Page 59 of Hold Me Before You Go

He looked down to his chest, pulling the cell phone away from his ear. “Carrie, I don’t have time for this. Go downstairs,” he ordered, his voice like ice.

I was tired of the secrets. I was tired of the man I married not wanting to spend any time with me, hiding from me since we were declared husband and wife six months ago.

“No, I want you to tell me what that is,” I demanded. “I’m your wife, and you—”

He lunged for me then, the phone flying to the side as he bared his teeth. He wrapped his hands around my throat, shoving me against the wall as I flailed my arms. I tried to gasp for air, but he pulled me away from the wall and slammed me back, my head cracking against it. Black spots dotted my vision, and my airway was cut off. My head began to spin as he did it again, his hands squeezing the life out of me.

“You have got to stop being so fucking nosy,” he growled, his eyes wild. “All you have to do is play your fucking part, Carrie. Your father told me you would be good for my image, that having you by my side would be a breeze. Clearly, he fucking lied.”

My husband looked…unhinged. I slapped my hands against his arms, digging my nails into his skin, but nothing helped.

“You’re going to ruin everything, you stupid bitch,” he seethed as I choked, looking up to the ceiling. My body was trapped between the wall and his. There was nowhere for me to go.

This was it. This was the end.

Everything went black.

“Carrie?”

No, he was choking me. He was going to kill me.

“Hey, Carrie, wake up. I have to get some food in you.”

Slowly, I opened my eyes to find Mags standing over me, a plate in one hand, a fresh glass of water in the other. I blinked, looking around the cabin. I wasn’t in my old house. It was dark outside. I was in Mags’ cabin. I wasn’t in St. Louis. I wasn’t with Robert. He wasn’t choking me.

Confusion washed over me then as a small sense of fear coiled around my neck.

When my eyes met Mags’ again, he jerked his chin to the coffee table in front of the couch. “Sit up so you can eat, yeah?” he gently ordered as I brought my hand to the front of my neck, still feeling Robert’s hands around it. I could still see the rage in his eyes and hear the venom in his voice as his hands just kept squeezing.

Was that just a dream or a memory?

“Carrie?”

Shaking my head, I blinked again and looked up to Mags. “Yeah, sorry.”

He said nothing as he watched me push myself up, wincing through the pain.

“Jesus, I’m so sore,” I mumbled, throwing my legs over the side of the couch as Mags set the food down along with a napkin and utensils. I blinked, looking up to thank Mags, but suddenly, a ghost of Robert was standing by the fire, shirtless and covered in blood.

I froze, eyes widening, but I couldn’t say anything. It was as if my voice was stolen from me. Ghost Robert’s hair was messy, his eyes red and dilated, a hate-filled snarl painted across his face. My eyes dropped to his chest, noticing the same blood stain on it that I’d seen in the dream, his arms covered in actual blood, droplets dripping from his fingers.

But it hadn’t been a dream, had it? That was my life—another memory from the past rising to the surface.

You fucking bitch.

You ruined everything for me.

My eyes rose from the bloody hands to find Ghost Robert’s eyes and I watched in horror as he took a step away from the fireplace, slowly getting closer and closer to me. I scooted my body further up the couch, getting as close to the opposite end of it as possible.

He was going to try and kill me again.

That was why he was here. Brandon couldn’t finish the job, so Robert was back from the dead to do it instead. I was suddenly missing Brandon’s gun pointed in my face. I’d take that over this, anything but this…

A small whimper came from me then, and Mags was in front of me, blocking my view of Ghost Robert.

“Carrie?”

I swallowed the knives in my throat and carefully looked up to Mags’ face. His thick, black brows were furrowed in concern, his lips thin. “What’s wrong?” he asked, looking over his shoulder. It felt like hours had passed by the time he looked back to me again, this time with a completely different look in his eyes. Slowly, he got down onto his haunches in front of me. “Carrie, I need you to be really honest with me right now, okay?”

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