I know pain and suffering. But I don’t seek it out and on the cusp of whatever’s about to happen, I feel the dread in my stomach and the deadness of my limbs as the guy in the back pops his door open, climbing out of the car.
I yank again but now the guy’s grip is iron as he pulls me close, grabbing my chin and pulling my face an inch from his. “Why’d you have to be like that?” he spits in my face, squeezing my chin tight enough that he’s going to leave marks. I’ve got dark hair, but my skin is pale and easily bruised. “We’re just trying to have a bit of fun, but you had to?—”
Another set of headlights shines on us. Everyone turns and I take the opportunity to yank again, pulling away, and stumble down the shoulder landing on my ass in the ditch.
But I don’t even notice the pain. Frozen, I watch as the other car speeds toward us, faster and faster with each passing second.
“Shit!” the driver yells to the guy standing on the side of the road. “Get back in the car.”
It takes a few seconds for the guy to understand, climb into the back seat, and another for him to close the door. Finally waking up, I start crab crawling backward, moving away from the road as the driver puts the car into gear and stomps the gas.
But it’s too late.
The other car is barreling toward them.
The guys only make it thirty feet down the road when the speeding car finally jacks the brakes.
My breath seizes in my chest as the second car skids, but he doesn’t veer, and the sickening sound of metal crunching metal, and glass breaking, fills the night as the other car jumps forward and skids into the ditch.
I stare, shock holding me in place as the driver of the new car wrenches open his door and climbs out.
Even in the dark, I know it’s Win, and I stare at him in disbelief before a cry of relief falls from my lips.
I should hate him. I do hate him, but in this moment… I’m so glad he’s here. I scramble up from the dirt, another breaking sob clogging my throat as I get back up on my feet and start toward him. “Are you all right?” he asks me, sounding deadly calm. Almost like a stranger.
“Fine,” I gasp, trying to make my way up the bank.
“Can you believe those guys, no lights on in their car.”
I stop, staring. They had their lights on. But it only takes me a half second to catch up. “Crazy. Driving around like that.”
“Drinking?” he asks me.
“Definitely,” I answer, even as he strides to the top of the bank, reaching down his hand to help me up.
Once I’m tucked against his side, he pulls out his phone and places a call.
I barely listen as he reports the accident.
The other men crawl out of their vehicle, but I’m not even a little scared. No one is hurting me when I’m tucked into Win’s side.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Win
The tension vibratingthrough me could light the entire estate. Fuck, it might be enough to power all of England.
Two officers arrive, taking my statement and then Katarina’s.
It’s quick and effortless, and considering the driver was completely drunk, no one questions my version of events.
But it’s after two before Katarina and I are returning to my home.
We sit in the back of the cruiser, Katarina silently holding her backpack in her lap as she stares out the window.
She’s been near silent since I pulled her up the shoulder of the road, and I don’t like it. That first night I met her on the plane, she wasn’t afraid of me. She taunted me, teased, full of life and sassy brass.
But tonight…
