“Fuck!” The man hisses as something metal clatters to the ground. I stumble backward, hitting the pavement hard. Pain shoots up my hip.
“You stupid bitch,” he spits, rubbing his eyes.
My breath freezes in my throat.
No. No, no, no.
“It’s… you?” My voice is barely a whisper.
Liam steps forward, face twisted, eyes watering from the spray. “What the fuck did you spray in my eyes?”
My pulse hammers so hard I can taste metal. I scramble backward, putting as much distance between us as the narrow alley will allow. My gaze drops to the ground where a knife lies by his feet.
A knife.
He spits on the ground, then snarls, “I asked you a question, Queenie.”
Queenie.
The word hits me harder than anything else. My lungs seize. My throat closes. The alley seems to close in.
I lunge forward and grab the knife, clutching it so tightly the handle bites into my palm. I scoot back again, trembling.
“Why were you following me?” My voice shakes so badly the question barely sounds like me.
He grins. The same grin he wore that night. The same grin from my nightmares. “Because I was hired to.”
Far away, muffled like she’s a million miles away, I hear Fern calling my name. “Eden?”
But I can’t look away from him.
Liam smirks, leaning against the wall like he owns the world. “Your old man hired me. He thinks you’re up to no good.”
“Eden! Where the hell did you go?” Fern’s voice echoes off the brick and metal.
I turn toward her voice for a second.
That’s all he needs.
Pain rips at my scalp as Liam grabs a fistful of my hair and yanks me backward. I scream, but his hand clamps over my mouth and smothers the sound. My back hits the wall with a sickening thud.
I grip the knife tighter. He hasn’t noticed I picked it up.Good.
“And he’s right, isn’t he?” Liam breathes against my ear, hot and foul. “’Cause you did cheat on him.”
I shake my head frantically, eyes stinging.
“I know you remember.” His tone turns gleeful. “How’s Kade gonna feel when he finds out his precious Queenie spread her legs for a guy like me?”
“Eden?” Fern yells again, but her voice sounds even further away now, as if she’s calling from way past the alleyway.
Liam laughs, low and sickening. “Once was bad. But twice?” His hand slides from my mouth to my throat, squeezing just enough to steal my air. “I’ve dreamt about that pussy every night since.”
No. No. No.
He fumbles with his jeans, pinning me to the wall with the weight of his body. My knees buckle. My chest burns. The panic rising inside me deafens and crushes me. Blinding me to the world.
Not again. Not again.Not again.
