It’s a black BMW.
My racing pulse stutters.
That car is familiar. The dent in the front bumper from hitting a parking bollard at the club a month ago is unmistakable.
Ryder.
My pulse spikes and a cold sweat breaks out across my entire body. Adrenaline floods my veins as I try to figure out what the hell I should do.
"What are you up to?" I whisper, eyes darting between the road ahead and the mirror.
He accelerates. The engine of his car revs, a deep, angry sound drowning out the radio. He pulls into the oncoming lane, pulling alongside me.
To my left, Ryder glares right at me.
But then his face breaks into a grin, like he’s enjoying every second of my terror. Bloodshot, wild eyes meet mine. He looks drunk. Unhinged.
"Ryder!" I scream, though the glass blocks the sound. "Stop!"
He doesn't stop.
He jerks the wheel to the right as I try to hit the brakes and let him pass, but I react a second too late.
Metal screeches against metal as his car slams into the side of mine.
The impact is violent. My teeth jar together, snapping my head to the side. My car slides toward the shoulder, toward the drop-off.
A scream rips from my throat as I fight the wheel, trying to correct but the ground is icy and unforgiving.
"No, no, no!"
He hits me again, harder this time and my muscles ache from trying to keep my car from catapulting off the road and into the lake.
He’s trying to kill me.
My ex-boyfriend wants me to die and I don’t understand what the hell I ever did to him.
My tires hit a patch of ice.
The world tilts.
Any semblance of control I had vanishes as fast as the snowflakes melting against my windshield. The steering wheel spins uselessly in my hands. The car slides sideways, the scenery blurring into a kaleidoscope of gray sky, white snow, and dark trees.
The guardrail gets closer and closer with every frantic beat of my heart as my leg shakes with the effort to press the brake pedal into the floor.
Bracing myself is the only thing left to do, so I squeeze my eyes shut.
And I see Gabriel.
God, what’s he going to do if I die here?
My chest aches with the thought of him getting this news, the devastation on his handsome face.
The impact is deafening.
Glass shatters. Metal crumples. The seatbelt locks across my chest as my body is thrown forward and it feels like getting slammed into a metal pole. Pain explodes in my head, my shoulder, my ribs.
The car spins, tumbling, rolling.
