Page 31 of Gilded Dreams

Theo pops his head out before I can request a pickup. “Ma’am, we have a car waiting for you around the side. It’s a service we offer. I’m sorry I didn’t mention it. But I saw you still out here.”

Oh, thank you, Universe! “You are a lifesaver, Theo.”

He tosses me a wink.

Twenty minutes later I instruct the Society’s driver to drop me a few yards from my front entrance.

“But it’s half a block from your building? Are you sure?”

Um, hell yes.You have The Gilded Key Society plastered on the side of the car, sir.“Yes, please. Truly it’s fine. I need to walk the night off and the cold air will clear my head.” I outright lied. I’d half freeze, but all for a good cause. I live here. The last person who needs to know my business is the nosy, gossiping doorman. No way I can pull up in an Escalade with the most exclusive adult club name printed in big bold letters and step out with mused lipstick and my hair a wicked, sick mess.

The SUV rolls to a stop and I slip out before the club’s driver has a chance to do the whole chivalrous routine. “Thank you.”

Cold greets me and my teeth clench. Half a block. I can do this. I’d rather them think I’m doing the walk of shame or am comingfrom some company party than the truth. I’m so lost in my rehearsed greeting I don’t hear the shuffle of feet in snow until it’s too late to pull out my mace.

Solid steel connects with my jaw once, twice. Snow-covered cement rushes to greet my face but at the last minute I throw my hands out and catch myself before I get the roughest facial of my life.

I suck in a lungful of snow flurries and allow myself half a second before my inner cowgirl kicks in. Fuck the dress and dainty heels.

I push to my feet and swing a fist at the man in shadow rushing toward me but nothing lands. He’s too fast. And all those years of martial arts class my mother tried to get me interested in come back to haunt me.

My vision is less than stellar but I try to find details of whoever the hell this is. My stalker no doubt.

“Why the hell did you let them touch you?” His voice is rough like he’s been screaming for hours. Hoarse and unrecognizable.

He’s decked out in the darkest pants with a hoodie pulled around his face. The streetlights do little to cast away the shadows to reveal my attacker.

He takes another swing, and it cracks across my jaw, sending jolts of pain ping-ponged inside my head. That steel bar I thought I got hit with earlier was nothing but this man’s fists. Holy shit. The alleyway and clear sidewalk in front of me blur.

I throw my hands up. “What the hell?” But my words are a slurred mess as I teeter on my heels. Roughened edges of thebrick wall at my back do little to soften the impact as I slam into the brick wall.

I glance around for my clutch and finally spy it in the snow. Shit! It’s by his feet. There’s nothing else I can use for a weapon. Only…

I take off my heels and hold one in each hand. Hey, it’s something. By the looks of it he has a good hundred pounds on me but that could be the bulk of clothing. With my heart in my throat, I chance asking a question I fear the answer to. “What the hell are you talking about? Get the fuck away from me you piece of shit! HELP!” I scream. “Help!”

He breaks into demented laughter, sharp and cutting to the core. I shuffle along the wall as fast as I can. The harsh textures to the bricks sand away at the butter softness of my dress. I chance a look in the opposite direction before swinging my gaze back at my attacker. But I’m not fast enough. Vise-like fingers grip my hair and I’m thrown to the ground, his weight pinning me to the icy sidewalk. Putrid breath curls around my senses and I lose my grip on my shoes. It doesn’t matter though. His hands lock around my wrists and I’m forced to do nothing but pray.

Only a hundred yards or so to my building. Breathe. Someone had to have heard me.

But I buckle beneath his weight and air wheezes from my lungs.

Cold metal grazes over my forehead, and I glance around a barrel of a gun but still there’s not enough light.

“Why did you do this to us?” Fringes of my memory try to lock onto the voice, but I have nothing.

“You fucking whore. I’ll have to kill you now.” Brittle and cold. His tone leeches the blood from my face.

Gears of a cocking mechanism sting my eardrums.

My heart races. Blood pounds through my ears.

This is it. This is how I die. But I won’t go without a fight. I jerk at my wrist and manage to get one away. Pivoting left and then right I dislodge him enough to get a knee beneath me. But my victory is short-lived. Bruising blows pepper along my ribs and oh, yeah this mother fucker knows where to strike.

I open my mouth to scream but there’s no air left in my lungs to be of much use.

My eyes dart toward the sound of a roaring motor. Screeching tires prelude the smell of burned rubber. A sense of relief of someone seeing me and stopping almost takes hold.

“They can’t protect you forever, you dirty whore. I’ll find you.”

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