Grom gives a soft whine, so I reach down to pet his head. “I know. I miss him, too.” He licks my hand and then jumps around in excitement when I grab a tennis ball and throw it for them. I toss the ball around until I hear my phone give a soft buzz. I pull it out and quickly read the text from my mom.
Hey, honey. Are you busy? Do you think you could come over to help me pack?
Volodya and I have helped her pack up most of her stuff, but I guess we missed a few things. Happy to have something to distract my busy mind and keep it off worrying about him, I tell her I’m on my way. I toss the ball one last time and make sure they have plenty of food and water before locking up and heading out. I give Boris a friendly wave when I pass through the gate and then turn the music up. Traffic is light tonight, so it doesn’t take long before I’m parking outside my mom’s townhouse. Before I get out, I send a quick text to Volodya, letting him know where I’m at and that I hope whatever he’s doing is insanely boring and safe. I end it with the kissing face emoji.
Usually when he’s out like this, he keeps his phone silenced and he’ll just get back to me when he can, so I don’t wait around for a reply. Getting out, I shove my phone in my back pocket and lock up my Jeep. Crossing the street, I run up to my mom’s door and am just about to walk in when I hear someone say my name. Turning, my eyes widen when Derek steps out from the shadows.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
He raises his hands, trying to calm me down, but I don’t have time for this shit. I start to turn back to the door when he quickly closes the distance, invading my personal space and pissing me the hell off.
“Back off, Derek.”
“I just want to talk to you.”
“I have nothing to say to you. Just leave.”
When he puts his hands on my arms, gripping them tightly, I realize this isn’t going to be like all the other visits he’s paid me. Trying to remain calm and not show how much he’s freaking me out, I take a breath and say, “Derek, let me go. My mom is inside waiting for me.”
He gives me a cruel grin. “She’s not, Maddie.”
When I struggle to get away, he tightens his grip and holds me still. “Don’t freak out, Maddie. I just wanted to talk to you.”
“What did you do?” I dart my eyes back to the front door, debating whether or not to give my mom a heart attack by screaming. I’ve just made the decision that it’s worth the risk when he reaches behind his back and then quickly smacks a piece of tape over my mouth.
“Just fucking relax,” he growls when I start to panic. “I used your mom’s phone and texted you to get you over here.”
What the fuck?
I try to scream, but it’s too muffled to carry further than a few feet. Terror seizes me as a million different scenarios of my mom being hurt race through my mind. I claw at Derek, trying to shove him away, but he presses his body against mine and wraps his arm around me, pinning me to him. We dated for years, and his body used to feel so familiar to me, but now he’s like a stranger to me. Everything feels wrong, and the only body I want is Volodya’s.
“She’s not hurt, Maddie,” he growls in my ear. “I made a copy of my key before I gave it back to you, so I let myself in. She’s asleep on the couch. All I did was text from her phone and then sneak back out.”
I glare at him and try to break the tight hold he has on me, but I’m no match for him, and we both know it. Pulling a zip tie out from his back pocket, he makes quick work of my wrists, binding them behind me, and then lifts me up.
“Too bad your fucking Russian boyfriend isn’t here to save you.” He lets out a harsh laugh and carries me to his truck. He’d parked around the side, keeping it hidden from view, and no one is around to see me being hauled away. I try to reach my phone, but that idea goes to shit when Derek sets me down next to his truck and starts to run his hands over me. He’s slow as he searches, and when his hands slide between my legs, tears prick at my eyes. I try to kick him, but he pins me against his truck and brings his face close to mine.
“I used to know this body so well, Maddie. Don’t you remember?”
He’s leaning against me so hard that I can barely breathe, and the feel of his hands on me is making me feel nauseous. When a tear escapes, he gives a soft laugh.
“I was the first one to fuck you, sweetheart, and I’m going to be the last.”
The look in my eyes must say it all because he laughs again. He’s out of his goddamn mind. He cups my pussy, letting out a groan and rocking his hips against me so I can feel how much he’s enjoying this. When he slides his hand to my ass and finds my phone, he gives me a smirk and pulls it out, shoving it in his own pocket before opening the door and lifting me up into the seat and buckling me in.
While he walks to the driver’s side, I try like hell to wiggle my way to freedom, but he’s back in the truck before I’ve even managed to unbuckle my seatbelt. After we’re on the highway, he reaches over and yanks the tape off my mouth. I’m having a serious case of déjà vu, but this time it’s so much worse. As insane as it sounds, I’d felt safe with Volodya, or at least safe enough, but Derek is operating on anger and jealousy, and that’s a dangerous mix.
“Derek, just let me go. This is crazy. Why the hell are you even doing this?”
“Because you’re mine, Maddie, and that fucker can’t just come in here and humiliate me in public and then take my fucking girl!”
“I’m not yours. I haven’t been for a long time, not since you cheated on me.”
“I told you it didn’t mean anything. None of them did.”
“None of them?” I turn to look at him. “How many fucking people did you cheat on me with?”
His lips curl up before he can stop it, because despite what he’s trying to get me to believe, the truth is in that smug grin. He’s proud of it, damn proud of it, and I was such a naïve idiot. All those times he told me he had to work extra shifts or stay late to help close are starting to make sense now.
