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TWENTY

The dark thumbprint bruises on her thigh throbbed. The pain was deep, like a toothache. Standing in front of the full-length mirror on the door of her bedroom closet, she turned her leg this way and that, grimacing at the way he’d marked her. She’d have to wear pants for the next few days. Otherwise, the bruises would draw too much attention. There was no way to cover them up and she couldn’t think of an explanation as to how she’d gotten them that didn’t sound like an outright lie. She’d made a grave miscalculation. Again.

He remembered too much. Plus, she hadn’t expected him to be so intense. Not now. She definitely hadn’t anticipated him assaulting her. The strange glow in his eyes when he wrapped his hand around her throat had nearly made her pee herself. One moment he was just a pathetic excuse for a man, shuffling through life with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and the next, he was a beast begging to be unleashed. It was like a switch being thrown. She hadn’t witnessed it before although she’d known it was there. How could she not?

Knowing and experiencing were two very different things.

It had taken some fast talking to extricate herself from that car. Her eyes lingered on her reflection as if to assure herself that she had made it out, that she was safely home, in her own bedroom now. She changed out of her shorts and into a loose pair of linen pants. Then she downed the glass of wine on the dresser. The third of the night. A quick glance out her bedroom window assured her that he wasn’t parked outside, thinking about finishing what he started. He didn’t know where she lived. Yesterday, she would have thought he was too stupid to find out but now, she wasn’t sure. What if he was out there watching? What if he saw how many times she checked for him? He’d see that as an invitation. She knew he would because that was how his mind worked. He was a sicko.

Flicking off her bedroom light, she sank to the floor next to her window. She had to recalibrate. Come up with a new plan.

Or she could forget the whole thing. Go back to normal life. Let the bruises fade and pretend today had never happened.

Except she was afraid she’d awakened the monster in him again, and now that she had, no one was safe.