The door was already starting to give in, and then when he started ramming his entire body into it, part of it broke.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck?—”
The door slammed open just as I was able to push the window up enough to slip out and onto the fire escape.
The cold air hit me like a punch to the face, and my stomach dropped when I saw just how high up I was.
Go. Move, damn it!I put one shaky foot in front of the other, forcing myself to move despite my fear.
I didn't even make it two steps before his hand wrapped around my waist and he tried to pull me back in.
I screamed then, as loud as I could. I thrashed, trying to make it as difficult as possible for him to pull me inside. But he was far bigger and stronger than I was, and try as I might, I found myself pulled back into the apartment and pushed to the ground with him on top of me.
“Come on, Pearl. Don't make me angry.”
“What do you want from me?”
He forced my hands above my head and straddled me.
“I wantyou, Pearl. That was all I’ve ever wanted, and you know it. You just had to ignore me. I wanted to go after the girl and teach you a lesson, but he said I couldn't. You should count yourself lucky.”
I froze, panic taking hold of my entire body.
“The girl? Emerson?”
His face suddenly twisted, and his hand was at my throat, squeezing the breath from my lungs.
“Don't say her name!”
My hands grabbed his wrist, and I tried to claw at his skin with my nails, but it was no use.
“I told you not to make me angry! Do you see what you're doing to yourself?”
I kicked and bucked my hips, but he was not letting go.
Tears fell from my eyes as I desperately tried to gasp for air, but my lungs weren't getting any.Please. Please… Someone!
“Please… I’m sorry…” I choked out. “Please. Don’t hurt me.”
“I’m not hurting you,” he said and loosened his grip just enough for a smidge of sweet air to fill my lungs. “This is all you. Don’t you see? I gave you more than enough warnings, but you… You never listen!”
“I’m sorry. Please. Just let me go, okay? You don’t want to hurt me?—”
“I do, though. Because you were here withher,not even thinking about how hard it was for me in prison. Do you know what I had to go through? All because of you?”
His hands tightened again, shutting off my air. Blackness started to play at my vision.
No! Please! Stay awake. Stay awake.
As I was fighting for my life, all I could think about was Emerson.
Please. Emerson. I’m sorry.
My body fell slack as I let go.
Chapter 24
Emerson
