“You’ll never get it back.” Perhaps taunting him isn’t the smartest move, but I can’t let him get me into that car.
“I can! And you’re going to help, and once that’s all done, we’re going to take this place, you hear me? You can watch while I destroy your boyfriend.”
I can’t help it, I laugh, “And how do you figure you’ll do that?”
“With your help, of course.”
I dig my heels in as he shoves me toward the car, forcing him to stumble a few times, but he’s relentless.
I don’t know how to disarm someone, especially not someone who is far stronger than me. I have no doubt he is far enough gone inside his own head that he will shoot me. His violence has always beenthere, simmering at the surface, just begging to break free from the cage. While he wasn’t physical with me a lot, it came out in different ways. The controlling, the gaslighting, and narcissism. The belittling comments and the rougher than usual touches.
He’s always been on the edge, and he’s finally been pushed over it. By me leaving, by Silas having the investigation opened on every bad thing he’s done. Calvin doesn’t believe in consequences, even when those consequences have been served.
“This can’t be stopped!” I yell, “This is it, Calvin. It’s over.”
“It’s over when I say it’s over.”
We’re at the car now and the pressure of the gun finally loosens. I may not know much, but I do know that if I get in this car with him, he will kill me. I won’t last a week. He’ll force me to do things I don’t want to do, and eventually his anger will win.
If I am going to die, I am not going to die where he wants me to.
Sorrow seeps into my bones, the conversation I just had with Ada replaying in my mind. I won’t even get a chance at happiness. I won’t get a chance to tell Silas how I feel or what I want. I hadn’t decided if it was right, if forever was within reach for us, but now there is no choice.
We didn’t get forever. All we had was now.
And that’s okay. I can go with the taste of Silas on my lips.
Calvin doesn’t get to take that from me. He doesn’t get to takeanythingfrom me anymore.
He reaches for the door handle, putting enough space between us, I’m able to turn my body toward him. He doesn’t have time to react.
My knee jerks up, landing it exactly where I intended it to, meeting his groin as hard as I can. He lets out a loud yell, releasing my arm and dropping the gun to double over in pain.
I make a run for it. I just need to get to where people are, enough people that’ll force him to reconsider his threats. Most people on this ranch are armed, including the guys Silas and Roman hire. I’ve seen them myself, so if I can find them, I might have a chance to escape him.
A shot rings out from behind me, the bullet landing about six feet away and in the dirt. I scream, but I don’t stop.
And then I see him.
Silas.
He’s on the back of Mars, galloping toward me, his expression thunderous, one hand on the reins, one hand on a gun.
“He doesn’t get to have you!” I turn to Calvin in time to see him raise his weapon, leveling it at my chest, finger poised over the trigger.
My eyes squeeze shut as the shot rings out, and I wait for the pain to hit.
It feels as if time stands still; the air stops moving. The echo of the shot rings inside my ears, taunting me, bouncing off the rocky sides of the mountains.
But I wait and I wait, but no pain comes. Sound floods back into my ear in a hurry, a rush of noise that leaves me dizzy.
People are shouting; someone is calling my name. Dogs bark and hooves thunder over the ground, making the earth vibrate under my feet. And then there’s the scream. A shrill sound full of agony, and my mouth drops open when I see where it’s coming from.
Calvin is on the ground clutching his arm, a steady stream of blood slipping through his fingers.
My head whips around to Silas, who’s dismounting his horse, but his eyes are on me and me alone.
“Are you hurt!?” He demands, looking me over, checking for wounds he won’t find.
