Page 464 of Now and Forever

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A painful scream comes out of me when I feel someone jerk my hair and arm, dragging me off the bed and onto the floor.

“You, stupid whore. Didn’t I warn you to stay away from him? I did, didn’t I? But you didn’t fucking listen! He’s mine!” Shannon shrieks at me.

Since I’m on the floor, the closest thing I can reach is her leg. I pull it hard enough for her to lose her balance and she flops onto the floor next to me with a loud thud.

Shannon is scrambling to get on top of me when Drake yanks her off, throwing her off where she lands on the bed.

She is hysterically crying. “How dare you bring her here! On our bed! This was our bed. How fucking dare you, Drake! You’re mine. You’re mine . . .”

“You and I are done, Shannon. I’ve made that clear already. I have your key. How the fuck did you get in here?” Drake is glaring at her, eyes dark, furious.

My heart is sky-rocketing, beating so hard against my chest; it’s the only thing I feel. That is, until I start to feel the pain on my head. The spot where Shannon pulled my hair is beginning to throb and ache.

“Stupid man, do you think I would hand it over without having it copied? It’s not like you changed your security code, anyway. It was easy. You’re saying that we’re over when she’s around, but I know you still want me. You always have. We’re about to get married, Drake. You can’t keep hurting me like this.” Shannon starts crying again. She tries to reach out to Drake, but he smacks her hand away.

Drake helps me up and carefully places me on one of the cushioned chairs that are on the other side of the room. “Are you okay? Fuck, I’m sorry. Are you hurting?”

“I’m fine. Go take care of that, first.” My eyes send daggers to his deranged ex who is still in the process of crying and pleading.

Hell, what the heck did I get myself into?

Drake grabs his cell phone and dials the cops. He reports a home invasion and illegal trespassing. As he rapidly speaks on the phone, it’s hard to follow.

I feel numb.

My body is still tense and I’m afraid to move for some reason—possibly because the senseless bitch is still on the bed, sending me crazy eyes when Drake isn’t watching her.

When the cops come, Drake takes the reluctant Shannon downstairs. I hear him ask them to take her to the hospital first to get checked over. Just in case she’s high on something.

I feel something wet on my leg and when I look down, I find Skull rubbing his nose on me. I bend down and scratch the back of his ears. He then curls up next to my foot and falls asleep. The adorable fur ball is giving me comfort.

After what seems to be an hour of answering all the questions the police have for Drake, he finally comes back upstairs with some Advil and an icepack.

He finds me, sitting, still in the same position I was in when he left with Shannon. “Are you okay? You don’t look well.”

I nod and swallow the pills with some water. Drake carefully takes me in his arms and carries me into one of the guest rooms. We lie on the bed with Skull leaning on my back, snoring. I’m wrapped around Drake’s body while he holds the icepack to my head.

Drake breaks the silence first. “I didn’t think she was crazy. Okay, I mean toward the end, she started to become off, but I didn’t think for a second she was capable of pulling something like that. I’m just thankful that she didn’t have a knife . . . or a gun. God knows what would’ve happened if she did.”

I would probably be dead by now, or I would’ve killed that daft bitch first. Hell, her crazy eyes are still haunting me. I remember the hate and scorn in those eyes and I shiver.

When the painkillers work their way into my system, Drake takes the icepack off my head.

He’s stroking my arm, softly, as I finally drift off to sleep.

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