Page 80 of Here In Your Arms

Nathan twists my head to the side painfully and leans in close to whisper in my ear. “I’m going to make you wish you never left. You’re nothing without me and it’s time you remembered that.”

A jolt of adrenaline hits me and without thinking, I bring my foot up between his legs as hard as I can. I feel the squishy impact and he grunts in surprise, releasing my hair enough for me to wrench free. I scramble to open the door, but just as I open it, he grabs me again, slamming the door closed. My hand is still on the door as he slams it shut, the impact flooding my hand with pain and ripping a cry from my throat. The door doesn’t latch, and Nathan pulls me away from the car as hard as he can, causing me to stumble and fall to the asphalt of the parking lot.

The noise of the car door slamming reaches me through the hiss of pain that escapes me. My hip and elbow are likely bruised from when I hit the asphalt, and I’ve probably got scrapes as well. I knew Nathan had this in him the first time he threw me before I left, but I didn’t expect him to do this. This is in public. Anyone could come by and see what’s happening. As that thought passes through my head, I realize that there’s nobody around. The bar is closed, and while we’re not in a secluded spot, it’s late and there’s not a ton of traffic in this area.

My head is swimming as I try to figure out how to escape this situation, and I drag my body up, trying to get my feet under me so I can run. Before I can get further than my hands and knees, a swift kick slams into my stomach. The air is knocked from me again and the urge to vomit from the pain overwhelms me as I fall to my side and curl in on myself. A pair of shoes appears in my line of sight before he grabs my hair and yanks my neck back again.

“You stupid bitch. Do you really think you can take me down? You can’t get away from me and you never will.”

The heaviness is threatening to take hold with his words, and I know I should fight it. I should, but it’s so damn hard. It would be easier to just go numb for a while, check out, and just let him do what he wants. I managed it before, surely I can do it again.

“Those men you’ve been flaunting in front of me are nothing. They’ll never replace me because you are mine. I’m going to make sure you remember that.”

At the mention of my men, I feel a spark in me chase away the heaviness. They aren’t here, but I want them to be. I want to fight for them. They bring real joy and accept me however I am, and I can’t give that up to be a puppet again. I won’t give that up. My eyes snap up to Nathan’s face, his eyes boring into me and a sneer gracing his lips. Fury starts to eat at me instead of fear and I gather it up before spitting as hard as I can into his face.

The only warning I get is a slight widening of his eyes before the back of his hand slams across my face. My ears ring from the impact and I feel tears gather in my eyes in response, my head slamming back into the asphalt. This time my head hits hard and the world goes black for an instant before my senses come back to me.

“Looks like I’m going to have to start teaching you some manners again. You’ve gotten too bold without me. Don’t worry, E, I’ll get you back where you need to be.”

A whimper crawls up my throat and I can’t hold it back. The last thing I want to do is show him he’s winning, but everything hurts now. My face is throbbing from his hand, my stomach is still threatening to expel the dinner that Kyle and Wes brought me. I try to breathe through the pain, but it just causes my head to spin more. Instead, I focus on the throbbing in my face. Maybe that will drown out the nausea and dizziness. His foot slams into my stomach one more time, and my stomach finally gives up and expels the little food I have left all over his shoes.

“Hey! What are you doing over there?” an angry voice shouts in the distance and I vaguely recognize it.

Nathan pulls out his charming voice. “Oh, it’s nothing. She’s just tired after working all day.”

The voice comes closer. “Why the fuck are you letting her stay on the asphalt then?”

“Well, I was about to help her up. No need to come over here. It’s well in hand.”

“Is that? Is that Rory? Oh my God, Rory!”

My fuzzy brain still can’t figure out who’s talking, but Nathan quickly disappears when another person falls next to me, touching my forehead. I try to raise my head, but it won’t move.

“Wes… Kyle…” My voice is a rasp, but I hear this person giving me assurances and dialing 911.

Good. 911 is good. Wes and Kyle would be better.

Chapter 29

Wes

Neither of us can sleep after leaving Rory at the bar, so eventually Kyle and I end up out on the couch together. I put a random movie on, just something to make noise while we wait for Rory. Neither of us watches the movie, instead Kyle holds me in his arms as we drift in and out of sleep. When I look at the time next, it’s three in the morning and Rory still isn’t here. I don’t see any messages from her when I check my phone and I war with myself on if I should be concerned. Concern wins, so I sit up away from Kyle and shove him awake gently.

“Rory’s not here,” I tell him.

“She’ll probably be here soon. It’s not even midnight yet, right?”

“It’s three a.m.”

He bolts upright. “What?”

Kyle checks the time before swearing. We sit there quietly as he scrolls through his phone, looking for any text messages or calls he may have missed. I could tell him he didn’t miss anything, but I know he needs to see for himself.

“Maybe she just went home and fell asleep?” I offer.

He grimaces. “Yeah, I mean, that’s gotta be it. She’d text us if she needed something. It was busy, so she probably just crashed right away.”

My concern doesn’t leave, but there’s nothing we can do short of leaving here and going to her apartment. I don’t think she would appreciate it if we woke her up, so I stand and pull Kyle with me toward the bedroom. We’ll call her in the morning and check in with her. I pull my shirt over my head as I hear my phone ring. Looking at my phone, it’s not a number I recognize, but the name of the local hospital system is displayed under the number. Frowning, I slide the answer button.

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