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Every shitty thing he’d ever done came rushing back to me. Every time he’d humiliated me, frightened me. I could feel the walls closing in and the water rushing in my ears began. The room spun as panic set in.I am not drowning. I am not drowning.I gritted my teeth, refusing to crack in front of this loser.
“Adam, now really isn’t a good time.” I scanned the room again, trying to spot Keira’s blue dress. I was always safer when Keira was around. She grounded me and helped me to breathe.
“Why? Have you got somewhere important to be?” He took a step closer and I felt his fingers curl into mine. I yanked my hand away. His pasty face crumpled in disappointment. “I’ve missed you, Lo,” he whispered, trying to be seductive but failing miserably. “We were good together, weren’t we? I think about you all the time…then I saw you here and I thought it was like fate, you know?”
My eyes darted around the room again. Alfie was here somewhere, I didn’t have time for this bullshit. “Adam, you’re drunk.” I shoved him away. “Go and bother someone else.”
“Hey, don’t talk to me like that!” He took my hands and pulled me to him. Before I could shove him away a camera was suddenly shoved in my face.
No, no, no, no, no!
My stomach sank as mine and Adam’s faces filled the huge screen. He looked drunk and horny, I looked like a deer in headlights. The bar was visible behind us in the shot. Alfie was going to see it and he was going to know exactly where I was.
“Hey guys, how about a kiss for the camera, eh?” the camera man shouted. Before I could stop him, Adam had gone in for the kill. I turned my head just in time for his clammy lips to hit my cheek instead of my mouth. I shuddered at the contact, shoving him away from me. The camera man had disappeared, gone off to cause trouble for someone else.
Adam grabbed at me again, his eyes blurring as he manhandled me. I was about to scream, when suddenly he wasn’t there any more.
Because Alfie had him by the throat.
I opened my mouth to say something but any words were stolen up in a scream as Alfie’s fist connected squarely with Adam’s mouth. People around us scrambled to get out of the way as Adam hit the ground.
Alfie looked manic as he lunged for him again, but suddenly Elliot was there, holding him back and whispering in his ear. Whatever he was telling him seemed to work because Alfie stopped, his gaze turning ice cold as he glared at Adam.
Riley was there too, talking to Alfie just loud enough for me to hear him over the music. “Just deal with your girl,” he told him.His girl.Me. I was his girl.
Alfie turned his gaze on me and I began to tremble, to physically shake. I felt like a cold turkey addict being presented with heroin.
I backed away a step, unsure of what I was doing until I saw Keira breaking free of the throng of people and rushing towards me.
“Are you alright?” She grabbed my hands and I breathed a sigh of relief. “I saw you on the screen. What the fuck is that loser doing here?” She scowled, catching sight of Adam rolling around on the floor as if he was mortally wounded.
He was starting to get up and Elliot stepped to Alfie’s side again. He whispered in his ear and, without taking his eyes fromme, Alfie nodded. The crowd around us had grown. Bradley and his friends had all returned with Keira. Riley’s gaze was flicking between me and Alfie. I felt overwhelmed. I was too hot, and the water was so loud, rushing in my ears, threatening to drown me. I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Who the hell is this guy?” I opened my eyes and Adam was in front of me again. “Lola—” He reached for me and everything descended into chaos. Alfie lunged, Riley grabbed Alfie, and Elliot grabbed Adam, yanking him away and pinning him to the floor with expert precision. Sean and the rest of Bradley’s friends cheered, Bradley grabbed me which made Alfie furious, Keira started yelling at everyone—I squeezed my eyes shut again.
Before I could explode, I turned and ran. I was sure someone was following me but their shouts were drowned out by the bassline. I climbed the steps to the balcony, burst through the double doors, and ran out into the street. I gasped as fresh air hit me and staggered up the road away from the club. I wasn’t sure where I was going, I just needed to be away. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t fucking breathe.
“Lo!” Keira’s comforting hand slipped into mine as she caught up with me. I ran away from the chaos and she ran with me. We passed an alleyway and I ducked into it. It stank but I didn’t care. I sank to the floor, crouching on my heels.
“Keira…I can’t breathe…” The rushing water was getting louder. I was back in that sinking car, falling deeper into the water. My chest was tight, my lungs burning.
Keira took my hands and crouched in front of me, pressing her forehead to mine and, like we’d done a thousand times before, we breathed together. I followed her breaths, using them to measure my own. I used her to ground me, to get me out of that sinking car and back to the present.
I didn’t know how long we stayed like that, but by the time the water started to recede and I could open my eyes again, I could hear voices.Hisvoice. It called me back to the surface.
Twenty-Nine
“Where the hell is she, Elliot?”
“The tracker says she’s still in this area. She can’t have gone far.”
“Tracker?” Keira whispered. Oh, fresh hell. This whole night could go fuck itself. Seriously. I sighed. There was no getting around it.
“He has a GPS tracker on my phone. He has one on my van too.”
She raised her eyebrows. “That’s some psycho shit, Lo.”
I could hear their voices getting closer. She was right, but what was I going to say? I stood slowly and, after taking a steadying breath, I stepped out into the street. Adam was nowhere to be seen. Bradley’s friends had disappeared, but Elliot, Riley, and Bradley himself were there.