Page 181 of Sincerely, Your Enemy

“No hard feelings, Mattson. There isn’t much we don’t do to get our hands on those underage virgins,” Aaron says.

Disgust makes my stomach churn. The rain intensifies the next second, thunder booming in the distance, and I use the noise to undo the zipper of my coat without him noticing.

A sob rips from my throat. “Why are you doing this?”

My only advantage is the element of surprise here. I can’t mess this up.

“You would, too, for that kind of money,” Aaron hisses, leaning forward as his hand tightens around my throat.

“Motherfucker!” I hear Fake Cop Number Two shout on my right, and Aaron looks in his direction.

Now.

I grip one of my keys between my fingers, muster up all my strength, and jam the key straight into Aaron’s eye as soon as he turns his head. A little savage, maybe, and I have no doubt it could get me into a world of trouble, but I don’t care about that right now. All I care about is my freedom.

It does the trick, causing Aaron to release me as he screams out in agony, covering his eye with his hands as blood trickles between his fingers.

My focus shifts to TJ, who appears to be well in control of the situation. He’s the one straddling the man now and beating him to a pulp.

Then I hear them.

The police sirens.

The distant wail fills my chest with relief, panic losing its hold on me as the sirens grow louder. I’m stupid enough to hope that the worst is behind us.

Until I hear TJ gasp for air.

I scream as I watch his body go stiff as the man beneath him twists something into his stomach. Then, the man lets out a bone-chilling laugh.

The rain is coming down in sheets now, and I can’t see exactly what’s happening. But the grunt of pain that escapes my boyfriend as he falls backward slices into me like a thousand blades.

The man who was previously on the ground lifts to his feet with a groan of pain and steps over TJ like he’s a piece of garbage. I watch as he heads for Aaron, who’s still holding his eye and bellowing in pain.

“Get in!” The man leads Aaron to their getaway car, throws the door open, and helps Aaron into the back seat.

The roar of the engine and the screech of the tires echo in the dead of the night, but my eyes don’t stray from TJ.

From his motionless body.

I race over to him, my heart pounding against my ribs when I drop to my knees by his side. He’s conscious, but barely, his eyes threatening to close as a dark puddle of blood seeps through his shirt.

I can barely see him through the tears. “No, no, no. TJ, you’re going to be fine, okay? I promise. You’re going to be just fine.”

I remove my coat and bunch it up to try and apply pressure to his stab wound. Only it doesn’t stop the bleeding at all.

There’s so much blood.

So fucking much.

A sob makes my lips tremble. “Oh, God, TJ. What do I do? I don’t know what to do. I can’t…”

He looks drained, his skin pale as snow, but he manages to grip my wrist as if to calm me down.

“Why did you follow me?” I’m practically screaming at him now, and I know that’s not the right thing to do, but I can’t get a handle on my emotions. “Did you know this would happen?”

TJ musters up every ounce of energy he has left and shakes his head.

God, please don’t take him, too.

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