Zayn takes in the scene before him quickly, stepping inside my apartment as Daniel pulls me further back down the hall.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Daniel spits as relief hits me so hard I start to cry harder. My body wracks with sobs, my lungs struggling to draw in air with Daniel’s palm so firmly over my mouth I can barely breathe.
A deathly calm settles over Zayn’s features, but the violence encased behind his dark gaze is undeniable. He’s looking at Daniel like he’s going to skin him alive.
The door closes behind him.
“Let her go,” he says, voice colder than ice. “Now.”
His eyes do a quick scan over my body, and I know he’s checking for any visible injuries. I want to tell him I’m fine, at least physically, but I can’t speak.
Daniel laughs. It sounds as deranged as he is. “Not a fucking chance. I’m taking my wife home.” He’s truly lost his mind. Was I so docile to him in our marriage that he thought he would get away with this? My heart pounds so hard it threatens to shatter my ribcage.
“You can’t take her where you’re going.”
“Oh, yeah?” Daniel sneers, still dragging me backwards. “And why is that?”
Zayn takes a step forward for every one of our steps back, keeping me within arm’s reach. His gaze flicks over my splintered bedroom door when we pass it, and I see him piecing together what’s happened here tonight. “Because you’re going to prison. Or hell. Depending on how you choose to play this.”
Zayn’s dead serious. His jaw is clenched, and his merciless gaze is trained over my head where Daniel stands. He wouldkillDaniel?
“Let her go, or it’s definitely going to be the latter.”
Daniel stops moving and I realise we’ve hit the couch. Zayn stops too. I know he’s calculating how to get me away from Daniel without hurting me. His eyes keep dropping to where Daniel’s arm is wrapped firmly around my stomach. There’s no easy extraction. Daniel will have to let me go willingly, and, at this stage, that doesn’t seem likely.
Strangely, even with Daniel’s arms wrapped around me tighter than a fist and the promise of vengeance in his heart, the fear I felt earlier completely dissipated the moment my eyes landed on Zayn.
Zayn’s my safety. My protector. My home.
He always comes for me.
“You’ve got nothing on me.” Daniel laughs. “I’m not going to jail.”
“Nothing?” Zayn’s gaze flickers back down to Daniel’s grip on me. “Aside from breaking and entering and aggravated assault, I’m going to nail you for attempted kidnapping, stalking, domestic violence, rape…” He spits each offence out like it costs him to say the words, “harassment and blackmail, you fucking piece of shit.”
Zayn’s fury is palpable. It weaves around him like condensed air, poised and ready to strike. “And that’s just against Gianna. Let’s not forget the statutory rape changes I’m going to fucking bury you with.”
Daniel scoffs behind me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You have no proof of anything.”
A dark chuckle escapes Zayn’s lips, but there’s no humour in it whatsoever. “Oh, but I do. I have enough evidence to send you away for a very long time. You see, I’ve been busy the last two weeks.” Zayn’s demeanour seems relaxed, effortless, but I see the tension in the set of his shoulders. The tightness in his jaw. He’s furious. “I found the teenager you’ve been fucking. Or should I say, I found all three of them. How original, preying on young girls that you were training, that were in yourduty of care.” Zayn tsks as though reprimanding a naughty child. “Their parents aren’t happy at all. And that’s putting it mildly. They want you to pay for what you’ve done.”
Daniel doesn’t say a word from behind me, and I can tell he’s shocked by Zayn’s revelation.
“You never should have fucked with Gianna, you asshole. Because now, I’m going to fuck with you.”
Daniel responds by gripping me tighter, and I groan against the pressure bearing down on my ribs. Zayn’s eyes harden as they drop again to Daniel’s arm.
“Let her go. Let’s have it out, after all this time, just me and you.”
Daniel spits at Zayn’s feet. “Fuck you. Gianna isn’t going anywhere.”
Zayn’s forearms flex as he curls and uncurls his fists. “Come on, you fucking coward,” he growls, his patience wearing thin. “Let her go.”
I wait for Zayn to look back down at me, and when hedoes, I widen my eyes as much as I can. The only signal I can give before I act out the unhinged plan that popped into my head two seconds ago when I realised I was still grasping a pair of nail scissors in my hand. Because I’m notuseless, or dumb or nothing.I’m strong, and capable, andworthy. I’ll never let Daniel convince me otherwise, or render me incapacitated again.
I manoeuvre the scissors so the pointy edge is sticking out of my fist. Then I waste no time lifting my forearm as high as I can while caged, and then I slam my fist down against the side of Daniel’s thigh. I feel the entire blade of the scissors sink into flesh, my fist hitting Daniel’s leg when they’re in as far as they can go. The scream he emits threatens to shatter my ear-drums, but I don’t have time to cover them with my hands. Zayn’s arms are wrapped around me in less than a second. He yanks me to safety, then he launches forward, pinning Daniel back against the sofa with a hand wrapped around his throat.
Daniel goes from screaming to barely being able to breathe as he claws at the hand that’s cutting off his air supply, but Zayn’s an immovable force, bearing down on him with enough pressure to snap Daniel’s neck in half.
