Page 99 of Clashing
I nodded because apparently it didn’t matter he couldn’t see me, I couldn’t think straight. I took as deep a breath as I could manage and followed it up with several more.
“Good girl.” Ryker’s reassurance made the next breath easier. “Now, get a knife from the kitchen.”
I almost tripped over my own feet as I scrambled for a knife, cursing myself for refusing to let Dan give me a gun to keep in the apartment. They made me so uncomfortable, but right now, I wished I could shoot Todd through the door.
“Scarlett!” Todd beat on the door so hard I jumped and dropped my phone.
When I picked it up, Ryker’s panicked voice awaited. “Scarlett! Baby, are you okay? Talk to me.”
“I’m fine. I dropped my phone.”
“Fuck,” he spat. “Okay, Scar, grab two chairs and go to your bedroom.”
“Okay. Hold on.”
I tucked my phone into my back pocket and dragged two chairs into the bedroom. I braced one against the locked door. Once I’d done the same thing in the bathroom, I gripped the knife and backed away.
Heart thundering, I retrieved my phone and pressed it to my ear. “O-okay. I did it.”
“Good. I’m almost there, baby. Keep breathing. It’s going to be okay.”
My voice quivered and more tears spilled down my cheeks. “I called the police.”
“That’s good, Scarlett. I’m so proud of you.” I choked on a sob. “I know, baby. I know you’re scared, but it’s going to be okay. You’re so strong, and you did everything right.” His voice was so soothing. How the fuck was he pulling that off in a situation like this? “Breathe, baby. I’m almost there.”
A loudthudandslamstartled me. I almost dropped my phone but clutched it tighter and pressed myself against the wall farthest from the door. “He’s trying to get in.”
“He’s not getting to you before I do, Scarlett. No way.” His confidence eased a fraction of my fears. “He can’t. It’s too much shit for one person to get through that fast. I’m so close, baby. Hang on.”
I stared at the door and fought the awful memories trying to resurface. “I’m scared.”
“I’m pulling into the parking lot right now. I’ve got you. He won’t lay a finger on you ever again, all right? I won’t fucking let him. I—”
A loudcrashand crackling wood paralyzed my body. Todd’s shouts grew louder.
Closer.
He was in the apartment, banging on my bedroom door.
Chapter thirty-one
Anything for Her
Ryker
Twobullets.
That was all it took to eradicate Scarlett’s living nightmare. Two bullets I should’ve fired months ago. The first day I learned what he’d done, I should’ve gone after him. I should’ve known he’d come back for her after those damn letters.
Should’ve. Should’ve. Should’ve.
So many aspects of my life with Scarlett were full ofshouldhaves, and I was tired of it.
That fucker got into her apartment but never made it into her bedroom. Sirens wailed in the distance as I crept up the bar stairs. He didn’t see me coming. Didn’t hear the creak of the old floorboards over his yelling and pounding on my woman’s door.
Technically, I didn’t have to shoot to kill.
He died as pathetically as he deserved to. Crawling and begging after a shot to the kneecap. I told the officers he fired first, something easily believed given his criminal record and the fact I staged a few shots with his gun before they arrived. I told them I shot his kneecap first in the hopes it’d get him to back down. Definitely not because it was one of the most painful places to be shot, and I wanted him tohurt. I told them it didn’t work. I had to shoot him a second time.
