"Do you have any idea how long I've waited for this moment? How much I've missed you? How much I cried for you?" His face focused on me and then it softened, but I was too smart to fall for it. I was used to his mood swings. He could attempt to be sweet and loving one second and cruel the very next. "Do you know how much pain I've been in since the day you left? I know sometimes I don't show it very well, but I love you, Emily. I love you very much. Sometimes, I just—" He hesitated. "I just don't know how to show it."
"You hurt me." I glared at him. "Every day I lived with you, I lived in fear. Every day I was with you, I hated you more and more. How could I not want to get away from you?" The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them, but deep down, I wanted him to know how I felt about him.
With every word I spoke, he got even angrier. His attempt at being sweet and loving was long gone. Maybe I was trying to provoke him. Maybe I was ready to get this over with, whether I was truly prepared for it or not.
"I gave you everything." He seethed. "Everything you've ever wanted. I loved you. I would have done anything for you." His voice rose with each word.
I shook my head. "You don't know what love is. You don't love me. What you think is love, it isn't. It's not the kind of love I want, anyway. I know what love is now… what it can be."
"Is that the kind of love Reed gave you?" His jaw tightened.
Just the sound of his name sent shockwaves of pain rippling through me. I tried to control my tears, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
"What did it feel like losing him?" he asked, taking another step toward me. "Did it feel like your whole life had been ripped away from you? Like your heart had been torn out of your chest?"
As hard as I tried, I couldn't control them; tears rolled down my cheeks as I pictured his face. If I was going to die in the next few minutes, the last thing I wanted to be thinking of was him.
"It makes me wish he were really dead, so you would hurt as much as I've hurt."
My breath caught. Something in my brain clicked and I became focused on the words he just said. I choked back my tears and my heart pounded in my chest. "What are you talking about? He's not…" My voice drifted off quietly. I couldn't even say the words.
An evil and satisfying grin spread across his face. "I had to say something that would get you out of the restaurant quietly. Rico distracted Reed while I called you. The last thing I wanted was to cause a scene and prolong our reunion. I knew as long as you thought your lover was in danger, you'd do whatever I asked. And look, I was right."
Reed is okay? I blinked away my tears, feeling a sense of relief rush over me. Just a few minutes ago, I didn't care if I lived or died. Now, I would do anything to get out of here. I would do anything to see him again. To make sure he was okay.
His dark eyes glared down on me. "Believe me. The day will come when I kill him. Watching him with you, with his hands all over you… I wanted to tear him apart, but tonight, he was just a simple distraction to convince you to leave quietly."
He took another step toward me. We were now just a few feet apart. I took another step back, even though I knew I was backing myself into a corner.
"Stay away from me," I said, feeling my survival instincts begin to kick in, hoping I remembered the moves I learned and could actually use them.
He laughed and shook his head. "Look at you. You're actually thinking about fighting back. Did Mike teach you how to be brave? Did Mike coach you on what to do if this little plan of running away from me didn't work out?"
I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. Taking in a shaky breath, I asked a question that I already felt like I knew the answer to. "Where is Mike?" If Jake knew that Mike helped me, then I was pretty sure he was dead. However, I wanted to keep him talking. I wanted another minute to get together a plan to make it out of here alive.
He leaned toward me. "You mean the guy that I trusted more than anything? The guy that I trusted with my life?" The muscles in his jaw tightened. "Well, you will be sad to know that Mike is no longer with us."
I gasped, even though I knew his fate before I asked the question. "You had him killed?"
Anger flashed in his eyes. "No, I didn't have him killed, Emily. I did it myself. I shot him in the back, the same spot where I felt he had stabbed me. The son of a bitch betrayed me." His voice grew louder and his eyes grew even darker. I couldn't remember a time when I saw so much hate in them. "He took away the one thing that meant the most to me. He helped you leave me."
"No." Tears pooled in my eyes. Mike died because he saved me. He died for me. "You crazy…" I choked on my tears and deep, heavy sobs poured out of me.
He took another step closer. "In the beginning, I knew something was strange about you getting away so easily. I spent hours, days, weeks, searching for you. Wondering how you did it. Wondering how a girl with nothing, with no one, could just disappear. Then, as hard as it was to believe, I started to suspect Mike had something to do with it. He was acting strange and doing whatever he could to avoid me. The past few months, he began pulling away, but he was my oldest and closest friend. He was like a father to me. I just couldn't believe he would do something like that. He knew how much I loved you." He gritted his teeth and his fists balled at his sides. "But the more I questioned him on that night, the more his story changed, and I knew. I knew he was keeping something from me." He paused, taking in a deep breath as he took another step toward me.
I backed up, hitting the wall behind me. One more step from him and he would be within a foot of me. "He's lucky I didn't kill everyone he ever loved. He has a sister in New Mexico. A dad in Texas. He's lucky I allowed them to live."
"You're a crazy son of a bitch. Don't you hear yourself? How twisted and sick you are?" I said between tears. I had never spoken to him like that before.
Those words sent him into a fit of rage. He lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled down, exposing my neck. He squeezed it firmly, clenching it tight, cutting off my air supply.
"Mike would still be here if you hadn't left me," he spit out in anger. "He would still be alive. So the way I see it, it's you that killed him. And don't think I don't know all about your life here in New York City, too. I know everyone you've been in contact with. Don't doubt I will hurt them if you don't come home with me quietly. It would be a shame to see your friend Lexi go through any more pain. The poor girl's been through enough, don't you think?"
My body shook as the tears flowed out of me. He squeezed down harder, and I tried to breathe but couldn't find the air. A part of me was ready to let go, let him do whatever he wanted to me, if I knew it would save the people I cared about, but I didn't trust him. Killing me wouldn't be enough for him. He wouldn't allow my friends to live. I pictured him picking them all off one by one. The only way to save them was to get out of here and warn them.
My vision began to grow hazy and I knew it was just a matter of seconds before I passed out. If I passed out, I knew there was a good chance I would never wake up. I didn't want to die. I didn't want to give him that power over me. I was stronger now than I was a few months ago. I had worked hard to prepare for this moment, but as I stood there, feeling the same fear I had felt in the past, my mind went completely blank. I couldn't remember a single thing from any of my self-defense classes.
My eyes closed and I could feel myself drifting into the darkness. Just before I completely blacked out, Mike's face popped into my head. The smile he wore the last time I saw him flashed into my mind. Mike died because he wanted me to live. He knew the danger he was putting himself in, but he did it anyways, so I could have a better life. He risked everything for me.