Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,19
front of my face so he wouldn’t land on it. He was forced to put his hands down to stop himself from smashing his face on the concrete floor, and his bleeding stomach came to rest on my forearms.
Then, adrenaline pumping, I abandoned all proper form and technique, and before he could regain his balance, I drilled my fist into his wound, hearing him yell, and used my hips and legs to throw him off of me and roll him onto his side. I sat on my butt and kicked him with the heel of my foot, then stumbled to get up.
Before I could even think of reaching for the gun again, I was violently shoved, sending me tumbling, and knocking the air out of my lungs. My head banged against everything and my body was tossed around like it was a rag doll. The spinning stopped and I look around in a haze, barely registering anything I was seeing. Everything was sore and I started coughing, blood spilling out of my mouth and onto my hand.
I forced myself out of the haze and sat up, realizing that I was sitting at the bottom of the staircase. Tony had pushed me down the stairs.
I stood up, my adrenaline helping numb the pain my body should have been feeling. I looked at the top of the staircase and we made eye contact. I had a sudden flashback of the first time I escaped from his house. The two of us on opposite sides, staring each other down, separated by only a few steps. He was staring down at me with a rage and a hate so venomous you could ignite it.
He raised the gun and without a second thought, I sprinted through the mall, gunshots sounding off behind me.
I ran out of the mall where there was already a police presence, and they noticed me running toward them. With raised arms, I approached the ones that hadn’t already stormed inside. I told them what had happened. I told them that Ashley was bleeding out in the back room of a store, that Frank was shot in the chest, and other people may have been shot as well.
I did not tell them my real name.
5
Strong arms encircle me, pulling me into a comforting embrace and out of the trance I’d entered.
I hadn’t realized that I’d started crying—Aiden kept his promise and hadn’t interrupted me. His face is unreadable.
I rub the tears from my face. “My injuries weren’t too bad in comparison to those of the others—just a concussion, bruising, some stitches, and a couple of broken ribs—but I didn’t care about any of that. After that I became Amelia Collins, and then I started at King City High a couple of weeks later. I was supposed to keep a low profile and not make friends, so that I wouldn’t get attached when I inevitably have to leave, or watch them get hurt when Tony finds me like he always does.”
Aiden opens his mouth to say something but I keep talking. “But then I met you and Char and Anna and everyone else, and you guys wormed your way into my heart. I’ve never had friends like this before, and believe me, it kills me to have kept this secret from you. But you understand now why I had to, right? Why I couldn’t tell you about my real identity? The more people who know, the more chance there is that Tony finds me and hurts the people I love most.”
I pull out of his comforting embrace, instantly missing his warmth. “Last time people died because of me. Tony shot people because of me. Ashley survived but Frank, and the others caught in the cross fire, didn’t. I can’t do anything to risk Tony finding me again, because it’s not only my life that’s in danger because of Tony, it’s everyone’s who’s around me too.
“I know you opened up to me and told me things that you’ve never told anyone else. I know that you’ve been totally honest with me and trusted me to do the same. And I’m so sorry that I couldn’t tell you about this, and that I’ve had to keep secrets from you. But just know that all this time, it’s been the real me. I may have a different name, but I’m still the same person you know and opened up to. I just … I did it for my safety, for your safety, for everyone’s safet—”