I have a surprise for Tristan. I've been dying to show him. I reached out to the organizers of the runway event to see where I could find a black pair of Louboutins identical to my lilac pair. They were just going to contact me to tell me that an anonymous donor had given a substantial donation in honor of me that nearly doubled what they raised for the evening. As a thank-you they gifted me the heels. I’ve been saving them for something special.
I like what the mirror has to say when I step into that familiar champagne dress and look at my profile. My hair is cascading in waves down my back. He will have plenty of curls to weave in his fingers and hopefully tug later in his fists.
As I drive back to the university to pick him up, I’ve connected my cell to the Bluetooth, firing up Spotify and turning on some tunes that make me want to dance. I feel like an intense weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Maybe my life is finally turning around?
I must be too into the Maroon 5 song jamming from the speakers because I don’t notice the man in a black coat and hood step out into the street in front of me. I have to slam on the brakes and skid to a stop.
“Shit!” I squeeze the steering wheel as he keeps walking. He didn’t even flinch or acknowledge that I nearly ran him over. “What the fuck?” I place my hand on my racing heart.
Just when the wheels begin to move again, the speakers come alive with the sound of an incoming call and Tristan’s name appears on the dash.
“Miss me already?” I ask when I accept the call.
“Always, love.” His voice is loud and sexy over the speakers. I may need to drive his car and talk to him on the phone more often. “I was just checking in.”
“I’m sorry I’m not there. I’m caught in rush-hour stoplights and in the midst of pedestrians who don’t seem to understand the concept of crosswalks. Are you already in your suit? Did I miss helping you?”
“I’ve left a couple pieces off just for you, don’t worry.”
“You better.” I roll to a stop at another light and sigh in frustration. “Now I remember why I hate driving.”
“Just be safe, all right? I’ll let you go so you can focus. You’ll do me no good in an accident,” he chuckles to himself. “I love you, Petal.”
The smile on my face could only be described as lovestruck and worthy of a swooning damsel, but I’m not embarrassed at all.
“I love you too, Tristan.”
The words are barely out of my mouth when the passenger door opens, startling me enough that I shriek, and the next five seconds happen in slow motion.
The same man that I nearly hit with the car a few blocks back slides into the passenger seat and pulls his hood off, revealing the one human that I’d hoped to never lay eyes on again.
“Petal? Nora? What’s the matter?” Tristan says through the car speaker as Evan reaches forward with his finger hovering to end the call, drawing a pistol from his inside pocket.
“Hello, Nora.” He shoves the gun against my ribs and utters a single word before he hits disconnect. “Drive.”
Tristan
That voice.
That fucking voice.
I’m squeezing my phone so tightly that the metal is cracking under the pressure.
His voice has haunted me since the day I heard it utter the words “There’s nothing more we can do. I suggest you start making arrangements.”
The dots all start to connect in my mind in a flurry of information, facts, and memories.
Evan Caldwell, the man who gave up on my sister, the man who let her die… is the same man that nearly killed the woman I love… and he has her now.
After a brief pause, a beat to gather a semblance of a thought, I burst into action, rushing to the door at the same time it busts inward with Lucas standing in the doorway.
“Shit!” I shout, startled.
“Is Nora here?” he asks, holding his phone to his ear.
“No, I’m—”
He cuts me off before I can say anything else.
“We need to get to her. She’s in danger.”
Chapter 25
Nora
Right on First Avenue. Left on Brighton. Passing the big public library on the corner. Even with the barrel of a gun pressing into my rib cage, I’m trying with every available cell in my brain to memorize everything around me.
“You cut your hair, Nor,” Evan says in a low growl that makes my stomach turn. “Take a right at the light.” He nods his head in that direction.
My hands are shaking as they grip the steering wheel, and a tear that I’ve been fighting runs down my trembling cheek. Remember everything. You’ll need it to tell someone where you are.
“Please don’t call me that. And I had to cut it after they had to shave parts to stitch me up. It’s taken forever for it to look like this.”
“You always loved that sassy mouth. I see you still haven’t learned respect.”
“What do you want?” I ask as my hands tense around the ridges beneath my fingertips.
“Why doesn’t anyone enjoy the element of surprise anymore? Where’s the fun in me giving up all my dirty little secrets and plans all at once, huh?”
He slides the gun up my side and higher to push my hair away from my neck and behind my shoulders.
I hiss at the contact and try to shrug away. “Don’t touch me.”
“I plan on doing much more than that. Make a left onto the highway. We’re going to take a trip down memory lane as we drive around your new city. How quaint is this dump?”
“It’s not a dump. I love it here. My family is here. They know all about you.”
“Do they now? What fables did you tell them, love?”
That word is reserved for one person and one person only. Not him. “Don’t call me that. Ever.”
“Ouch, so testy, so fiery.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Because I want to. Do I need any other reason? You’re mine, remember?”
“I’m NOT yours.” I slam the brakes to keep from running a red light.
Evan reaches over and grabs my face in his hand, squeezing my cheeks painfully tight. “Don’t. Ever. Raise your voice to me, again. Understood?”
I don’t say anything, I just look wildly around and out the windows. Surely someone, anyone, will see us, see this happening.
But they don’t.
“What’s the matter? Are you looking for someone to come to your rescue? Perhaps your not so young boyfriend?” Everything inside me is screaming to make him go away. I feel like I’m stuck in concrete , but yet also programmed to do anything and everything he tells me to do. My eyes narrow, grow wide, then narrow again. “You didn’t think I knew, did you? I know more than you could possibly imagine.”
“Just let me go, Evan. This isn’t going to end well for you if you don’t.”
The light turns green and he shoves my face away so I can drive again.
“Keep going straight.” He cracks his neck back and forth and shakes his shoulders out. He’s unhinged. I can feel his anger and erratic energy radiating off of him in waves.
“Are you going to hurt me?”
To that, he laughs. Not a small chuckle or a quiet sound under his breath, but a loud, head tilted back, cackle like I’ve said the funniest thing he’s ever heard.