Page 80 of Catalyst

“Okay, ma’am. What’s your address?”

I give her my address, and she confirms that officers are on their way. She asks me other questions about my safety and if I can get out or hide when Junior busts open the door.

“He just got inside.”

“Hang up the phone, little pig, or I’ll make this a lot harder for you,” Junior growls. Of course, I don’t actually listen to him; I just set my phone down on the couch.

“Get out of my house,” I demand.

“Now, where would the fun be in that?” He cocks his head in a way that has me swallowing hard. His eyes light up at my obvious fear. How the hell has he been able to hide this side of himself from the world? “It’s time to go, piggy.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Junior’s face morphs, his rage billowing out of him in palpable waves. I step back as he takes two long strides, bringing us closer together. I bring the knife up between us in an effort to dissuade him from coming any closer. It only makes him smirk.

“What are you going to do with that, huh?” His emotions change so quickly. I don’t stand a chance of finding a way to talk myself out of this.

I lift the knife higher, but my shaking hand gives me away.

“You’ve been a naughty girl, little piggy. You should’ve done what you were told to do, but I can’t say I’m upset that I get to punish you for it.” His grin is maniacal.

“If you come any closer to me, I will stab you,” I warn him.

“Good, I love a little blood play.” Junior lunges at the same time I swipe the knife at his chest. He grunts when I make contact, but it only lasts a second before he knocks the weapon out of my hand and twists my arm behind my back. He presses me against the wall of my living room, shoving his entire body against my back. A shiver of disgust slides down my back that he interprets as arousal.

“You’ve always been hot for me.” He grunts against my neck. The hard line of his erection presses into my back, and nausea rolls through my stomach.

You can save yourself,a voice whispers in my head. My eyes snap open, determination seeping through my body as Chris’s self-defense lessons filter through my brain.

I step my left foot back between Junior’s legs and then drop my weight, forcing him to adjust to the change. His hips shift back as he tries to regain his balance, giving me enough space to push off the wall with my left hand. I twist at my core, throwing my elbow back at his head. It doesn’t have much power behind it, but it causes Junior to duck, loosening his grip enough for me to twist out of his hold.

I sprint toward my front door, which is still open from when Junior busted in. My heart lurches when Junior roars behind me. His boots thumping across the floor is my only indication of how close he’s getting, and I throw myself out the door, skipping over the steps and racing through the grass.

I only make it to the middle of my yard when Junior’s body crashes against mine, tackling me to the ground. My breath whooshes out of me at the impact, robbing me of any hope of escaping.

“You’ll never escape me, bitch,” Junior says into my ear.

My heart pounds in my ears, muffling any noise around me, and my eyes close. If this is the end for me, I’m going to picture the one thing that brought me pure joy. The man who could see right through the sunshiny exterior I gave to the world. He was the only man who saw all my cracks and loved me more because of them. I just wish the last thing I did was tell him I love him.

Gentle hands on my shoulder make me flinch into the grass, then soft words start to filter into my head. “You’re safe now, honey. He’s not going to hurt you.” A woman’s voice accompanies her hand on my shoulder, and I blink my eyes open. A blue uniform is the first thing I see, and my eyes scan up to find a police officer crouched next to me. Her black hair is slicked back into a bun, and her almond-shaped eyes soften when we make eye contact.

“Is he gone?” I croak, my breathing still not fully back from having the wind knocked out of me.

“Yes. He’s on his way to central booking now. Relax right here for me while I have a medic check you over, okay? Don’t move.”

The next several minutes are a blur of questions until they determine it’s safe for me to stand on my own. Then I’m sitting in the back of an ambulance, answering more questions I can’t quite keep up with.

“Ellie!”

The scream pulls me out of my stupor, and my head whips up at the sound, crashing with my favorite pair of blue eyes.

CHAPTER38

Adam

“What’s going on?”Matthew asks.

“That was Jeffery. I guess he found something he needs to tell me about.” What the fuck could he have found? “What’s even stranger is he asked us to meet him somewhere private. I’m going to head over to my house and see what’s going on.”

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