Seeking Happily Ever After (Ever After #8) - Elena Aitken Page 0,62
wrap around the fact that she was looking at her ex-boyfriend, the one she’d left on the other side of the country in a stealth-like mission, sneaking away and leaving everything behind.
And he was here.
Here.
If anyone asked, she told them she had never been afraid of Billy. Not really. He’d only gotten physical with her a few times, but only when he’d been drinking and even then, she wasn’t scared. Not really.
But she’d been scared enough that Jeremy had helped her get away from him. Distance had made her complacent. She’d forgotten how imposing he could be. How threatening he could be without even saying a word.
It was all coming back. Quickly.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for you.” He stepped inside the cabin and shut the door behind him as he leaned back against it. “I’ve been watching and waiting, Char. It’s hard to get you alone.”
Alone.
She was alone.
But had he been watching her…
“How did you know where to find me?”
He laughed.
It was a chilling noise that made her stomach turn.
“You didn’t think I’d know where you went?” He shook his head. “You never could stop talking about your stupid hometown and once I got here...well, it’s not like you’ve been hiding. Hanging all over that guy. Playing house with his baby.”
He snorted in disgust, but Char was focused on what he’d just said. He’d been watching her. He’d seen her. With Amelia. What if…
No. She couldn’t let herself think about what would have happened if he’d gotten her alone with the baby. She needed to focus.
“It was a long drive, that’s for sure.” Billy was still talking. “But you’re worth it, Char. I wasn’t going to let you go that easy.”
The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Let you go that easy. Char refused to let him see her panic.
“I drove a long way to see you, Charlotte. That’s how much I love you.”
No no no no. She couldn’t let him trap her inside the cabin. She needed to get away.
“I miss you,” he continued. “You left without even saying good-bye, Charlotte. Do you know how that made me feel?”
No. And she didn’t care.
“But you came…why are you…” She needed to calm down. She couldn’t hold a thought, let alone think about what she was going to do.
“Charlotte. I asked you a question.” His eyes darkened as he stepped closer.
That was the controlling, intimidating man she remembered. An involuntary shiver ran through her.
No.
She would not let him do this again. She would not so quickly fall into the trap of feeling like a small, useless person just because he needed a power trip.
No.
But there was something else in his eyes. Her eyes shot over to the counter where the Prosecco bottle and the paper cup sat. He’d been drinking. He almost never drank. He had no tolerance and it never ended well.
“Charlotte?” He stepped closer and that’s when she saw it. The gleam of metal tucked into his waistband.
A gun.
Billy didn’t own a gun. He wasn’t the type. But then again, she didn’t think he was the type to drive across the country to find her, either. She’d terribly underestimated him.
“I asked you a question.”
She needed to think. But the only thing that came to mind was playing his game. Reverting to the scared, weak woman she’d been. The woman she’d hated. “I’m sorry, Billy.” She lowered her eyes, the way she knew he’d prefer. Don’t look directly in his eye. Don’t challenge him. Be submissive. “I should have thought about how that would make you feel. It was a last-minute trip,” she lied. “I needed to see my family and then I was going to—”
“Don’t lie to me.”
Her eyelids fluttered and she looked up. He wasn’t buying it. He was drunk. He was close enough now to see the glassiness in his eyes.
Shit.
Quickly, she scanned the little cabin, and her eyes landed on the antique ax she’d bought to hang on the wall. She looked away before he could notice. If she could make it past him to the ax, she could—what? Hit him with it? It was heavy. Really heavy. But not impossibly so. She’d swung it the other day. Maybe she could knock him out, or at least stun him long enough to get away. She’d left her phone in the car. If she could get to it, she could call for help. But that would only work if she could get to the ax.