be wrong.
Had they found out about us? Was he in trouble?
I contemplated using my key to get out, to search for him. But where would I go? I didn’t even know where he lived. And if I got caught and they found the key, I knew they’d blame him. I couldn’t risk that.
I glanced around the room in a panic; my eyes fell on the battery-operated clock. The time!
Shit.
I sat on the bed as the minutes neared midnight.
I had chosen to live. Now I was going to die.
And the only person I wanted to be with had disappeared.
I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. I did everything in those final minutes to find my anchor. But I knew without a doubt, it was Ethan.
Deep breaths. I can do this, I told myself. If I wasn’t going to be the one making this decision, I was damned if I was going to let someone else make it for me.
No matter what happened, I was coming back. To my life here, my family, my friends, my future.
To Ethan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Wellesley, Tuesday
I felt my body convulse first, then the searing pain in my cheekbone from the sheer force of Dex’s strike. The rest of the scene quickly came into focus. Dex on top of me, his weight heavy and clumsy, the room, the white bed, the half-open door, the empty bottle of Champagne a few feet away. It wouldn’t be long before I lost consciousness. If I wanted to try to stop him, it had to be now.
‘Dex, please! I’m … sorry I hurt you!’
He slapped me with the back of his hand. ‘Not me that’s getting hurt here, babe.’
He lifted his hand again. I used the last of my strength to push him back and set him off balance. His drunken state helped and he fell backwards. I could barely see through my swollen eyes, but I tried to move, to get away from him.
It was useless.
My ribs screamed with pain and I could do little more than roll onto my side and clutch my waist in agony. ‘Dex … please, this isn’t you! You’re … a good guy,’ I pleaded.
But he wasn’t listening – he couldn’t. He had jumped to his feet and now swayed over the top of me. He landed another kick to my gut so startling it left me limp and gave him the opportunity to roll me back over so he could straddle me again.
‘You’re mine! No one else gets to have you!’ he yelled, leaning over me. I closed my eyes, each breath more difficult than the last as my consciousness started to waver. I waited for the next hit. I hoped it would be over soon.
But the impact never came. Instead his weight was yanked off me and I opened my eyes in time to see Ryan throw Dex into the wall. Dex slid awkwardly to the ground.
Ryan took one look at me and had his phone against his ear. He crouched beside me. ‘Sabine? Can you hear me?’
I nodded, barely.
‘Hi, yeah, I need an ambulance at the Liberty Hotel, room 816 … Yeah, my sister, she’s been badly beaten … I don’t know … Just hurry up! And call the cops!’ He dropped the phone and grabbed my hand, probably the only part of me that wasn’t crying out in pain.
‘Sabine? You have to stay awake, okay?’
All I wanted to do was close my eyes, but I tried. I’d made myself a promise.
‘Where are you hurt?’
I struggled to speak. ‘Ribs, face.’
He nodded, giving me permission to stop talking, and glanced at Dex, who was starting to roll onto all fours. Ryan didn’t even hesitate, striding across the room and pulling him up by the collar. ‘You son of a bitch!’ He hit Dex with a closed fist across the face. Dex was out instantly.
Ryan rushed back to my side. He was shaking. ‘I’m gonna kill him! Sabine, stay awake. Did …? Oh Jesus, Sabine, did he …?’ He looked like he was about to pass out.
‘No. He … was drunk. Angry cause … I ended it.’
‘Well, can I just say, that was a damn fine decision.’
‘Ry, don’t … hurt him … please. Mistake.’
He looked at me like I was crazy. I was getting used to people looking at me that way. ‘Sabine, this goes beyond a mistake. He could’ve killed you. Jesus, if I hadn’t got here early …’ He squeezed my hand.
It was frighteningly true. I swallowed, my body exploding with pain. ‘Thanks,