Chapter 42
CHAPTER 42
Chloe and I walked home from the river. On her leash, she sniffed the grass. I thought about the disaster my life had become. Why had I shown up last night at the penthouse? I showed up there out of empathy and sadness for Jackson but seeing him had done something to me. I had no control around the man. He felt like oxygen to my starved brain and heart.
I shook my head. I hated myself for going there. I hated myself even more for leaving. Now I avoided Irene and Matt. I ignored half a dozen texts and two phone calls from them, and now I was avoiding the hospital. I needed to face the music at some point, but I felt so tired. I wanted to lie in bed and sleep my problems away.
Problems that wouldn’t go away. Jackson would leave New York in four short weeks to go back to his life. Once I broke things off from Matt, it was safe to say that I would never see either of them again. The past few weeks without Jackson had reminded me of the weeks after my granny had died. Grey and barren. I glimpsed how my future unfolded in front of me. I wasn’t sure if I'd be able to withstand the crush of how lonely it would be.
I didn’t see him. One minute I was wrapped in my thoughts, and then he stood there. I stopped walking. I took in his appearance. The man looked rough. Angry. He was dressed in dirty jeans and an old black jean jacket. His black hair slicked off his harsh features. His dark eyes were cold as he took me in.
“You out for a walk?” he stepped forward and knelt over Chloe. He held her face too hard as she worked to back away from his touch.
I pulled her leash and tried to step around him.
His grip was like steel on my arm. “Where do you think you're going?”
“My husband is waiting for me,” my voice faltered over my lie. Terrible thoughts ran through my mind as I tried to remember all the steps from my defense class.
He gave a harsh laugh and grabbed me hard. “I don’t think so.”
I dropped Chloe’s leash and used both arms to push against his chest. “What are you doing?”
“You look like a nice piece of tight ass,” his eyes raked over my body. “Not like those whores I'm usually with.”
My eyes darted around, as I tried to find another human being in the area. There was no one. The place was deserted. Chloe was gone. She had taken off at an alarming rate back to the loft. Tears blurred my eyes. I made a move to run but he yanked me back so hard I lost my balance.
“Leave me alone,” I said through clenched teeth.
His hand connected with my cheek with such force I saw stars. And then his hand came back the other way, hitting my face so forcefully it knocked me off my feet. Gravel dug into my hands as I turned and tried to crawl away. I felt his grip on my hips as I kicked and screamed. I had visions of this man hurting me, raping me, killing me.
“That’s it,” he yanked me hard. “I love it when they fight. Nothing turns me on more.”
My arms and my hands beat him, trying to scratch, claw, connect with something. He tossed me so hard to the ground that the breath knocked out of me. I lay there on my side, struggled to get air into my lungs, but my rib cage refused, and I wheezed and gasped, unable to breathe I was so winded.
He knelt over me and then he ripped my shirt open. Dirty hands pushed up beneath my bra, and cold fingers pinched and dug into my breasts. I managed to rake my nails down over the length of his face before he backhanded me. Pain exploded in my head. I tasted blood. Tears blurred my vision. I heard him laugh and then his dirty hands tore at my pants. Fighting my belt, greedy, yanking at it so hard, my hips lifted off the ground.
A surge of fear went through me. Was this happening to me? I tried to lift my knees. I tried to buck him off, but the weight of him on my thighs was too heavy.
“Nooo,” I screamed, crying so hard I couldn’t bring oxygen into my lungs. I heard Chloe barking in the distance.
“That’s it, baby,” he grunted, as he yanked my pants down to my hips. I watched through blurred eyes as he trailed one dirty hand over my chest and then he slowly, started to undo the belt on his pants.
“No,” I whimpered, trying to push up. His hands came to my throat, choking me. My hands went around his neck, fighting him. I couldn’t breathe. I was suffocating. He was going to kill me. I was going to die at the hands of a madman. I thought I would have a heart attack before he managed to choke the life out of me. I didn’t want to die like this. I didn’t want to be murdered on the side of the road with no one around, no one wondering where I was. Who would take care of Chloe? I would never see Jackson again. I clawed at his face, but to no avail. His ugly features swam before my eyes. I could feel myself begin to black out. I cursed his face in my mind. I cursed this animal that was going to take away my last chance to see Jackson again.
And then he was gone.
I rolled over on my stomach, coughing and gasping in pain as I tried to pull air into my lungs. I pushed myself to a kneeling position. I needed to run. I needed to get away. What if he came back? My pants were on my hips. I staggered to my feet, pulling up my pants. I was crying and shaking, completely in shock. I became conscious of the sound of someone getting hit. Repeatedly. I swung around, and Jackson knelt over him and repeatedly pounded his fists into the guy’s face.
“Jackson,” I wailed, my voice sounding thin and reedy.
He stopped and looked up at me. His face was a mask of rage. His eyes had murder in them. Blood splatter covered his face. He was breathing like a crazy man. I bent over and howled in pain and fear.
He rushed towards me. I collapsed into his arms, sobbing and clinging to his hoodie. He had his hands on my chin as he took in my bloody face. I tasted the bitter iron of my blood dripping down my lip. I used the back of my hand to wipe my mouth. Tears poured from my eyes, and I hurt so much I thought I was going to blackout.
“Oh baby,” he soothed. “Sweetheart.”
“I want to go home,” I sobbed, trying to hold my ripped shirt together. I looked around in horror. Was this happening to me? What was happening to me?
He peeled off his sweatshirt and then ever so gently helped me lift my arms so that I could slide it over my head. He looked down at my face and said in a low voice, “I'm going to kill that piece of shit.”
I sobbed so hard I could barely breathe. “No, please. I just want to go home.”
He lifted me up. My arms went around his thick neck, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He started to walk. We stopped when he stepped over the unconscious body of the man who had attacked me. And then he reached down, and with one hand, grabbed the man by the collar and started to drag him behind him.
We walked like that for the three blocks back to the loft. My face buried in his neck while I bled all over his shirt. I could hear the sound of the man’s body being dragged carelessly along the gravel road.
We got to the loft, and Jackson just dropped the guy, letting his limp head bounce on the ground.
“Is he dead?” I asked, my voice muffled against Jackson’s neck.
“No. ”
He carried me up the stairs and put me gently on the couch. I curled my knees up to my chest. “You need to call the police.”
“After I tend to you.”
“Call them first,” I begged, terrified that the man would wake up. Come up here. Hurt us.
Jackson stood up and pulled out his phone. Chloe bound up onto the couch beside me and tilted her head at me. She looked at me with concern on her face.
I reached out and gently touched her nose. I vaguely heard Jackson talking. Words like assault and perpetrator. Our address. And then he tossed the phone down and crouched in front of me.
“Let me see your face,” he pulled my hand gently from my eye. His fingers palpitated my face. I winced.
“I don’t think anything is broken,” he said, “But you have a bloody nose.” He left for a moment and then returned with a cold cloth in his hands. I shut my eyes as he dabbed the cloth over my skin.
My eyes met his. “Why are you here?”
“I couldn’t stay away,” he said, his face a mask of concentration as he wiped my lip.
“How did you know?” I began to cry again.
“I got here, and you and Chloe were gone. I thought I would find you on your route. I started walking, and Chloe saw me and came towards me. Barking. Her leash trailing behind her. I heard you scream.”
I stared into his eyes, tears gushing down my face. “You saved me.”
The sound of a siren peeled from blocks away. Getting closer and closer.
“Wait here,” he stood up and disappeared downstairs. I heard the sound of car doors slamming and then voices. Heavy footsteps on the stairs and then a female cop stood looking at me. She spoke into the radio on her shoulder. Then she walked towards me.
“My name is Constable Jenkins. Do you need an ambulance? ”
I shook my head. I burrowed deeper into Jackson’s sweatshirt. Where was he? I wanted him to come back upstairs.
She sat down and gave me a long look. “Want to tell me what happened?”
In a choked voice, I relayed what had happened.
“Where is Jackson?” I begged her, my eyes glued to the door.
“If by Jackson you mean the guy who’s breathing fire and looks like he wants to kill someone, he’s giving his statement to the police outside.”
I heard the slow rise and fall of an ambulance siren as it approached the property.
“I don’t need an ambulance,” I repeated.
“The guy who assaulted you does.”
I put my face in my hands. “I just want to go have a shower.”
“We’d like to take you to the hospital. To check you over and run some tests.”