Page 58 of Seeking Happily Ever After

No no no no.She couldn’t let him trap her inside the cabin. She needed to get away.

“I miss you,” he continued. “You left without even saying good-bye, Charlotte. Do you know how that made me feel?”

No.And she didn’t care.

“But you came…why are you…” She needed to calm down. She couldn’t hold a thought, let alone think about what she was going to do.

“Charlotte. I asked you a question.” His eyes darkened as he stepped closer.

That was the controlling, intimidating man she remembered. An involuntary shiver ran through her.

No.

She would not let him do this again. She would not so quickly fall into the trap of feeling like a small, useless person just because he needed a power trip.

No.

But there was something else in his eyes. Her eyes shot over to the counter where the Prosecco bottle and the paper cup sat. He’d been drinking. He almost never drank. He had no tolerance and it never ended well.

“Charlotte?” He stepped closer and that’s when she saw it. The gleam of metal tucked into his waistband.

A gun.

Billy didn’t own a gun. He wasn’t the type. But then again, she didn’t think he was the type to drive across the country to find her, either. She’d terribly underestimated him.

“I asked you a question.”

She needed to think. But the only thing that came to mind was playing his game. Reverting to the scared, weak woman she’d been. The woman she’d hated. “I’m sorry, Billy.” She lowered her eyes, the way she knew he’d prefer.Don’t look directly in his eye. Don’t challenge him. Be submissive.“I should have thought about how that would make you feel. It was a last-minute trip,” she lied. “I needed to see my family and then I was going to—”

“Don’t lie to me.”

Her eyelids fluttered and she looked up. He wasn’t buying it. He was drunk. He was close enough now to see the glassiness in his eyes.

Shit.

Quickly, she scanned the little cabin, and her eyes landed on the antique ax she’d bought to hang on the wall. She looked away before he could notice. If she could make it past him to the ax, she could—what? Hit him with it? It was heavy. Really heavy. But not impossibly so. She’d swung it the other day. Maybe she could knock him out, or at least stun him long enough to get away. She’d left her phone in the car. If she could get to it, she could call for help. But that would only work if she could get to the ax.

And there was only one way she could think to do that.

Char took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she stepped toward Billy. “I really am sorry,” she started. “It was a mistake. I never should have left. It’s horrible here, and I miss you every day.” It was so much bullshit, but she prayed that he didn’t see through it, or remember the way she’d hung up on him when he’d called—repeatedly. She lifted a hand and reached out to touch his chest. She pressed her hand gently against his heart and looked up, just a little. “Can you ever forgive me?”

Charlotte licked her lips a little and tried to control the violent shivering that threatened to give her away. She just needed to distract him for one minute.Just long enough to—

“You’re sorry?”

She swallowed hard, and tried not to cringe as Billy grabbed her chin roughly.

“I am.” She nodded. “So sorry.”

He kissed her roughly, and Char had to swallow back the bile that rose in her throat when he jabbed his tongue into her mouth.

Focus. Focus.

She returned the kiss just enough that Billy would be distracted as she moved closer to him—and the ax. Slowly, she kept his focus on her as she moved a little more to the left, closer still.

Charlotte prayed she had the location right. She couldn’t afford to look. It would give her away, so hope was all she had.

She had to take the chance. She couldn’t wait any longer.

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