Chapter Fifty-Four
Carina
In Kramer form, Carina came bursting through her own front door. She didn’t know what to do next. Should she call Josh? Or go over to his apartment and see him? Or call first and then go see him? She was literally spinning in circles debating what to do. In mid-twirl she slammed her front door shut. The crack of the door was the slap in the face she needed to get her thoughts together. Carina took a look at herself in the mirror just above her foyer table.
Yikes.
There wasn’t a chance in hell she was going to face Josh looking the way she did. What would he cringe at first? Her rat’s nest of a hairdo? Her stained sweatshirt? Or maybe he would get a comprehensive look at the whole ensemble and thank his lucky stars that she had left him? Carina bolted upstairs. Once in her room she tossed her purse on the disheveled bed, but with a little too much gusto because it slid onto the floor. She shrugged and tore off her clothes to prepare for the quickest shower in history. She was in such a hurry that she didn’t bother to wait for the water to heat up. She scrubbed her body with lukewarm water and soap and gave her hair a rinse. Satisfied that she no longer smelled or looked like she was seconds from death, Carina turned off the water and wrapped herself in a towel. She grabbed a second towel for her hair and vigorously started to dry the dripping tips as she left the bathroom and entered her bedroom.
She was a few feet into her room when she felt a presence. She stopped drying her hair and looked up to see that someone had made her bed. A solitary red rose acted as a centerpiece atop her white down comforter. Carina spun around and found the source of her uneasy feeling. Eric was standing in the doorway, his lips upturned in a smug smile. But it was the look in his eyes that made the hairs on the back of her neck stick straight up. He wasn’t here to scare her and he sure as hell didn’t look at all worried that he was violating the restraining order she had filed. No, he was here to seek revenge, regardless of the consequences that could ensue.
“Carina, so lovely to see you…and finding you shower fresh.” Eric’s hands rested at his sides and he leaned against the doorframe. He was too cocky, too sure of himself. Where the hell was the officer assigned to him? And why hadn’t she gone directly to Josh’s apartment? Why did she have to take a fucking shower?
“Get the hell out of my house!” His smile grew and he pushed away from the wall. It was then she saw the long, serrated knife dangling at his side. She recognized it immediately, as it had been part of a set her mother had given her last Christmas. He must have swiped it from her kitchen. She felt her stomach lurch. That damn kitchen window! She had been meaning to get the broken latch on it fixed. Shit!
“I plan to get the hell out of the state, maybe even the country, after I’m through with you.”
She knew he saw fear in her eyes, but there was no way of concealing it. He had just told her that he was most likely going to leave her for dead. Holding onto the towel that was wrapped around her body, she backed away from him. She needed to stall, to buy some time so she could think.
But he was too quick and he closed the distance between them. He grabbed her by the back of her neck with one hand and then rested the blade between her breasts. “You should be frightened. Not only am I going to take what is rightfully mine, but you’re going to discover the true meaning of the word loss. Because that is what you have made me experience, Carina. I have lost my career, my reputation, my life.” His last statement was uttered through gritted teeth.
With a swipe of the blade her towel unraveled and pooled at her feet, leaving her naked and exposed. She imagined that he was waiting for her to cower and fight like hell to conceal herself, but she wasn’t willing to give him the satisfaction. Instead, she stood up straight and looked him directly in the eye.
“So in addition to hitting women you rape them, too?”
“Bitch!” he hissed and pushed her onto the bed. She scooted to the far side of the mattress, dragging that fucking red rose along with her. A thorn implanted itself in the back of her calf, but the pain hardly registered. “I will have the wedding night you promised me,” he said.
She watched him unbutton and unzip his jeans. This wasn’t happening. The adrenaline was starting to dwindle and panic set in. There was only one way she was going to walk away from this. It was while he was pulling his dick out of his boxers she remembered. But to turn the tide she would need a distraction.
***
Josh
Josh was only a few blocks away from her townhome when his phone chimed on the passenger seat. He looked over and recognized the number. Fear surged through his body. There was only one reason Eric’s tail would be contacting him. Josh put the man on speaker.
“What’s wrong?” Josh asked.
“Ross deviated from his routine. Normally he leaves for one of three lunch establishments around noon each day. But today he hasn’t reemerged since his coffee run this morning. It could mean nothing, but…”
“No. Something’s wrong. I can feel it.” Josh stepped on the gas. “I’m on my way to her place now.”
“Josh, Ross could be armed.”
“And with my girl!” he screamed. “Call for backup, whatever you have to do, but I’m going in.”