“You’re not here to kill me.” At least, I hoped he wasn’t. I was rather fond of breathing.
I swear I saw a smirk tug on the corner of his mouth. “How sure are you about that?”
If I had any chance of surviving this, then I had to use my best weapon. My only weapon, actually. The mind was a powerful thing, and mine was more powerful than most.
“If you wanted me dead, then I would be.”
“Clever girl.” He nodded.
He had no idea.
My heart pounded as he leaned back and trickled his gaze down my body. Every fiber of my being told me to hit him and run away. It wasn’t impulse or instinct that allowed people to survive. It was intelligence, knowing when it was time to take a chance. Now wasn’t the right moment.
“The truth is, Little Bird, I had every intention of killing you.” Preston leaned down, folding his large body over mine, and whispered, “Could you feel my gun at the back of your head in Daddy’s church?”
My body went on full alert, tensing every muscle. Before I knew what was happening, my arm swung through the air. One word swam through my head as my palm struck the side of his face.
Stupid.
Dread settled in my bones when Preston twisted his neck to glare back down at me. The red mark on his cheek and the stinging on my palm were enough to tell me I got him good. So, why did he look pleased? A disturbing expression on someone like him. There was a twinkle in his gray eyes that wasn’t there before, and now I couldn’t stop staring at it.
Logan Hudson was an asshole who charmed people with a similar look. But on Preston…
The ramifications of making him feel anything were utterly terrifying. I’d heard the stories. Trina knew someone who’d spent a night with him. Let’s just say she was never the same. Had she seen the same twinkle? Or was this something reserved for his darker intents? And trust me, no one, including the devil himself, was in a hurry to see the dark side of Preston Whitley.
“I’m trying really hard to follow my own moral guidelines here.”
I snorted. “You don’t have any moral guidelines.”
“Oh, but I do, Marnie.”
He brushed his hand over my forehead, sweeping my hair to the side and making me retreat into the pillow.
“For instance, I could take you now instead of waiting for you to graduate.”
What the hell did that mean? Take me for what?
“But…” Preston sighed and rolled his gaze back up to mine. “I don’t fuck little girls.”
I couldn’t breathe or make my mouth move. My mind screamed at me to do something, but I just lay there, staring back at him.
“Not very fond of that idea, I see.” He pressed the barrel of his gun to my temple. “If you prefer, I could shoot right now?”
The coolness of the heavy metal bored into my skull. Then something strange happened. I’d seen shows where survivors talked about how their life flashed before their eyes.
My father even spoke about things like that at church. I never put much stock into it. There was no reason. Why should I worry about heaven and hell when there were so many real-world problems?
Images flashed before my eyes: Trina and I at the beach, Sundays at church with our parents, and the day we met Shelby and Riley. They were quick glimpses, yet every image was so vivid I could smell them.
Maybe there was a heaven after all?
“Or,” Preston said while pulling the pistol away from my face. “I could slit your family’s throats and take you regardless.”
My eyes widened as one word slipped through my lips. “Don’t.”
I’d rather die a thousand times than watch someone I cared about suffer. There was a reason I spent my time trying to expose people like him.
Seemingly satisfied with my response, Preston tucked the gun into the back of his jeans. “I knew you’d see things my way.”
