I had never in my life been involved in a physical altercation so I had nothing to compare it to, but I figured it was a safe bet getting slapped by a man hurt a fair bit more than being hit by a woman. Even if that woman was a bodybuilder. Or maybe it hurt so bad because the man slapping me was pissed as all get-out. And since he wasn’t making sense, thus, I couldn’t answer his rapid-fire questions so he kept slapping me.
“Where the fuck is it?”
That question was spat in my face.
I was sitting on a bed in what looked like a flophouse. The sparse furnishings made my house look cluttered. It was dingy, it was gross, it looked abandoned and unlived in. Which might be the case because either the guy hadn’t turned on any lights or there was no electricity servicing the house.
I had no idea where I was because when I’d woken up, I was lying on the bed I was currently sitting on. And as soon as my eyes had fluttered open, the guy had pounced.
“Where is what?”
Crack.
The sound of his palm hitting the same, exact place he’d landed the last five smacks hit my ears before the pain bloomed.
“I know he told you.”
“Who?”
Slap.
“Rick!”
“I don’t know a Rick.”
Big mistake. The guy’s hand fisted a chunk of my hair and he yanked me to my feet. Once I was there, he kept yanking. I tried so hard to conceal my whimper, but it felt like he was ripping my hair out at the scalp.
“Nate,” he snarled.
Nate.
My house.
Reese was right.
“It’s…um…”
On a good day, I sucked at lying. When my face was on fire and my hair was being pulled out by the roots and all I could think about was how this guy was probably going to kill me, I couldn’t come up with a lie fast enough.
“Don’t fuck with me, bitch.”
The guy used my hair to lean me forward. At the same time, I saw him jack his knee up, right before I felt all the air whoosh out of my lungs. I couldn’t breathe. I was trying to suck in air but I couldn’t. I ended up hacking and coughing which was good seeing as I was suffocating but I still couldn’t catch my breath and it only pissed the guy off more.
Next thing I knew I was flying through the air. Flying. My feet were off the floor and my body was sailing across the room. My back hit the mattress; I didn’t bounce because the guy was on top of it pinning me down.
“Where the fuck is it?” This time when he screamed in my face, spittle accompanied the words. Not just small specks of spit, so much of it I felt it dripping down my forehead.
Think.
Buy time.
Reese and the guys are looking.
Think!
The guest room. All the CDs and DVDs were taken out of the cases.
“You mean the CD?” I rushed out.
Nope.
Wrong guess.
The guy grabbed my shoulders and started thrashing me around.
This was not good.
I wasn’t good.
I didn’t have time to wait for Reese to swoop in and save me.
“I have more money,” I lied. “Nate didn’t take it all.”
“You think I want your money? I don’t give a fuck about your money. Besides, you’re lying, Steve’s kept an eye on your accounts.”
Nasally guy was keeping an eye on me.
Creepy.
“I know it’s not at your house, I checked.” The guy stopped shaking me and I didn’t think that was a good sign. “This will be the last time I ask—where is it?”
Yep. I was right. His calmness was a bad sign.
Fuck it.
Being compliant wasn’t working.
He was going to hurt me whether I was playing along or not.
So, fuck him.
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” I snarled. “I’ve told you five fucking times. Are you stupid or a fucking idiot?”
Bam.
Closed-fisted punch to the face.
That hurt so much more than a slap. So much, I couldn’t control the tears as they sprang from my eyes. So much so, I couldn’t control my reaction.
And that was when I fought.
I kneed. I twisted. I screamed. I struggled.
In his shock, he reared back, and as soon as he let go of my arms I attacked.
I clawed and slapped and punched.
I hit everything I could reach.
Then I wasn’t hitting anything because his big hands wrapped around my throat.
My nails scraped down his face but he didn’t let go.
My legs kicked and he didn’t let go.
My hips bucked and I tried yanking his hair, but he didn’t let go.
I heard a strange gurgling sound. I could smell my own desperation wafting through the room. My vision danced with spots.
My last thought on this earth would not be about the guy on top of me squeezing the life out of me. It wouldn’t be about Nate taking my money, then my life. I closed my eyes and pictured Reese.
God, he had a great smile.
His beautiful greenish-brown eyes.
The sound of his laugh.
Big and strong and fierce and he loved me so much.
Yes, as I took my last breath and left this life, I would think about how loved I was.
The gurgling stopped. The pain slipped away, and a weird euphoria took over.
And my last thought was indeed how much Reese loved me.