Page 205 of Felonies are Forever

Time slows. I swallow the rock lodged in my throat. It’s him.

Then, I remember…I’m going to post this, what you do when someone meets you. You’re a bitch TutoDanceFighter! They must have posted the video, maybe with a location tag or something in the background told him where I was…

I need to get away. Or do something before he gets to that gun…

“I’ve got all your tutus at home waiting for you…” His voice hardens. “So, get the fuck over here and let’s go.”

He lunges forward. His hand grazes my arm but years of training kick in. I duck, spin and cock back. I may be a little girl, but I’ve been taught well and I focus on my target.

My knuckles connect with all the force I can gather, plowing directly into his Adam’s apple, then my knee finds his nuts. My third strike is the heel of my palm in an upward cut into the base of his nose.

The girls scream behind and beside me as adrenaline heats and prickles my skin. The noise around me fades as blood streams down his chin and he falls like a sack of rotten potatoes onto the ground.

He curls into a ball, then pushes up, eyes narrow, different, darkness and evil taking over as he swipes the back of his hand through the blood.

“That is a very, very bad girl—”

I’m ready for what’s next as I watch his hand move to the pouch. Other people are gathering and I know I have to knock him out.

I spin, spin again…a pirouette, then pull my leg back, ready to center my heel into his face when I’m thrown off balance into the group of girls, and I see it. The blur of Jack lifting him up off the ground, then slamming him into the picnic table, wood cracking with the force as more screams and gasps come from the crowd.

“He has a gun!” I yell, but with one more bash of the guy’s head into the hardwood, he’s left drooling and unconscious.

Jack pulls him up again, throwing him to the ground and cutting the canvas belt away with the knife he always has in a sheath around his waist.

A second later, the sheriff is there, holding Jack back. Jack fumes and twists, nearly pulling out of the sheriff’s arms, and I think for a second I’m about to witness Jack killing him. Then his eyes snap to mine and he hesitates, the fury turning to concern as he storms my way.

“You okay?” He runs his hands up and down my arms.

“Yeah,” I answer, the fear I should have felt a minute ago finally taking hold. “I…I just…he’s that guy. From TikTok.”

“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out. But, baby…from now on, you need to tell me this sort of shit. As soon as you noticed him you should have called me, or run, not confronted him yourself. How can I take care of you if you don’t tell me everything?”

“I didn’t want you to feel responsible and it all happened so fast...”

Jack lets out a long, low rumble. “I am responsible, little Prima. So get used to it.”

I watch as the Sheriff pulls the man from the table, his head lolling, dazed, but apparently not seriously hurt. He’s cuffed, his Miranda rights read to him as he’s led away from the scene.

“Hey, Layla.” Lily grins. “You kicked that guy’s ass.”

Willow looks concerned, her mouth pulling into a tight line. “Are you all right?”

I turn to Jack, take in a deep breath of his dark, woodsy scent, and then wrap my arms around his middle. There’s a murmur from the girls, but I don’t care. “I am now,” I say, smiling. “Daddy loves me.”

Jack strokes my hair, kisses the top of my head, and then starts to lead us away from the scene. “Daddy’s here, baby. Daddy’s here.”

TWELVE

Layla

“Can you believe this?”Arianna stands behind me, her hands on my shoulders as we look into the floor-to-ceiling mirror in our suite, the ocean breeze outside fluttering the white curtains.

“Not in a million years.”

Her dress is cream and mine is white. Hers is high neck and lacy, mine is gauzy and loose. I’m in little gold sandals while she’s full-on glam with sparkling rhinestone-covered strappy heels.

“It’s crazy, but it’s perfect.”

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