I push off from the building so quickly a passerby clips my shoulder, spinning me around. I automatically respond with a“Sorry,”but he isn’t there anymore, gone in the rush of people flowing past me.
I turn back to the man across the street. I can’t see him clearly, but our eyes lock. He tilts his head ever so slightly. My stomach drops, not fully formed with fear, but something much, much worse.
Recognition. Cold. Immediate. My stomach drops violently, and my legs go weak. The world narrows to a single terrifying possibility.
Then a truck passes between us, and when it clears, I search again. A clear pavement.
My hands are cold, and my body is trembling with fear. I remember that tilt. It would happen just before he got angry. Just before my world would be ripped apart, one hit at a time.
I struggle to move, my feet planted firmly on the ground under me. My lungs won’t fill properly, and my eyes are scanning for him. But he is gone.
I know I have been found.
* * *
I struggle to pull myself together as I make my way back inside. I sigh as I see CJ waiting for me. He’s leaning against the reception desk, watching as I walk towards him. He isn’t casually standing there; He is radiating tension.
“What?” I snap, stopping in front of him.
“You disappeared for twenty minutes, Eli”
“I went for air’
His eyes narrow slightly. I hesitate, and that hesitation costs me. CJ sees it, and I feel it.
“Come with me.” He turns, not giving me an option, except to follow.
I follow him to a side corridor close by. It’s quiet, windowless, and muted from the main office, away from prying eyes, or should I say, Finn’s eyes. He stops so quickly I walk right into him.
He turns. “Talk to me.”
“Nothing to talk about,” I lie, shaking my head.
He doesn’t argue. He just steps closer instead. Instinct sends me back a pace.
He follows, one step, two, until the wall finds me first. My pulse jumps immediately. Heat and fear collide in my chest.
“You’ve been watching the exits and the front door,” CJ says quietly.
“I haven’t…”
“Eli.”
My shoulders sag. “I saw him,” I whisper. My throat tightens so hard the words barely make it out. “He’s here.”
CJ’s eyes sharpen, taking on a dangerous, focused stillness. “Who, Eli?”
“My ex,” I force out, my voice cracking. “Adrian.”
The name falls between us like a lead weight. My body starts to shake, a tremor that starts deep in my chest and spreads to my hands.
“I didn’t justthinkI saw him, CJ. It was him. Across the street. I know that head tilt, I know the way he stands. He looked right at me.” The panic rises, hot and suffocating. “I ran from him. He… he controlled everything I did, CJ. Every breath, every movement. He hurt me until I had nothing left, and I barely escaped. I know I’ve been found. Iknowit.”
CJ doesn’t interrupt. His entire body goes rigid, muscles locking tight, but his eyes stay anchored to mine, burning with a fierce, deadly calm.
“He’s dangerous, CJ. He doesn’t let go of things he thinks belong to him, and I… I couldn’t bear it if he did something to you because of me.”
I’m trying to protect him.The realization is terrifying, but it’s the truth.
