It takes me a second to register what he’s wearing. My gaze anxiously flits to the metal name plate on his security uniform. “Lex?” I mutter timidly.
He continues pacing toward me with that psychotic gleam in his eyes that paralyzes me on the spot. “Couldn’t risk you running off if someone talked about me while I was going through the hiring process. Don’t get me wrong, I was a little concerned that you had already run again since you seemed to be missing from work for a few weeks.” His jaw flexes. “I assumehehas something to do with that?” He clucks his tongue.
Preston.
Xander’s hand whips out, wrapping around my throat. His rough fingers pulse into my flesh. I inhale a sharp breath, shaking below his burly frame. He may not be as big as Preston, but his body still swallows mine. I’ve always been something small for him to push around. To torture and flood with praise as if taking his violence is okay.
“You just said you like it when I’m possessive. So, consider me jealous, Kate. Do you know how fucking hard I am right now thinking about draining the blood from his body? You’ll be a good girl for me and watch before I draw yours, won't you?”
I don’t dare speak.
He doesn’t know who he’s messing with. If he did, he wouldn’t be attempting this. But again, he’s always been a sociopath. I wouldn’t put it past him to get off on his own pain.
The feeling of cool metal against my side causes a whimper to escape my lips.
His head tilts forward, his hot, repulsive mouth skimming the shell of my ear. I don’t miss the hint of alcohol on his breath as it fans across my cheek and into my nose. “You know how much I love marking this hot little body with my knife. So, fucking sit down before I use this gun and ruin the game.” With his hand clutching my neck painfully enough to leave a mark, he flings me forward. I stumble, my body slamming into the table in the center of the room. “We need to talk.”
This man destroyed any confidence I had in his presence. Blasted it into tiny fragments that got caught in the wind, while only a few small shards landed at my feet. Now I’m collecting them. Clutching them in my hands like they’ll be enough to give me the courage I need to end this.
“There’s nothing to talk about. We’re done.” I seethe with my back turned to him.
A click emanates in the air, my body solidifying. I don’t know much about firearms, but that faint sound of the safety clicking off somehow pulsates through the room, shooting through my nerves to have me shakily reaching for the chair to pull it away from the table.
I plop down, tears biting the corners of my eyes.
“Good.” He praises, the one word causing acid to sear my throat.
The hairs on my arms stand on end. It feels like they follow his movement as he rounds the table slowly, his wicked gaze pinning me in place. The gun may be lowered, but it doesn’t diminish the fear weaving around my frame, keeping meimprisoned in this chair like chains. He slams the gun on the table to trap it below his palm.
I jolt in place, inhaling to trap the sob that wants to be released.
“We’re done when I say we’re done, Kate. Does it look like I’ve given up?”
I shake my head, words escaping me.
“I’ve looked for you. I’ve chased you. I fucking moved across the countryfor you.” His biting words should make me flinch, but they don’t. Not like they used to. I may be terrified; however, they don’t carry the same weight they possessed back then to hold me under. It feels different. While he continues talking, I try to gather any semblance of an idea to get out of this through the terrified haze fogging my brain. “I think you're forgetting the lengths I’d go through for you.”
I’ve been running from you for a reason. “I haven’t forgotten,” I grit through clenched teeth.
Xander’s head slants, his gaze dragging over the top half of my body. “You’ve changed. You're feistier than you used to be.” His tongue darts out to wet his bottom lip. “I like it.”
I ignore his comment, crossing my arms over my chest like they will somehow put a protective barrier between us. “How did you find me?”
He shrugs. “A facial recognition search gave me a lead—a picture of you in the background of a girl’s social media post with a location tag. She made it easy for me.” Xander’s dark laugh bathes me in needles that pierce into my skin.
Shit.
Why didn’t I think about Nicole? She’s always taking pictures, or having Jeremy or me take them of her, and is obsessed with her image online. It never crossed my mind that I might be in the background of one of them. How negligent of me.
“So, you just decided to apply for a job here, as a security guard?”
A corner of his mouth tilts upward, making my stomach roll violently. “It was easy. I guess I’m already up for a promotion,” he adds. “They want to meet with me next week to discuss a new offer. But we’ll be long gone before then. We’ll be home.”
“I am home.” That effortless admission tumbling from my mouth hits my chest hard, nearly knocking the breath from my chest.
Home.
Xander ignores me, “I learned my lesson last time at that motel when I woke and you were gone. I was too impulsive. What better way to gather a plan than to watch you? To get a feel for the life you’ve settled into here.” His gaze falls to the black-bodied handgun still trapped under his hand. “But like I said, you’ve been missing. And then, while I was on shift, doing my rounds and walking around the park, I saw you in the distance. With him,” he utters through gritted teeth. His jaw flexes under the fluorescent lights. “So here I am again, having to be fucking impulsive before you vanish again. Luckily, he left you alone, and here we are.” He scrubs a hand over his jaw. “You don’t look at me the same way you look at him.”
