Page 103 of The Runaway and the Rugged
“Who is that, Emelia?” she asked, but I was too focused on getting her inside, away from whatever was about to happen.
Reaching for her hand, I tugged her off the swing and forced her to dash across the lawn as if her life depended on it. I had no idea what Nathaniel wanted or how he had found me, but all I knew was that I wouldn’t risk anything happening to Grace.
“What’s going on?” She sounded panicked now, her voice wobbly with fear, and I pulled her onto the back deck and nudged her into the house.
“Go inside, lock the door, and call your dad,” I demanded firmly, though terror gripped me tightly.
“But what about—” Her frantic eyes went over my shoulder, but I pushed her into the house and with a quick kiss to her forehead, I slammed the door shut.
“Emelia? Sweetheart? Where in the fuck are you?” Nathaniel growled in a twisted version of a song that made me believe that he had been drinking.
My heart slammed into my breastbone.
Turning toward the voice, I watched as he stumbled up to the picnic table and stopped to look at it. Jesus, he looked like hell. Grown-out hair, a mustache that didn’t look half as good as Garth’s, and a wrinkled suit, something that would have been unimaginable when we were together.
His gaze was fixated on the table, almost strangely, when suddenly he gripped the edge of it and on a roar tipped it over until everything came crashing down onto the ground.
“See what you’re doing to me, Emelia!” He shouted. “Making me go insane trying to find you!”
I was frozen to the spot. Unsure how to approach this, but I knew just standing here silent wouldn’t solve anything. There was nothing left between us, no words to say, no way to fix it, I just wanted him to go.
“How did you find me?” My voice quivered, but I kept a sharpness in my tone.
Emelia,” he croaked the moment his eyes connected with mine. “Baby.” He took a step forward, causing my feet to shift back.
“How did you find me?” I repeated with force.
“There’s nowhere you’d go that I wouldn’t find you, pumpkin. You should know that.”
The nickname made me cringe.
“Go home, Nathaniel,” I mustered the courage to call out to him as his entire body locked up and his head swiveled in my direction.
My reaction made him flinch.
“Leave, go home, and don’t come back.” I used a more forceful tone, with my head held high. I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me, and that was clearly his intention. His chest flared as his cold, blank eyes darkened with menace.
“Go home?” he sneered as if I had physically hurt him. “Not without you. I’m taking you back with me.”
I shook my head fiercely.
“No.”
He released a deep, flaring breath as if to compose himself.
“You’ve had your fun. Living here on this run-down ranch, pretending to be someone you’re not. Now, it’s time to come home, Emelia. It’s over, the game is up.”
The game is up?
He was clearly out of his mind if he thought I was going back home with him. I left for a reason, for lots of reasons, but he obviously wasn’t accepting the fact that I didn’t want to be with him anymore.
How could I have made it any more clearer when I didn’t show up to our wedding ceremony?
“I’m not going anywhere. This is my home now and I’m not leaving.”
“You are leaving!” he roared, when seconds later the back door slid open and Winnie stepped out.
“Who in the hell are you and what are you doin’ here harassing’ Emelia?” Winnie demanded, settling in close beside me, letting me know that I wasn’t alone.
