I finished my wedding cake orders in record time, each one turning out more beautiful than the next. The couples I made them for were amazed at the work I did and promised to recommend me to all their newly-engaged friends. That alone had pleased my mother more than anything. Once again, I caught her beaming at me like I was the best gift she had ever been given every time a compliment was thrown our way.
My response was always a slight scowl before walking away from her. She still hadn’t earned my forgiveness for her secret talks with Cara, and I planned to make her pay for her nosey indiscretions for a while.
To be completely honest, I didn’t care if the cakes turned out well or not, I was just using them as an outlet. Over the months that passed since my attack, I’d gathered a lot of pent-up aggression and nothing I did seemed to be releasing it. Externally, things were going great for me and I really tried to take it all in as much as possible. But I still found myself looking around at the random faces surrounding me in search of the one with black eyes that were burned into my memory. Thankfully, I never found it, and that should have been enough for me.
In weak moments where I let the pain get to me, my fears would consume me, pulling a heavy, dark cloud over my psyche that wouldn’t leave. I wondered when my life would stop teetering the edge I was forced onto months ago and I could get back on solid ground. The feeling of security alone seemed like a distant memory.
I had stayed late one night to finish up a sweet sixteen birthday cake that was to be delivered to the hall the next day. Once I added the finishing touches, I covered it up and threw it in the oversized refrigerator. Just as I closed the door, I heard a quiet shuffle of feet from my left and froze.
Someone was in the bakery with me.
Liam sent me a text earlier in the day to let me know he wouldn’t make it that night. At the time I pretended to be relieved, puzzled that he even bothered to let me know, and angry that he assumed I would be waiting for him and needed him to send his regrets. I can handle myself just fine, Stalker, I thought. Though, in the moment, I wished he were here.
It'd been a week since my embarrassing breakdown that ended in the most passionate kiss I’d ever experienced—pathetic, I know—and since then things had been awkward between us. It seemed like just when I thought we were getting closer, he retreated and pulled away. We still hadn’t even acknowledged that it happened, which didn’t do much for my already frail confidence.
I did my best to ignore the sound, not wanting to let on that I was aware of my intruder’s presence. If I could remain calm and play like I didn’t know they were there, I would have somewhat of an upper hand. Another shuffle came from the storage room, and whoever it was didn’t care much about being sloppy as they circled their way around me. Fear and distrust came creeping in, suggesting it had been Liam and that his escorting me to my car each night was just a ploy to attack me again.
I felt the familiar signs of a panic attack coming on, but my survival instincts shoved it as far down as they could. My heart was in my throat and beating faster than ever. I couldn’t let it cloud my judgement or get in the way of my defense. This was it: the moment I had nightmares about and prepared for in countless Krav Maga sessions. Fight or flight was taking over and this time, I allowed it without restraint.
Attempting to hide the shaking of my hands as I pushed stiff muscles to move, I pulled my coat on and grabbed my phone. In good faith, I casually searched for the number to the only person who would understand the message I was trying to send without words, praying to a nonexistent god that it wasn’t him creeping behind the shadows.
I tapped on the name and hit the green button as I stepped toward the back door, shoving the phone into my pocket with hopes it wouldn’t muffle the exchange too much. When I reached for the handle, I knew what was coming. I went through various defense moves in my head as I imagined where the attacker would grab me.
Smack.
Blood trickled down from my temple and my vision blurred. I heard a muffled “Hello?” come out of my pocket, and then I was grabbed from behind.
Relief swept over me, thankful that I was wrong about Liam but terrified of the alternative. Is Cooper back for more? I prayed he would talk, so Liam could recognize the voice and know what was happening. I let the attacker hold on to me as the room stopped spinning, then I utilized my training.
“Hey, little birdy. Did you miss me?” Cooper’s rusty voice rasped into my ears.
Every fear I’d had was coming true. The weight of the shock paralyzed my limbs as he dragged me back toward the dark kitchen and out of sight. Finally, I saw an opportunity to make my move. Adrenaline allowed me to twist out of his arms and slam into his gut with my fist. I decided not to run away from this anymore. I wanted this man to know he was not going to destroy my life the way he’d wanted to. He needed to know I was in control—I won—however true that may be.
The move stunned him for a moment and his black eyes met mine before lunging toward me again. Anticipating his reaction, I switched my positioning to catch him and throw his body to the ground.
If Liam was at work, I would only have to stall for a few minutes before he got there. If he was anywhere else, I had no idea how long he would take or if he would even bother to come. He could have been involved in Cooper’s reappearance. I still didn’t know.
The possibility should have worried me, but I didn’t let it throw me off. Cooper was weaker than I imagined he would be and it was refreshing to finally have the upper hand. How had I let this man take control of my body mere months ago?
I only held power for a couple more seconds, though, because he weighed more than me and he used that to his advantage. With nearly all his body weight, he shoved me against the wall, the action causing me to hit my head and fall to the ground. Pain reverberated through my skull while black and white dots clouded my vision.
Cooper stood over me victoriously before he grabbed my arm, roughly pushing me back down as I struggled to right myself. His legs straddled me on the ground to hold me in place.
“You think you can outsmart me?” He seethed, pushing me farther into the floor with his large hands. “You’re a worthless piece of shit. No one would care if I killed you right here and now with my bare hands. Don’t worry, birdy, I’ll get to that part. First, I want to have my fun with you.”
He smirked, trying to rip my shirt off as he had done before, but I struggled too much for him to get a good grip. The survivor in me refused to allow this to happen to me again. My resistance made him angrier, and his calculating smile wasn’t anywhere to be seen; the current expression he held was even more unsettling.
“Apparently, Liam has a hard-on for little slut girls who can’t keep their legs closed. You see, our perfect golden boy with all his suffocating morals got mixed up with some bad people and pissed them off pretty royally. They wanted to send him a message, so they sent me to come for you. Isn’t that fun, baby? We just keep getting thrown together.”
He finally got a grip on my thin shirt and ripped it open, shoving it off my shoulders with the coat I was still wearing. My arms screamed in pain and I could almost hear the blood rushing to them as they bruised and knotted. I heard Cooper snicker from above me.
“Stop moving around so much, it’ll hurt less.”
“Fuck you,” was my response as I tried to wiggle my way out from underneath him.
His entire body surrounded me, offering no opportunities to gain leverage and push him off.
“I’m trying.”
His large, creepy smile returned.
When I finally slithered out from beneath him, wiry arms snaked around my sides and threw my body across the room. His followed behind and landed on my back, knocking the breath from my lips.
Just when he began to unbutton his pants, his weight was pulled off me and I watched through widened eyes as he was thrown to the ground a few feet away from me, landing in a pathetic heap. Liam stood over him with an animalistic look on his face, ready to attack if Cooper made the wrong move.
“What the fuck? Liam?” Cooper screamed, confusion laced through his words. He tried to stand up and was pushed back down each time with Liam's boot.
The two men yelled back and forth at each other, exchanging choice words as I pulled myself back together and climbed to my feet. I heard names being thrown around threateningly although nothing fully registered enough for me to put the puzzle together. My coat and shirt were across the room where he had ripped them apart. I was left standing exposed in a dingy cotton bra that barely covered my chest and leggings that were holding on by a thread.
“Luna, get out of here,” Liam demanded, directing his attention toward me for the first time since he’d arrived. When he caught sight of my appearance, he cast his eyes down shyly, allowing me to have the privacy I’d craved.
My head shook in the negative and Cooper’s face fell with relief. Liam caught my shoulder, his eyes asking the question without him speaking a word.
What the hell was I thinking? My thoughts were so jumbled, I could barely form a coherent thought. Hell, I could barely hold myself up at this point. How could I walk out of here as if nothing happened, leaving Liam behind to take Cooper on by himself? I had no doubt in his physical ability to take the monster on, but I knew it wouldn’t end there. If these two men were left alone, only one of them would walk out of here alive.
Liam looked at me incredulously. His lips formed a grim line while he silently begged me to go, to run away from here and leave the fight up to him. I couldn’t do it, though. There was no way I would walk away and leave Liam alone to fight my battles for me.
Our stare was disconnected when Cooper stood from the ground and caught Liam’s chin in a right hook. He fell to the ground, momentarily knocked off-kilter while Cooper took the opportunity to make a run for it. The brooding man was fast to recover, though, catching Cooper’s leg and pulling him back down to the ground with him. They struggled for control until Cooper rolled his way on top, nailing punches everywhere he could get them.
A glint of light caught the metal of a knife in Cooper’s back pocket and a protective wave of emotion rushed over me as I realized the danger Liam was really in, caught underneath a madman. As they struggled on the floor, my shaking hands grabbed at Liam's phone that sat at my feet, somehow discarded from his pocket in the midst of all the action.
I hesitantly dialed 9-1-1, terrified to admit to anyone that this wasn’t my first encounter with my attacker. If anything, I could just report that I found Cooper in my bakery and he tried to rob me.
The woman on the receiving end could barely hear me over the sounds of their struggle. Once she clearly made out the address she said she would send out a squad car right away and I didn’t linger on the line as she requested. Instead, I let it fall from my hands when Cooper looked up just in time to catch my eyes on his back pocket, recognition brushing his features. He quickly pulled the knife out and pushed the edge of the blade into Liam’s neck, finally taking full control of our situation.
“He told you to keep your mouth shut. You were warned, Golden Boy. But you couldn’t just keep your head down and continue the good thing we had going, could you? You had to go to Frank and fuck things up for everyone,” Cooper spewed, leaning over Liam’s limp, exhausted body as he pushed the knife further into his neck.
Liam’s face remained neutral, unsurprised at Cooper’s words about a faceless man.
What the hell are they talking about? Who’s Frank and why did he send Cooper after me?
I could see blood leaking out of the corners of Liam's mouth, and the strong metallic smell that filled the air between us had my stomach churning. While his expression was blank, his blue eyes looked wild and defensive, watching Cooper closely like a trapped animal.
“You were never supposed to be a part of the deal. Monti’s using you as his little bitch and you’re playing right into his hand, but you don’t know what you just did. He doesn’t give a fuck about you,” Liam rasped through a crooked smile, contributing to the crazed look that terrified me.
I watched through tunneled vision as the arm Cooper held the knife in shifted, and a scream erupted from my lungs just as an officer busted through the door, commanding us to stand down with his gun held up in defense.
The panic of the night caught up with me all at once, doubling my body over in a shooting pain that went from my head down to my toes. My lungs deflated more and more with my increased heart rate until it became too much, and I toppled over.
Just as a police officer slammed Cooper’s body on the ground, I met his charcoal orbs and saw the pure disdain in them; the promise for more. Then, as my subconscious pulled me under, everything went black.