to me in the first fucking place—”
“Listened to you when? When you told me I wasn’t allowed you leave!? You can’t dictate that about someone else’s life, David. You want to control me, not love me. And I’ll die before you ever control me. You got that?”
He shook his head. “I won’t let you die. That man you’re with? He’s no good for you.”
“Oh, and you are?”
“Listen to me!” he bellowed. “His life is going to get you killed. The lifestyle he leads is going to put you right in the position your own fucking cousin put you in.”
I pointed at him. “First off, I agreed to go along with Slash’s plan. And secondly, Ash is the one that saved me from all that bullshit.”
“Yep. And now, I’m saving you from him.”
I kicked the back of his seat. “Well, I don’t need your saving, you fucking psychopath.”
His hand reached around, gripping my ankle. “Do that one more time and I’ll snap your foot.”
“Why, because you love me so much?”
He shoved my foot away and fell against the driver’s seat.
“David, I know you know this is wrong. When we were together, you were nothing like this. You were headstrong, sure. Stubborn, yes. But you weren’t obsessive. And you certainly weren’t abusive. What in the world happened?”
He snickered. “You left, and my world crumbled, Hannah. That’s what happened.”
“Your world didn’t crumble. You just allowed it to.”
“I was going to propose, you know.”
I paused. “I’m sorry, what?”
He slowly turned around. “Yeah. I had it all planned out. I was going to fly you to that place in Italy you always talk about going to. First-class and all.”
“Wait, are you serious?”
He shrugged. “Not that it matters anymore, but yeah. I’m serious. I had the ring purchased and everything. I had our plane tickets, our penthouse hotel suite booked out. All of it, nonrefundable.”
I blinked. “How in the hell could you afford a penthouse suite anywhere, David? You’re a police officer.”
“Well, not anymore. Not since you left. You left me in financial ruin, and you didn't give a shit about it. You left, and the depression sank me. You left, and my anxiety blew through the roof. I had two tickets to wine country, a penthouse suite I couldn't take up on my own, and a ring I couldn’t return. Hell, I couldn't even pawn the damn thing for half of what it was worth!”
“That still isn’t my fault, David.”
He turned around, growling. “The fuck it isn’t. You left me, and that’s your fault. You left me, and it started a cascade of events that put me out on the fucking street. I never recovered after you left. I got evicted. My credit score tanked. I got fired from my job. You ruined me, Hannah. And now? I’m going to ruin you.”
“Is this really what you call love?”
He snickered. “Yeah. It is. Because when one suffers, the other does, too. That’s what happens when two people are in love.”
“I don’t love you, David.”
“Then, what I’m going to do to you won’t hurt you as much as it hurts me, then. So, at least you’ll have that.”
My eyes watered with tears of fear as he cranked up the engine to his car. I had half a mind to reach around and strangle him with my own arm. But I didn’t even have the energy to fight back verbally, much less physically. I stared through the windshield as he eased the car out of the parking space, feeling my life slowly slip through my fingers.
Then, the most amazing sound hit my ears.
Motorcycle engines.
They revved in the distance and my heart leapt into my throat. I jumped up from my seat and turned around as David floored the gas pedal. Bikes came up the on-ramp into the rest stop and a smile tore across my face. I recognized those jackets. I recognized those bikes.
“Fuck,” David hissed.
Engines sounded behind me and I turned to gaze out the front windshield. And when I saw those same leather jackets and those same bikes coming up the exit ramp as well, I knew we were cornered. David threw his car into park and rummaged around. I reached for the lock on the door and finally pried it up. They were here. Ash and the guys were here to rescue me, and my tears of fear quickly became tears of joy.
“Come here, you stupid bitch.”
One moment, I heard David’s growl. And the next, my door was thrust open. Something fisted my hair before