Page 77 of Catching My Dreams

Archie’s barks increased in volume, and he added to the noise with the scratch of his nails against the door. Ella tried to pry Brett’s fingers from her mouth, but all she accomplished was leaving scratches on his skin.

“I’m just here to explain,” he said, his tone pleading. “I was only trying to do what I thought you wanted.”

With her mouth covered, Ella’s response was to glare at him, putting all of her hatred into the look.

“I didn’t ever want you to get hurt, and I need you to understand that. I only ever wanted to help you.”

“You tried to stab me,” she yelled, the words becoming garbled against his hand.

“You don’t need to be scared of me,” he continued. “I know I messed up by taking the wrong person, but it was a mistake. It was a mistake, just like the mistake you’re making with Noah.”

Ella’s breaths came more quickly, her panic heightened by the knowledge that he’d been keeping tabs on her. Watching her. Spying on her.

“He’s only going to hurt you, Ella. I know you’re only using him to get back at me, but he’s using you, too. You know that, right?”

He was insane. Delusional. Unhinged.

“He’ll hurt you, just like he did all those years ago. I know he’s the one you wanted back then. He’s always been the thing standing between us.”

Ella tried to shake her head, but his grip was too tight. If Brett thought Noah was what was standing between them, Noah was in danger.

“You need to remember who he truly is.”

She needed to get away from the psychopath who would always find excuses and delusions to fit his narrative. She needed to escape, to get to the panic button on her bedside table. So, Ella pushed her fear aside long enough to remember what she and Riley had learned at their last Krav Maga class.

She didn’t need strength or complicated maneuvers to hurt Brett. She just needed to hit him in his weak points. She stopped clawing at the hand covering her mouth, moving her fingers up to his eyes and pressing her thumbs into the weakest point she could reach.

She’d barely applied any pressure before Brett was dropping his grip on her and backing away with a muttered curse. He looked at her like she’d betrayed him. Like she’d shocked him by fighting back. And when he struck out at her, the back of his hand hitting her cheek, Ella knew she’d made a mistake.

She’d shattered his illusions, forcing him to confront the fact that she didn’t want anything to do with him, and he’d struck back hard enough to send her falling to the tiled floor.

Ella wished she’d taken the hit like a champ. That she’d recovered almost instantly and sprang back to her feet. But that wasn’t what happened.

The hit dazed her, and before she could react, Brett had pinned her, his hands pushing her wrists into the hard floor and his legs straddling her lower body.

“Why would you do that?” he asked her, his voice breaking and tears filling his eyes as though he had the right to be upset. As though he were the victim. “Why did you make me do that?”

“Noah isn’t what’s standing between us,” Ella spat, the throbbing ache in her cheek making her wince. “You only have yourself to blame.”

Brett shook his head, his face taking on an ugly, pinched look. He released her one arm to press his hand over her mouth again, as though he could shut out the truth of her words by making sure she couldn’t say anything else.

“This wasn’t how this was meant to go,” he said, his head bowing. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Ella tried to send a punch to his face with her free hand, but he dodged it easily, lifting his head out of her reach. It made her feel like a small child. Like she didn’t stand a chance against him.

“Ella? I’m back!” Noah’s voice made its way upstairs, his shout barely audible over Archie’s scratching and barking.

Brett stilled, his eyes narrowing into a rage-filled glower. “Why is he here?” he hissed, his eyes moving to the closed bathroom door.

Ella used his distraction to her advantage, opening her mouth and biting into the flesh between his thumb and pointer finger. Brett instinctively drew his hand back, swearing in pain as he did so. Ella sucked in her first full breath in minutes, only to let it all out again in a scream.

Brett cut the sound off by pressing his toothmarked hand back onto her face. “Please, just listen to me.” His words were soft, but his grip wasn’t.

“Ella,” Noah yelled.

“They’re all turning you against me,” Brett continued. “But you know me. You know I only want what’s best for you.”

And Ella was sure he thought he was what was best for her. It was what made him so scary. That he could convince himself of almost anything.

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