The nerve he has thinking he can tell me what to do sends rage through my veins. “You don’t own the goddamn town, asshole,” I shout, storming past him toward the diner door. I’m sure the car that was casing my uncle’s farm is gone by now, so I’m going to head back and forget any of this even happened. It’s way too late to deal with some hot, tattooed psychopath. What’s that saying? Nothing good happens after midnight?
A gasp tears out of my lungs as someone grabs my hoodie and yanks me back, practically choking me.
Roman spins me around and lowers to my level, saying with a gravelly tone, “If you know what’s best for you, you’ll leave tonight.”
Tears prickle my eyes and I have to fight to get the words out. “I can’t just leave. I have nowhere else to go.” I hate that I cry when I’m frustrated. It always makes me feel so stupid. It literally feels like there’s a rock in my throat that I can’t choke down.
He offers me a look that conveys he couldn’t care less about my living arrangements. “Well, that’s too fucking bad. I don’t need your slutty ass lingering around my guys,” he says scathingly.
Wow.Okay, king of the dickheads.
Roman drags me by my arm to the front door and pushes me down the three steps. I barely catch my footing and stumble a few times on the pavement before whirling and glaring at him. He’s shooting one right back at me. “I’d better see you turn left on the highway on your way out of town.”
I don’t know if it’s the coffee, how tired I am, or how much I hate this rude fucking prick, but I give him a smug grin as I flip him off. “I’m not leaving town, you hillbilly fuck.” My cheeks are on fire, and my voice cracks, but I’ve never been more sure of my words and how I want them to land like a bullet through his thick skull.
My eyes flick to the window of the diner briefly, where the four guys are still sitting at the booth. All of them are pressed against the glass with mortified looks. My heart beats erratically, and I quickly glance back at Roman.
He cracks his knuckles and tilts his head like he’s fighting back the urge to hurt me. He’s not laughing at my insult, not finding it amusing in the slightest. In all honesty, it scares me a little. He’s a terrifying man. “It’s not negotiable. Don’t make mescareyou away.”
I scoff.Oh, he wants to play this kind of game, does he?
Callum tried to murder me—I’m fucking impenetrable now. “Dude, I’ve met men way scarier than you. Take it from me, you’re fuckingnothing.”
Roman’s eyes widen like he’s offended I don’t think he’s the biggest, baddest ghoul in this ghost town.
I turn my back to him without another word and stride toward my car. The moment I open the door he throws his hands down against the metal, slamming it shut and pinning me against the window with a hand on each side of me. My heart races, and adrenaline pumps through my veins.
A darkness falls over his eyes, and he gives me a sinister grin. “No, you haven’t. Not even in your darkest of nightmares haveyou met a man like me.” He has my chest pinned against the car with his torso burning heat into my back. Each word he says is hot against my ear, making chills crawl up my arms.
Who the fuck is this guy? I grit my teeth and fight back the urge to scream for help.No, I chide myself. If I could survive Callum that night, I can survive Roman.
I learned never to rely on others by the time I was ten. No one is coming to save me. No one ever is.
“Look, I’m just going to go back to my place, take a bath, and go to bed. I’m not causing any trouble, and I don’t even want to be here, so can you please just leave me alone? Your friends were nice. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but I’m not going to do what you want just because you think you have a huge dick you can swing around.” He’s lucky I don’t say much more.
He lets out a long breath that skates across my neck. “You’re really going to make me have to do this, aren’t you?” The warm evening air does nothing to stave off the cold edge of his voice.
“Make you do what? I’m not making you do anything. Can you just fuck off?” I snap back, shoving my ass into his crotch so he has to take a few steps back.
He laughs and snatches the car keys from my hand. A rush of anger bursts into my veins, and my heart pounds loudly in my ears. “What are you doing? Give those back!” I shout, patting my pockets for my phone, only to realize he took it too. Not that it would have helped, with no service, but I still need it.
The diner door swings open, and all four of the men run out. Taylor’s the first to speak up. “Come on, leave her alone. She’s not doing anything, and it’s my fault—I convinced her to sit with us.” His voice is filled with concern. Which doesn’t make me feel any better about my situation.
John tries to take the keys from Roman, but the asshole shoves him back hard. “This is on all of you. Whatever happens to her is your fault. I told you that no one I don’t approveof comes near us, especially after last time.” Roman’s voice is threaded with cold malice. Their expressions fall, and they look almost guilty.
Whatever happens to me is on them?What the hell is that supposed to mean?
The four of them keep their mouths shut and give me dreadful looks. Roman is about to turn back around, but I don’t wait. I take off running.
“Goddamn it, stay here and make sure the waitress doesn’t do anything stupid,” Roman shouts as he chases after me.
I slip a few times on the gravelly outskirts of the parking lot but quickly make it into a field of dry grass. It’s not very wide, and I can see what looks like a patch of someone’s land on the other side. Roman’s footsteps are gaining on me, making each breath hitch in my lungs.
The field leads up to a wooden fence. I easily hop the three-foot structure, thank God I kept up with track in college before I dropped out, and find myself in an old cemetery. My throat is on fire, and it’s hard to see clearly. It’s too dark with all the trees looming and blocking out the moonlight.
I try to cut across the graveyard as fast as I can, but trip over a small broken headstone. My hands and knees take the brunt of the fall, shooting pain through my palms and legs. I don’t have time to stand back up before Roman comes down on top of me. A cry is torn from my throat as he pins my wrists against the damp grass and mud.
I stare up into those soulless eyes, knowing that whatever he’s about to do, there will be no stopping him. He doesn’t care, not about me, not about himself, not about anything. You don’t have to know someone intimately to know that they harbor demons.
