Did I take it too far? Did I push her away? Scare her?
I didn’t have answers.
All I had were questions…
And I was beginning to feel as if it was all I ever had.
CHAPTER
FORTY-EIGHT
ISLA
I walked into the bathroom,my mind spinning with the increasing pressure in my chest. Everything was unraveling, thread by thread. I couldn’t breathe, and it only got worse as I tried to slowly inhale and exhale.
Am I having a panic attack?
I didn’t have a chance to contemplate the thought, stopping dead in my tracks as soon as I stepped into the restroom. I was immediately slapped in the face with the familiar stench of booze, weed, cigarettes, and a shitty-ass perfume that lingered in the air.
My blood instantly ran cold while the hair on my arms stood at attention. It was like I was seeing a ghost, yet nothing was in front of me. Her smell was enough to make me want to vomit.
Mrs. Bates…
I gasped but then slapped my hands over my mouth, not wanting to make a sound.
“Goddammit!” she roared, making me back away slowly. “I forgot my cigarettes!”
When she flushed the toilet, I didn’t hesitate to run for my life. With one foot in front of the other, I got the hell out of there.
Once Kraven saw me, he shouted, “Isl?—”
“Shhhhh!” I begged with my hands on my mouth, unable to stop my feet from moving.
“What’s going o?—”
I didn’t stop.
I hauled ass out of that restaurant, seeking safety. Like a lion after his prey, Kraven chased me. Hunting me down, he was ready to destroy anyone who got in his path. His loud footsteps echoed behind me, yet I still didn’t stop for a second.
She couldn’t get me.
I wouldn’t let her.
Never again.
No. Matter. What.
“Isla!”
“No!” I yelled, sprinting down the uneven street as if my life depended on it, and it did.
“Isla, you’re going to hurt yourself!”
“No!”
“Christ, slow the fuck down!”
“No!”
