Page 1 of Beyond Hate (Beyond #3)

London

T he man was watching me again. I’d been seeing him for weeks. It was strange, though.

He looked… different.

I’d noticed him when summer started, lingering at the edge of the building while I was lounging at the community pool.

At first, I thought he was just a pervert.

It wasn’t like we didn’t get those more often than I wanted to admit.

They’d hang around the fence line in the summer and watch the apartment’s residents in the water, eyes hungry and fingers biting into the rusty chain link.

If I lived in a better area, security would have chased them off.

If I lived in a better area, maybe we’d have security.

I didn’t, though, so I just ignored the eyes and enjoyed the cool water that smelled too chlorinated but still felt amazing on a hot day.

These eyes were different, though; I could almost feel them burning. The sensation of being watched would crawl along my skin like the pinpricks of a thousand tiny needles, and for a while I couldn’t tell where it came from, but when I looked up…

Nothing.

No one.

It was almost worse, knowing someone was there with no proof. It felt more… intentional.

It felt dangerous.

When I told Hudson, his eyes narrowed to angry slits, and the scowl when he answered made me wince. “Why are you such a fucking slut for attention, London? No one cares enough to watch you. Now get into bed.”

I didn’t bring it up again, but I knew I wasn’t imagining it. It just made me feel worse, knowing my boyfriend knew I felt unsafe and still left our apartment door unlocked when he came in at night.

The first time I saw him , I was at work. I’d just started at Til’s as a dancer, and I felt his gaze on me for half the night before I finally realized where it was coming from.

The man in the back of the room had a hood pulled up, but I could still see the bright lights of the stage reflecting in his dark eyes.

The sensation that rocked through me made me shiver, made me falter in the soft sway of my body as I pulled my shirt over my head.

And he just… watched.

After that, I noticed him everywhere—he watched me, and that dark expression never changed. It never wavered. He stared like he was trying to figure out what my insides looked like, and sometimes I was positive he’d been in my apartment a few seconds before I woke.

Hudson just rolled his eyes when I tried to tell him about it, and the second time I brought it up, the feel of his fist landing on my jaw told me it wasn’t worth mentioning again. If I’d had any family to run to, I would have. If I’d had anyone who cared about me, I would have left.

But I didn’t. So I stayed… and so did the man.

For weeks, I wondered what he wanted.

For weeks, I wondered if he was going to kill me.

And then… he was gone.

It was like something in the air lifted—some dark cloud that I’d been terrified of was suddenly wiped away so I could feel the sun on my skin.

I felt like I could breathe, like something in the world had aligned, and I could finally inhale.

For a few weeks, things felt lighter . If I was being honest with myself, hope wasn’t something I felt very often… but for just a while, I did.

Then the man came back… only… he was different.

He’d been menacing before, when I saw him across the room. Menacing in the weeks that I hadn’t seen him but had felt him.

And now…

Now he stood straight, and there was something almost catlike in his posture as he moved. He’d stayed back before—he’d kept himself at a distance, like his goal was to frighten me as much as it was to watch me.

It was different this time.

He wasn’t staying away.

He walked across the parking lot at Til’s with purpose…

And he was staring at me.

Instinct overtook me—a terror so deep-seated I couldn’t explain it. I’d known all along he was dangerous, but now that he was approaching me, my body knew if I didn’t move…

If I didn’t get out.

If I didn’t run… I’d never get the chance to run again.

I darted for my car and started the ignition, peeling out of the parking lot without paying attention, recklessly enough that I had to swerve to miss oncoming traffic.

It didn’t matter, though—I saw the man turn his head as I went.

He watched me flee with a smile.

I didn’t want to go home right away. He’d been at my apartment before, so there was every chance he’d go there next. Some part of me thought it would be a good idea to call the police, but another part of me knew they wouldn’t care.

It was a small town.

I was a stripper .

The assholes liked to come into the club at night sometimes for a private dance, but when it came down to it, they wouldn’t really care about some stalker I may or may not have.

I’d seen it happen before.

I pulled over and grabbed a coffee, hoping the familiar taste of sugar and chocolate would at least help me calm down. My hands were shaking so violently I was surprised I didn’t spill it.

Why was it so different today? Was it because he’d been gone for a while?

Was it because I’d convinced myself that maybe Hudson was right and it had all been in my head?

Or was it because when I saw him this time, it really felt like he saw me too?

I didn’t know.

I just knew the coffee in my hand was making my stomach hurt, and I didn’t have anywhere to go but home. At least Hudson wasn’t working today. I didn’t have to tell him what was happening, but there was something comforting about knowing I wasn’t going home to an empty apartment.

It was better than nothing, and the drive wasn’t that far from work. The sun was just setting when I pulled into the parking lot. When I glanced around, relief swept through my chest, even though I was wary of letting myself sink into it.

I didn’t see the man. And more, I didn’t feel his eyes on me.

I just wanted to get home, maybe take a shower and lock myself in the bedroom.

I wanted to sleep for a week.

I wanted—

I’d barely gotten my keys into the door when the knob twisted and it was thrown open.

Hudson was there, and I could smell the beer on his breath before I saw the glazed, stormy expression on his face.

Fuck.

It was going to be one of those days.

“Hey, Hudson.”

“The fuck are you doing home, London?” His words were slurred, and the sound of the door slamming behind me made me tense.

I was used to him being angry with me… impatient… but shit…

I hadn’t even done anything yet.

“I called in.” I spoke carefully as I tried to make my way around him. He stalked after me, swaying as he did, his gaze narrowed, his blond hair falling into his eyes.

“You don’t look sick.”

I had to tell him. He had to understand that it wasn’t safe. That I wasn’t safe—fuck, he was my boyfriend . Maybe our relationship wasn’t the best, but I had to think at least some part of him cared about me. “That guy was at my job, and I—”

The first hit took me by surprise. Usually, when he was angry or drunk, I could get away from him—he was clumsy enough that he didn’t catch me off guard, and by the time he sobered up, he wasn’t even sure what happened.

Something about tonight was different, though.

I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d mentioned the man again, or because he could see I wasn’t going to let it go.

Whatever it was, the feel of his fist slamming into my stomach sent me doubling over, and his hand tangling in my hair and jerking my head up left me gasping in pain.

“God damn it, London. I don’t know if fucking you is worth listening to this shit over and over. What do you want? Do I need to come watch you act like some fucking cheap whore every night on the stage so you feel safe?”

“I…”

I’d never ask Hudson for that. I was with him because I didn’t have anywhere else to go, and because once upon a time I’d thought I loved him. I was with him because he’d convinced me a long time ago that I wasn’t worthy of being with anyone else.

And now…

Well, now I was wondering if I’d spent so long worrying about the man who was watching me that I’d missed seeing the one I was sleeping with slowly turning into a monster while I’d been distracted. He’d always been dangerous, but this…

This was different.

“He came looking for you, you know. Do you think I’m stupid, London? Do you think I can’t see it when you’re sleeping around?”

My eyes widened again.

“I’m not—”

The backhand would have sent me flying if he hadn’t been holding me by my hair, but the strength of it cut my words off.

“I could see it in his eyes. He wanted you. He said your name like he knows what you taste like.”

But I didn’t know him. I was afraid of him. I just wanted to feel safe.

The explanations stayed stuck to the roof of my mouth, washed down the back of my throat with the blood that spilled onto my tongue from my split lip. I could have told Hudson everything I was thinking, but his glassy eyes and the fury on his face spelled it out.

He wasn’t going to listen. I was in danger here the same way I was out there. I wasn’t protected.

I was prey.

I was always going to be prey, and it seemed like I was incapable of doing anything but surrounding myself with predators that wanted to watch me bleed.

I jerked away from him, crying out at the feel of his fingers ripping at my hair. It was enough, though. Hudson was bigger than my five feet, six inches by nearly half a foot, but I wasn’t drunk. Instinct drove me to dart past him when he barreled at me with outstretched arms.

There wasn’t time to pack anything.

There wasn’t time to grab anything .

I was lucky I had my wallet on me when I tore out of the apartment and ran down the stairs as fast as I could. The sound of Hudson screaming my name shot terror along my spine, but it faded as I pushed past the gate that led into the pool area and kept running.

I didn’t know if I could stop this time—I didn’t think I could come back.

I didn’t know what I was going to do.

I kept moving until the stitch in my side was painful and I couldn’t draw in enough breath to cry. The sobs that shook my body made me dizzy, and the dead-end alley I ducked into was probably as dangerous as the apartment I’d just fled, but it didn’t matter.

I couldn’t run anymore.

The only good thing was the silence behind me. Either he was too drunk, or he really didn’t give enough of a shit to chase me, but Hudson wasn’t there when I peeked in the direction I’d come from.

Small miracles, even if it didn’t mean much.

I had nowhere to go.

I had no one .

I had nothing but my wallet and the tips I’d made this week dancing and…

“Fuck.” The word came out in another gasped whimper, and I let my shoulders hit the wet brick behind me.

I had nothing .

At least that asshole who was following me could have killed me while I wasn’t looking. It might have been easier than all of this. It might have been easier than…

“You know, for a scared little rabbit, you’re not very good at running.”

The voice was cool, smooth and soft. My eyes darted to the end of the alley, but I already knew.

Fuck . I already knew.

The man stood there, and his lean, willowy body blocked my only exit. His head tilted so dark curls brushed against his slender shoulders.

“Who are you?”

Defense… I’d taken self-defense classes once upon a time, hadn’t I? Go for the nose… for the nuts. The shins?

“From the way you took off earlier, it seems like you know the answer to that, don’t you?”

No.

“No. I just…” I backed away as he stepped closer, but there wasn’t anywhere to go . I should have at least been smart enough to run into a convenience store or something before I collapsed, but no.

I was here.

In a damn alley.

Alone with… a predator.

A monster.

Straight from one danger into the arms of another.

I didn’t know how I knew it. He wasn’t angry and drunk like Hudson. He didn’t look scary—he looked like a man. A handsome, ordinary man. Someone I could go on a date with, fall in love with.

But I knew .

“You just what? Saw a stranger and ran? Come on… We’re going to play games, but this isn’t one of them.” Finally, he lifted his gaze to meet mine, and I froze.

“You’re not…” I swallowed hard, my eyes searching the face that I’d seen so many times—a face that haunted my dreams.

Only… it was different. His expression was full of something cold, calculating. Triumphant.

And his eyes…

They’d been dark before—black pits of swirling anger and hate—and now… now they were a pale green, like he’d had contacts in that hid the color of cool spring, the scales of a snake in the grass.

“What were you expecting, Nikki?” He said the name like I was supposed to recognize it, like it was some unequivocal fact that I’d know what he was talking about.

“What?” My entire body ached—my head was still throbbing from the way Hudson hit me, and I hadn’t even had time to get the taste of blood out of my mouth.

I couldn’t think.

And for some reason, under the weight of that pale, vicious gaze… I couldn’t move away.

“Are you…” I swayed forward as he stepped closer, and the panic clawing up my chest was so thick I couldn’t breathe around it, I couldn’t think. I couldn’t run . “Are you going to hurt me?”

He trailed one long, elegant finger along my jawline. When I froze under the touch, the corner of his mouth ticked up in a smile that made me whimper.

“Yeah, little rabbit. I’m going to hurt you.”

“Oh, fuck. Please, I—” It took me a second to realize the sting on my neck was a needle sliding home… and another to realize that the man with the pale green eyes was stronger than he looked, because he caught me as the world went black.