepper spray.
“Where is Landry?”
“How did you get in here?!”
He bares his teeth like an animal, then shakes his head angrily. He’s much taller than me, much taller than Landry. I can’t believe this beast ever lived with my sister.
“Listen, I got rights—” he begins.
“Just forget about her,” I hiss.
He takes a step toward me and I raise the pepper spray, pointing it right at his face. With his hands up, he backs away, but just enough. Or so he thinks. This canister has a range of thirty feet.