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I CAME TO WHEN HE WAS pulling me through the door. It must have been the fumbling in my pocket for my keys that woke me, because I woke up to find my heels dragging on the floor, and Roger shoving the keys into the lock of my apartment.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I yelled, and I pulled away from him as quick as I could. Roger? Roger? What the hell was he doing here? I had no idea, and that terrified me. He turned to me, his face twisted with anger. Any attempts he might have once made to try and placate me were gone.
“Keep your voice down,” he snapped, and I went to turn away – but before I could, he grasped hold of my shoulder so hard that it hurt.
“Ow, fuck!” I cried out, but he just tightened his grip.
“You heard me,” he told me, and I froze. I could tell from the way he had just spoken to me that he wasn’t going to take me fighting against him, and the best thing I could do right now was accept that.
My mind raced as I watched him fumble with the keys. What was he doing here? He was still gripping my shoulder tightly, his fingers digging in hard, and I knew without having to ask that he would make it worse for me if I got away.
He had grabbed me in the hallway, and I must have passed out with shock – I didn’t know how he had managed to get me all the way up the stairs and to my apartment, or how he had even known which one was mine, but I didn’t have time to think about that right now.
I had to get away. I knew that much. I had no idea what he was planning to do with me, but it was clear he wasn’t interested in hearing my protests about it. He had been following me for a while now, I should have known something like this was going to happen – all of the girls had told me they’d dealt with men like him at some point, men who had no idea that the stuff we did was just fantasy.
I looked around desperately. If I made more noise, would people come out to see what was going on? In this part of the city, I doubted it. People didn’t want to get caught up in other people’s shit, and they usually kept their heads down as far as they were able. Which didn’t bode well for me.
My father was in there. Would he wake up? What would Roger do if he did? I couldn’t let him in there, but if I went for the keys, he had all the power. Still, it was all I had going for me right now...
He must have seen me staring at the keys in his hand, because he dropped them back into his pocket and pulled out something else instead.
“Don’t even think about it,” he told me, and he withdrew a small gun from his pocket. My heart was slamming against my ribs as I looked down the barrel of that cruel thing. How had he gotten it? Did he know how to use it? Roger hadn’t struck me as the type to have much of a clue about guns, but you never knew...
He pushed the door open, finally getting the key in the lock. Pressing his shoulder against the door, he went to open it – but I tried to pull away. I wasn’t letting him into my space like that, not a chance in hell, I couldn’t handle it. Especially not when my father might be right inside...
I started to struggle, but he just pushed the nose of the gun against my side to still me. I could feel this sick, twisted feeling churning up inside of me, warning me that I was in trouble. But what could I do? He had the gun, and I had nothing but my own wits to keep me alive.
Suddenly, I noticed someone at the far end of the corridor – the lights were dim enough that I couldn’t make out who they were, but they seemed to have noticed the struggle I was putting up right now.
“Help!” I yelled, as loudly as I could. I knew I was risking far too much even acknowledging someone else was here, but I wanted to scare Roger. I doubted he had any intention of actually using that gun; he thought I would just be scared enough by it that I would go along with everything he wanted me to do without argument.
“Nadia?”
It was Andreas. What the hell was he doing here? My heart skipped several beats inside my chest as he came charging down the corridor towards us. Roger pushed the gun back into its holster, and wrapped an arm around my neck, holding me close to him. I could smell stale booze on him, and I wondered how much he’d had to drink before he had come down here.
“What are you doing here?” Roger spat at Andreas. I wanted to ask the same thing, but the words seemed to stick in my throat. I had no idea how to get them out without putting everyone around me in more danger, so I just stayed silent.
“Let go of her,” Andreas ordered Roger, but Roger didn’t move a muscle. I could practically feel the glare of fury he was giving Andreas over my shoulder. I struggled again, but he was hanging on to me so tight that I knew I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere.
“Since when do I give a shit about what you think?” he demanded. “Just get out of here, Andreas. This has nothing to do with you.”
“She works for me,” Andreas replied. “It matters to me what happens to her.”
“She’s with me now,” Roger replied, and I felt a cold wash of terror run through me. How much had he been able to convince himself of? How much had he told himself that we were really meant to be? I had no idea what to expect with all of this, but if one thing was for sure, I was certain he wasn’t going to let go of me anytime soon. I started to go limp, unable to fight back. I was too terrified, too aware of what an obsessed man would do if they were given the chance.
“Nadia, is that true?” Andreas asked me. I looked at him. I knew I had just quit my job, and he had no reason to come down here and try to help me, but the fact that he had... the fact that he had was everything that I needed. I needed to believe that someone was here to help me, even if I was certain Andreas had only rocked up because he had ulterior motives in mind.
I shook my head. I didn’t dare say anything out loud, too scared that Roger would flip on me if he thought I was denying him.
“Let go of her, Roger,” Andreas ordered him. Roger tightened his grip. “What do you want?” Andreas continued. “Money? Girls? We can get you that...”
“I just want my Nadia,” he replied, and he turned his head to press his nose against my neck. I recoiled instinctively. I wasn’t his anything – I didn’t belong to him, I barely even fucking knew him, and he was acting as though the two of us had been in love for years.
But, in the instant he paused to touch me, I knew he was distracted. I lifted my elbow, and drove it down hard into his groin, causing him to rock back and away from me with a groan – thank God. I ducked my head and sprinted away, knowing I didn’t have long before he was back on his feet, and that he would come after me even harder than he had the first time around.
I had no idea how I was going to get away from him. But all that mattered to me now was running to Andreas, and knowing that he would be able to get me out of this mess if I let him.
