Page 35 of The Venom We Bleed

I launch myself at the chain link fence and manage to get halfway up before a firm hand grabs ahold of the back of my shirt and yanks me down. My fingers peel away from the metal and I shriek as I fall backwards.

“Are you trying to kill yourself?” Gio demands as I land hard on my back on the concrete.

A low groan rumbles up from my chest. “Actually, the opposite,” I cough back a reply. I get to my feet and wince when I feel a particularly sore spot right over one of my kidneys at my lower back. A quick look down to the ground reveals a rather large rock as the culprit. My luck just doesn’t stop. With a sigh, I dust off my hands on my pants and face him. “Why are you following me?”

Gio, though, isn’t listening. His phone is back out and against his ear for a second time. “We’re behind the bowling alley,” he says. “Can you—already? Great. We’ll wait for you here.”

Since there’s no one else but me and him, I assume that his ‘we’ includes me, which can only mean one thing. I’ve got to make a run for it.

15

JULIET

Idon’t wait for him to realize my plan. I take off running. My sneakers squeak against the dirty, cracked pavement as I round Gio and sprint toward the opposite side of the parking lot. The dried sweat sticking to my skin that once cooled, heats up once more.

“Fuck!” Gio curses a split second before the sound of his heavy footsteps follows me.

I glance over my shoulder to see his hulking, big ass body barreling right towards me faster than I anticipated a man of his size to be able to run. “Shit. Shit. Shit.” Pushing more power into my thighs, I pick up the pace.

Exhaustion clings to me and I regret how hard I went in the gym before this. All along, though, I hope he went harder and that it makes it more difficult to catch up with me. If I had to guess, he and the Scorpion Kings have a plan to fuck me up—no doubt Megan has been hounding them to do it and I just gave them the perfect opening.

My feet pound against the loose debris in the parking lot as I cut around the bowling alley and dive across the street. A speeding Camry honks, barely missing me, but thankfully cutting off Gio. His loud “Motherfucker!” is music to my ears.

Throwing my head back with a laugh, I call behind me. “Serves you right, asshole!”

“Goddamn it, Juliet!” Gio’s voice follows me further as I continue my way up the street, running until I swear my lungs are going to burst.

My heartbeat races in my ears, throbbing in time with the rush of my blood through my body. Adrenaline courses through me. I laugh again as I catch sight of a chain link fence separating the end of one alleyway with an opening on the other end. Right next to it, however, is a double-wide dumpster. I hang a right into the alley, listening to the sound of Gio’s filthy mouth at my back as I do.

“When I fucking catch you, Prep Girl, I’m gonna spank your ass so fucking red!”

“I’d like to see you try, Playboy!” I scream back.

A side door slams open and a man in a stained white kitchen uniform ambles out with two trash bags in each hand. As he heaves them up, finally spotting me, I dive around him and hook my hands onto the top of the dumpster. Using my momentum, I launch my foot onto the edge, praying I don’t fall in as I reach for the top of the fence just beyond it. My fingers connect with thin metal wiring. With relief, I sail over the top of the fence, landing rather hard on the other side. I ignore the reverberation of pain up my calves. I’m not stupid enough to stop now. Gio’s athletic enough that the fence won’t be much of a hindrance. It’s just something to slow him down.

Think, Jules. Think!Where the hell can I go to lose him? Do I go back to the gym? No, I don’t want Cory to get involved. If I let Cory protect me once then I’ll keep relying on him again and again. I need to figure this shit out myself.

Panting for breath, I slow my run as I make it out of the other end of the alley. Scanning my surroundings, I spot a park to the left and just as I pivot in its direction, a roaring SUV witha rusted-out underside skids up on the sidewalk nearly colliding with me. I jump out of the way as the vehicle jolts to a halt and the passenger's side door opens.

Horror descends as a familiar face appears around the hood as Nolan circles towards me. I back up, stopping as I slam into a second chest. Gio’s hands land on my upper arms and grip tight. “I told you to stop running, Prep Girl,” he heaves.

“Out of breath much?” I counter. In my head, though, I’m freaking the fuck out. How the hell had he managed to call and tell them where I was heading as he ran after me? Nolan opens the back door and gestures inside.

“Nope.” I back up further into Gio’s chest, shaking my head. “No way in hell am I getting into that car.”

“We’re not giving you a choice, Princess,” Nolan replies. “I suggest you don’t fight it.”

“And I suggest youfuck off!”

“G.” That’s all Nolan says, and yet the sheer tone of that single syllable and letter is enough to let me know that he’s done with what he likely considers my bullshit.

Gio picks me up off the ground and in a matter of seconds, I find myself thrown over a big meaty shoulder and hauled towards the back of the SUV. “Oh fuck no!” I buck against Gio’s hold and he curses again, slapping a hand over my ass more to keep me anchored onto his shoulder than to cop a feel, but indignation still rips through me.

“Hands off!” I shriek, bucking again, punching him in the back of the head.

This was exactly what I feared when I made the switch from Prep to Public—the nightmares come roaring back. Hands reaching out of the dark, grabbing on to my limbs, tearing my clothes. Teeth sinking into my flesh. Disgustingly lewd moans filtering into my ears.

None of it’s real. It’s not there. It’s just the phantom of my nightmares, but the trigger is obvious. Gio’s fucking hand on my ass. I struggle harder, fighting him and the feelings that are rising up within me faster and faster. My blood boils. The earlier adrenaline that had been waning comes back, crashing over me like a tidal wave.

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