This is turning in a really, really scary direction. His arms are gripping me harder than before, and I’m genuinely afraid for my safety.
I need to use what Ryder taught me.Eyes, throat, groin, instep.Then run.Except he’s too tense right now, and if I make any sudden movements, he’ll hold me down. But maybe if I can calm him down, I’ll be able to make my escape.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, infusing as much feeling as I can into the lie. “You didn’t deserve to have everything taken away.” I shrug a shoulder. “I was just so…taken by you. And my brothers were worried about me.”
His eyes widen, softening, and his mouth parts.
I feel his grip loosen slightly. It’s working.
“Maybe,” I say, and bite my bottom lip, trying to lookinnocent. “Maybe weshouldgo somewhere. Where it can be just me and you, and no one can bother us anymore.”
His eyes flick down to my lips, then back to my eyes. “Really, Lily?”
For a moment, I almost feel sorry for him. Is he so desperate for love that he thinks I’m being honest? That I’d have such a quick change of heart immediately after he said he wanted me to “suffer”? His mind is so warped and twisted. But I need to seize the opportunity. No matter what, this man has ruined my life, and I won’t let him hurt me again.
I nod, even though I feel like I’m going to throw up. “Really.”
He takes in a breath, and as he leans down to kiss me, I bring my knee up between his legs with all my strength. Much, much harder than the way I had kneed Ryder.
Instantly, Tristan’s hands release my shoulder and hip, and he doubles over, moaning in pain. He yells some very not nice words that I don’t use, and I take advantage of my opportunity to run as fast as I can in the opposite direction. I make it about twenty feet away when I’m stopped by another person, running straight into a man’s chest.
I back away, panting and about to let out a scream.Not again.
“Lily!” This is another voice I recognize. One that fills me with so much relief and hope andlove.
It’s Ryder. Ryder’shere.
I rush to him and bury my face in his chest as he wraps his arms around me tightly. “Tristan is here,” I say, breathless. “I kicked him in the groin and ran as fast as I could, but?—”
“I saw him. That’s why I rushed out of the audience.” His voice drops low, like a growl. “Where is he?”
I point in the direction I came from, and I can still make out his shadowy figure hunched over. “There.”
Ryder grabs my shoulders and says, “Stay here.” He presses the quickest fierce kiss to my lips, then strides over to Tristan.
I can’t see exactly what happens, but I see Ryder’s tall shadow towering over Tristan’s huddled form, then I hear one punch and the words, “Don’t you ever come near her again. Do you hear me?”
Tristan is still moaning when Ryder finally returns to me. He grabs my hand as we run down the hallway. “We should go find someone and let them know,” he says.
This isn’t the reunion I imagined with him, but even in the midst of our run, I feel myself exhale with relief.
Ryder is here.
I can breathe again.
CHAPTER 41
Lily
ROBERT SCHUMANN — TRÄUMEREI
The next hour is a blur. The police arrest Tristan for assault, which is pretty clear from the marks on my arm. I don’t see them take him away. In fact, I don’t see Tristan again at all, but that’s intentional. If I never see his face again, it’ll be too soon.
I’m outside in the drizzling rain, Ryder by my side, while the concert finishes. I’m talking to the police and getting checked out by paramedics when my family finds me.
I hear Adam’s voice a distance away. “What in the world is happening?”
Ryder and I turn to face him. The police try to keep him back, but I tell them he’s my brother, and they let him through. I see glimpses of recognition in their eyes, realizing they’re in the presence of Adam Stone, action star.
