Chapter 3 #3
“And you want me to get it from you? How?”
Hawk smiles. “By whatever means necessary.”
“That’s impossible!”
Hawk smirks at her and tucks the necklace back under his shirt. “Not if you get good at surveillance and espionage. Even I have weaknesses. Find them, leverage them, and you’ll get it. But try to attack me head-on, and I guarantee you’ll regret it.”
Ulayna shakes her head at the seemingly impossible task. There’s no way she’ll ever be able to surprise Hawk. He moves like a ghost, and out of all of Alexi’s team members, he’s the most secretive.
“Worry about those two tomorrow,” Ruger says, brushing off Shade and Hawk. “Let’s keep working on your self-defense skills.”
For the rest of the day, the five members of Alexi’s team take turns showing her how to protect herself.
They demonstrate the basics of keeping her weight centered and avoiding attacks.
They walk her through strategies for getting out of different holds, distracting would-be attackers, and temporarily disabling opponents so she has time to flee.
By the time they’re done, she’s sweaty and sore. But she’s also hopeful. It will take a lot of work, but with their help, no one will ever be able to hurt her again. No one will ever be able to make her do something she doesn’t want to. She’ll be able to control her own destiny.
It’s a heady, exhilarating thought.
Back at the mansion and exhausted from the long day, she crawls into bed. She pulls the covers up to her chin, already feeling the ache of sore muscles. But she smiles as she lets her heavy eyelids drift shut and snuggles down into the bed.
—
A hand clamps down over Ulayna’s mouth, and she startles awake with a scream. A heavy body pins her down on the mattress. Panic courses through her as dark memories float to the surface.
She whimpers.
“Fight through it, girl,” Shade’s deep voice rumbles into her ear. “Use the fear, don’t let it use you.”
Ulayna struggles to clear the sleepy cobwebs from her mind and process what’s happening. Her old life is gone. She’s no longer in the Program. True to his word, Shade has surprised her. Now, she has to figure out how to either escape or defend herself.
Easier said than done with a 200-pound man sitting on your chest.
She twists and wriggles, trying to get out from under him.
“Good,” he says quietly, encouraging her. “Use your elbows, knees, and the heel of your palm like we showed you.”
His hands wrap around her neck and squeeze, cutting off her air. She struggles not to let the panic overtake her.
With her legs caught under the blankets, she can’t use her knees, and her movements are limited. But she’s able to free her arm. She swings her hand up, aiming for a palm strike to his nose like she learned earlier in the day.
At the last second, Shade tips his head to the side, and her blow glances off his cheek. But the movement loosens his grip slightly on her neck. She hooks her free hand around his thumb and yanks downward, breaking his grip.
“Very good,” Shade says. “Next time, don’t let me get inside, and you won’t have to fight me off.”
He slides off her bed and leaves her room as silently as he came in.
Breathing hard, Ulayna sits up in bed. She looks around the empty room, reassuring herself that no one else is there. She scrubs a hand over her face and takes a deep breath.
“Holy fuck,” she whispers.
He told her to expect attacks, but she’d been sure he’d start tomorrow. She glances at the clock on her nightstand. Well, technically, it is tomorrow.
She flops back down and pulls the covers up. But she’s unable to settle. Her heart is still beating a mile a minute.
Resigned, she flings the covers off and crawls out of bed. Flicking on the bedside light, she circles the room, looking into every corner and under the bed to reassure herself that she’s alone. She even peeks into the en suite bathroom.
Finally, she walks to the bedroom door and stares at it. She knows she locked it before she went to sleep, yet Shade was able to get in without a problem.
She checks the handle. Locked. Somehow, Shade must have locked it behind him when he left. If she wasn’t still able to feel the ghost of his fingers around her neck, she’d worry she imagined the whole thing.
Shaking her head at herself, she grabs the ornate wooden chair from the bedroom vanity and wedges it under the door handle.
Next, she eyes the French doors leading out to her balcony. There’s no way to barricade them without shoving the giant armoire in front of them, which she doubts she could do on her own.
She stands there in the dimly lit room, her reflection staring back at her from the panes of the glass. After a few moments, inspiration hits.
From the bathroom, she grabs the small glass next to the sink and fills it halfway with water. Carefully, she balances it on the door handle.
Someone could still easily get in. But if they try, the glass will fall to the floor and shatter, giving her a few precious seconds to wake up and react.
Pleased with herself, she crawls into bed and quickly falls back to sleep.