Page 27 of His to Save
I suck in a deep breath and force myself to keep a steady pace. Only prey runs, and I will never allow myself to be anyone’s victim again. Not ever.
Once I’m safely inside my room, though, all bets are off. I chuck the ice bucket down onto the dresser, lock the door—chain and all—and then shove the chair against it for good measure.
“You’re safe,” I say to myself, bracing myself against the arms of the chair as I will my hands to quit shaking and my heart to slow its racing. “You’re completely and totally safe.”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of something—someone—pounding on the door sends me into a tailspin, and I dive behind the full-sized bed, my entire body trembling in fear.
“Go away, just go away. Please go away,” I whisper, clutching my knees to my chest as I rock back and forth.
“Nora, I know you’re in there!” a deep, masculine voice booms.
Tears streak down my cheeks as silent sobs rack my body. I should’ve known better than to think I could escape.
Stupid, so stupid to think I could ever be free of him.
CHAPTER 8
ATLAS
“Goddamn it,” I mutter to myself, thumping my fist against the door in defeat. “Fucking idiot.”
I just want to help her, and instead, all I’ve managed to do is terrify her.
“Nora…” I desperately need to regain control of the situation. “I-I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to help.”
I strain my ears, listening for any sound from inside of the room, any clue to where she’s at and what she’s doing, but there’s nothing.
“Please open the door,” I plead, but I’m met with the same stark silence as before. “Nora, I’m begging you. At least talk to me—listen to what I have to say. You don’t even have to let me in.”
I’m about to give up and head to the lobby to beg whoever’s at the front desk to let me in when she speaks.
“I’m listening.”
Hope and relief both explode inside of me. “I want to help you, Nora?—”
“How did you find me?” she asks with an unsteady voice, cutting me off.
“Your diary.”
“You read it?” The hope in her voice is powerful enough to make my knees weak. Even in the midst of her fear, she’s strong. So. Fucking. Strong.
“Yeah,” I start, but the sound of shuffling, followed by the lock disengaging, steals away anything else I might have said.
I’m frozen in place as she slowly opens the door. The last thing I want is to make a sudden move and scare her even more. Hell, the fact that she’s even willing to open it after my colossal fuckup is nothing short of miraculous.
Except my plan to wait quietly all goes to shit the second we’re face-to-face.
I suck in a sharp gasp at the mottled bruises covering her face and she screams at the sight of me, propelling herself backward.
But a chair stops her and she falls to the floor, landing hard on her ass.
“I won’t go back!” she half screams, half sobs as she scrambles to put more distance between us. “You can’t make me!”
The terror in her voice pierces my heart like poison-tipped arrows.
I don’t think, I just act, crossing the threshold into the room.
