I screamed as loud as I could and only stopped when Snake shoved his fingers into my mouth to shut me up.

“Get used to this feeling, bitch. You’re going to be making this up to me for a long time on your knees.”

He was insane. He was crazier than ever. I had to get away from him. I’d lived too long without him to ever go back. I reached my arms out for anything, desperate to find something to hurt him with. I just had to put some space between us and then, maybe, I could escape.

I fought the urge to freeze. The last time he’d found me at the women’s shelter, I’d panicked and just let him take me back. I wasn’t going out without a fight this time, though. I knew that even death would be better.

A neighbor beat on the wall adjoining our apartments. “Shut the fuck up!”

I bit down hard on Snake’s fingers and tasted blood right before he shoved me to the ground. I heard him cursing and grunting, but I just kept moving. I crawled and tried to come to my feet, but he was behind me, kicking me back onto my stomach.

He came down hard on the back of my thighs, grabbing my ass and squeezing it painfully before yanking me over onto my back. He lowered his face until he was right over me. “I’m never losing you again, Rae. You’re mine.”

Tears fell down the sides of my face, leaking into my ears. I bucked with all of my might, but he didn’t move. I squeezed my eyes shut so I wouldn’t see him as I reached for anything around me.

He touched me everywhere, stroking his dirty hands over my face and neck, lightly squeezing my throat until I coughed. “I’ve missed you.”

My fingers brushed the edge of something cold and hope surged through me. Carly had given me a massive candleholder, in some attempt to get me to let her into my apartment. I cried even harder as I thought of her saving me that way. I’d kiss her if I managed to escape.

“They let me out early for good behavior. I did it for you. Can you believe it? Me being good?”

I jerked my head to the side as he tried to kiss me. I stretched until it hurt and managed to just scrape the tips of my fingers against the holder. I couldn’t get it.

Snake wrapped his hands around my neck and tightened them until I couldn’t breathe. “I want you to want me, too. Aren’t you happy to see me, Rae?”

I jerked my body to the side in a last attempt to grab the holder, and by some miracle, Snake let go of my neck to shake my body. He dropped me closer to the candleholder, and I managed to wrap my hand around it. I picked it up and swung it as hard as I could at his head.

The thud that followed made me want to vomit, but as he swayed to the side, I threw my weight into shoving him off me and climbed to my feet. I coughed as I put space between our bodies. Still holding the candleholder, I waited for him to get up.

Instead, he moaned on the floor, cursing at me.

I dropped the candleholder and ran from my apartment. My wedge sandals made me teeter and nearly fall over, so I ripped them off of my feet and ran as fast as I could away from there.

The sound of a motorcycle roaring to life a street over had me turning and running down a side street. I didn’t hesitate, even when a car nearly hit me. The driver honked at me and screamed, but I couldn’t slow down. I’d gotten away from him. There was no looking back.

I pushed my body to the max, until my muscles were crying out, and still I pushed it harder. I spotted the library and a cry escaped my mouth. If I could get to the library, I could use the phone and call for help.

I didn’t have my keys, but there was a back window that never locked right. I threw my body on top of the dumpster that sat under the window and then shoved it open so I could pull myself inside. I slammed the window shut behind me and then sprinted across the building.

I stopped at the front desk and reached for the phone just as I heard a motorcycle drive by the front doors. It slowed and turned down the alley next to the library.

I hadn’t thought Snake would remember finding me at the library the first time I left him. It’d been six years.

I couldn’t leave through the front without my keys, so I was trapped inside. If he came in, we were going to be locked in the building like two caged animals. It would have to be a fight to the death because I wasn’t going with him.

I grabbed the letter opener I kept at the front desk and then silently climbed the stairs. I moved to the farthest dark corner, chills racing up and down my back as I felt my way along the bookshelves. It was pitch black in the corner as I curled up with my back to the shelf of books. As much as I didn’t want to have to face off with Snake again, I was as prepared as I was going to get for it to happen.

I sat and waited, listening until my head ached, for any sounds that signaled someone else was with me. Time moved so slowly. What felt like hours had passed, but I knew it hadn’t been that long yet because the clock on the main floor hadn’t sounded the next hour.

I was debating what I should do when I heard the motorcycle fire to life outside and then roar off. I still didn’t feel safe, so I waited for a while longer before slowly creeping downstairs.

The library was silent as a tomb and no one came charging at me even after I stood in the middle of the open area, testing it. I thought about staying holed up in the library until morning, but I didn’t want to chance bringing Margie and Carly into it.

I sat at the back window, watching the street below for most of the night. At one point, Snake parked at the end of the alley and watched the street for me. He had no clue that I was as close as I was. I’d wanted to run from him, but I made myself sit and watch. If I knew he wasn’t sneaking up behind me, my anxiety could relax at least a little bit.

The next time he left, I climbed down from the window and ran to the police station. I ducked into the station and sat down at a bench by the front door for a few minutes, catching my breath and gathering my courage. I’d never gone to the cops before. I’d been too afraid to when Snake was around, and after, I had no reason to. I couldn’t deny a small amount of distrust that settled in my stomach whenever I thought about cops. Mom had raised me that way.

The only cop I could ever remember trusting was the DEA agent I’d met when I was twenty-one. Jack Stone had treated me like a human. He’d looked at me like he felt sorry for me, which didn’t sit right with me, but he’d been nice. And still remained one of the most attractive men I’d ever seen.

Jack Stone had appeared in more than a few of my dreams over the years, and I still had his card stashed away in my emergency bag.

I cursed and stood up. My emergency bag was still at my apartment. I had to get it.

An older woman at the front desk raised her eyebrows at me and frowned. “Can I help you?”

I nodded. “I need to speak to someone in charge.”

She cleared her throat and put down her nail file. “What do you need?”

I looked over my shoulder and then back at her. “Someone in charge.”

After a massive sigh, she picked up her phone and muttered something to someone on the other end. “Have a seat. Someone will be with you shortly.”

I sat back down on the bench and waited with my heart attempting to climb up my throat. My hands were sweating profusely and I was faintly aware that I had the stench of sweat and fear coming from my body.

When an officer did come out to see me, the guy they sent out was no better than a traffic cop. I cursed and glared at the woman at the desk. “I need to speak to at least a detective. The president of Rage MC is trying to kill me.”

The cop’s eyes widened just slightly and he looked behind him. “I’ll get someone for you. Just stay here.”

I watched as he pulled out his phone and started tapping at it aggressively before even passing the desk. My stomach twisted and I tightened my fingers on the edge of the seat. I had a bad feeling. Nothing felt right.

I waited another five minutes before standing up and asking the woman at the desk for the bathroom. She pointed me off to a hallway in the back and I stood at the door for a second, looking into the bullpen of desks. I could see the cop who’d come out to me, standing with another cop. They were whispering hurriedly to each other.

I stood there until he looked over and then I pointed to the bathroom, letting him know that’s where I’d be. He nodded and turned away from me, more hurried than before.

Nothing about me was stupid enough to wait for him to prove me right about cops. I locked the door behind me and then grabbed the trashcan. There was a tall window on the wall farthest from me and it was begging to be my escape route. I dumped the trashcan into the sink and flipped it over before stepping onto it. I shoved the window open and wedged the top half of my body out of it. After seeing it was clear, I pushed myself out of it, face first onto a pile of garbage.

I came up gagging, but silently pushed my body against the wall and slipped away from the station, just in time to see Snake talking to the cop in the back alley. He was pointing inside the station and I could see him telling Snake to wait a second.

I took my chance to run and headed back to my apartment. It was the last place I wanted to be, but I had to get my bag if I wanted to survive. After making sure the apartment was empty, I crept inside and ripped my bag down from the sink. I shoved more clothes inside and then left just as quickly as I’d arrived.

It was hot, but I pulled on a jacket and made sure the hood covered my head as I made my way to the bus station. I had no clue where to go, but I had what I hoped was a trump card in my bag.

Once I got to the station, I found a back corner with a payphone in it. I pushed my change in and dialed the number I had for Jack Stone with shaking hands. I kept my back to the wall and watched the front doors to make sure Snake didn’t appear.

“Yeah?”

“Jack? Jack Stone?”

The man sighed. “Nope. Stone ain’t with us anymore. I got his number.”

I couldn’t help the whimper that escaped my lips. He’d been my last hope. After Jack, I didn’t trust anyone else to help me.

“Jesus, lady. He knock you up or something?”

“Yes! I’m pregnant with his baby. He gave me this card. I need to get a hold of him.”

I could hear the guy debating with himself, so I upped the ante. “There’s something wrong with the baby. I need to know if this runs in Jack’s family. I wouldn’t bother him otherwise. I just don’t know what to do.”

The tears got him. “Keep it together, lady. Last I heard, Stone opened a private security firm down in Memphis. Stone Security. I can’t believe that piece of shit is still handing out this number. You’re better off without him, honey.”

I hung up and went to the closest ticket counter. “One way to Memphis, please.”

The man at the counter quoted me a price and I pushed a couple of bills across the counter at him. After getting the ticket, I had to wait until it was time to load up onto the bus.

That was the worst part. Waiting for Snake to burst into the bus station and grab me was excruciating. As the big clock on the wall over me ticked away the minutes, I could feel Snake getting closer. The man had people all over Jackson. One wrong move and I was a goner.

Finally, the bus pulled up outside and they called for anyone riding to Memphis. I walked as casually as I could over to the driver and handed her my ticket. Anxiety ate way at me until I was sitting at the back of the bus, with my head down and away from the windows. When we did finally get on the road, I didn’t allow myself to breathe out a sigh of relief. I wasn’t dumb enough to think that Snake was done with me just because I left Jackson.