Surely he would tell me if he was going to, right? I tell myself that I’m overreacting and being skittish after the whole Cole thing. I know it’s normal to feel the way I do, even more so after all I’ve experienced since moving back here.
However, I realize that is not the case as soon as I step out into the foyer. My eyes take a moment to adjust to the darkness, but when they do, I see a figure standing in the living room, the sliding glass door behind them broken, glass peppering the floor. A scream catches in my throat and for one single second, the entire world freezes around me.
Cole.
My body screams for me to run, but my muscles refuse to move, my feet cemented into the floor. The organ inside my chest beats furiously and all I can hear is the swooshing of blood in my ears. This is it, this is when he gets me.
“I didn’t think it would be this easy to get to you, to find you.” His voice feels like razor blades slicing through my skin. There is no one to save me this time, no one to protect me from him. I swallow around the lump of fear that’s formed in my throat in the last second. My entire body shakes with fear and without thought, I start back the way I came, my bare feet slipping against the floor as I put all my strength into putting as much distance between us as possible. In the process, my body collides with the wall, my chest heaving, spots forming in my vision.
He’s come for me.
“Oh no you don’t,” he hisses loudly.
I hear his heavy footfalls directly behind me, and as soon as his hand grips onto my arm, I scream. I scream so loudly the sound rings in my ears. His grip on me tightens and his hand feels like fire against my flesh.
“No,” I scream, thrashing my body against the wall in an effort to get him to release me.
“Yes, so much fucking yes. I waited an entire fucking month to get to you. Over thirty days, Jules, we have some making up to do.”
This can’t be happening again.
Grabbing me by both arms, he shakes me harshly, my head slams against the wall, my brain rattling inside it as stars appear before my eyes. My knees buckle, and I almost slump down to the floor, but the feeling of Cole tugging on my clothes, trying to get my shirt off sends a surge of anger through me.
No. I won’t let him hurt me.
With that anger comes clarity and strength. I still my flailing arms and just let them hang down at my sides. I stop fighting him and instead play possum, the tactic works almost instantly, confusing him, and just long enough for him to not see my knee flying up toward his groin, not until it’s too late that is.
A painful grunt rips from his throat as he doubles over, pressing his hand to his balls.
“I’m going to kill you,” he snarls, hate like I’ve never seen before in his dark eyes. As soon as he loses his hold on me, I run back up the stairs, making it into my bedroom just as he reaches the bottom stair.
I close the door and lock it behind me, but I’m not dumb, I know that flimsy little door isn’t going to stop him and there isn’t any way in hell I’m letting him get in here with me. I look around the room, thinking of what I could put in front of that door to hinder his entry.
When my eyes connect on the dresser across the room, I know there is no way he’ll make it through that thing. I jog over to it and start moving the heavy six drawer dresser toward the door. I grunt, my movements slow at first. I’m pretty sure this thing weighs more than me, and it shows as my muscles scream at the sudden exercise. With adrenaline coursing through my veins, I find I’m able to move it as if I’m a weightlifter who does this daily.
I don’t hear anything from the hallway and hope that maybe he just left. He might have, right? It’s merely wishful thinking, I tell myself. He wouldn’t come all this way just to attack and leave. I stare at the door, dread coating my insides. I run to the nightstand and grab my phone, it’s slippery in my sweaty hands and I almost drop the damn thing several times. The icon on the screen shows five missed calls. I unlock it and dial the first number that comes to my mind.
Remington answers after the first ring. “Jules?”
“He is here, Cole is here.” The words come out so fast I don’t know if he can even understand me. “He broke in and I didn’t know. I got away and I’m hiding in my room. I locked the door, but I think he is still here.”