4. Victoria
4
VICTORIA
We drove west until early in the afternoon, when Liam decided to stop and check in at another cheap hotel. Based on the road signs, we’re in New York and not too far from the Canadian border. I have no idea why he’s hitting pause on the road trip now. Liam has barely spoken to me—thankfully.
Once we got to the room, he shot off a text and told me not to get too comfortable. Then he decided to take a shower, leaving the curtain and door open wide and demanding I stay in his line of sight. He even made a point of keeping the gun in easy reach next to the sink.
But when it’s my turn to clean up, he gives me privacy. Probably because there are no windows for me to climb out of and he’s tired of seeing my face.
It’s a more than small blessing, since the cell phone I took from the poor man at the gas station is still pressed against my pubic bone. I got unbelievably lucky—either the phone was set to silent or no one has tried to call or text him—because not a single sound has given my secret away. I have been impatiently waiting and hoping for an opportunity to use the phone, memorizing the hotel’s address off the stationery on the bedside table. Other than somewhere in Canada, I have no idea where Liam is ultimately going. He’s insisted on taking a winding route, going north from Connecticut before turning west in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Liam demanded I keep the door unlocked, so I make quick work of sitting on the toilet with my pants down for cover should he barge in. Then I shoot off a text message to Ellie.
2370 Pine Hill Rd Rochester, NY. Not sure how long for. Tell Dante. Liam took me. Turning phone off to save battery and keep safe.
Powering the cell phone down, I hide it behind the trash can and turn on the shower. I quickly lather myself up with the cheap soap and enjoy a few minutes of solitude until the shower curtain is abruptly ripped open. Fear courses through me.
He found the phone.
“I wanna fuck.” He clenches my forearm and drags me out of the shower, almost causing me to trip along the edge as he guides me into the small living space.
I’m twisted and thrown to the mattress, landing on my back and bouncing once. Even as a spring digs into my spine, Liam starts crawling over me.
Survival takes over, and I bring my leg up and into his chest, forcing him back. I take advantage of the distance and scramble backwards, but Liam grabs my ankle and drags me to the center of the bed.
I can’t hear anything but the rapid beat of my heart as I try to kick Liam and force him away. He practically does a belly flop, sprawling across me and trapping my flailing limbs. Then he reaches one hand down to undo his jeans.
“Stay still, Vee,” he commands.
“Get the fuck off me!” I scream, thrashing under his weight. There’s no way I’m letting Liam get inside me, letting him get his rocks off, when I shouldn’t even be here in the first place.
What would Dante do?
I’m grasping at straws, trying to find a way out of this, but I’m outmatched. It doesn’t matter what Dante would do—I’m not built like him.
What would he think if you can’t stop this?
God, that doesn’t matter either. Our relationship isn’t even real. And even if it was, it wouldn’t matter. Not unless I manage to escape with my life.
“ Stop it, Vee,” Liam barks out, trying to pin my wrists. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
“I’m not going to let you fuck me, you piece of shit!” I bellow, trying to bend my elbow to throw a real punch, but he’s too close. “Get off me, Liam!”
“Shut up.” He straightens his spine and backhands me. Stars dance at the edge of my vision and I struggle to focus. Liam takes advantage of my stunned pause and gets a hold on one of my wrists.
I scream as long as I can—there’s nothing else I can do. Liam tries to cover my mouth with his free hand, but it throws him off balance and he quickly gives up. Even with all my bucking around, though, I can’t toss him off me.
I make an effort to calm myself, to think, but the pain radiating through my skull makes it difficult. One false move and I’m done for. I can’t give him the opening he needs to fully subdue me, not if I want to avoid what he’s planning.
“You’re just makin’ this harder on yourself,” Liam taunts, sounding amused as hell that I’m fighting him, that I obviously don’t want him . “The more you fight, the longer I’m going to fuck you.”
If I wasn’t so mad… wasn’t so busy fighting to protect myself… I’d laugh in his face. He’s talking a big game, but that’s an empty threat if I’ve ever heard one. He’s a one-minute man, coming like he can’t help himself.
“You touch me and I’ll kill you, Liam,” I promise. He laughs like a complete asshole. I knew my ex was many things, but I never would have thought kidnapper and rapist were on the list.
“I’d love to see you try, Vee. But you’re lookin’ a little tired.”
I save my words, choosing instead to spend my energy resisting, but all too soon Liam takes control of both my wrists, trapping them above my head in one of his hands. His other roams freely over my body.
“Fuck, I missed this,” he groans, pinching one of my nipples and making me squeal in disgust, anger, and fear. “I’m gonna fuck you so good, baby. Don’t worry.”
I hate him.
I do.
The more I fight, the more he’s going to enjoy himself. There isn’t anything I can do now beyond trying to block this out and hope he does what he always used to do—finish quickly. I just want to be done with this so I can start moving past it.
I turn my face away, resisting the only way I can, and Liam laughs. If I give up the fight, if I willingly accept what he’s planning, I’m denying him what he really wants.
Power.
“You used to love me,” Liam growls, his eyes narrowing on me with distaste and exasperation. “What happened?”
I never loved Liam, I can admit that. I never even said the words to him. However, I’m not going to correct him, not now. I know Liam’s buttons—well, I thought I did.
“You didn’t put me first,” I reply. “And I?—”
“I had classes up the ass, Vee,” he argues. “Since when did you get so needy?”
“Then there was that girl I caught you making out with,” I continue.
He frowns, unable to deny it.
“It was a mistake,” he admits with a sigh, as if he’s resigned to what he did and frustrated at having to explain it. “You weren’t around?—”
“Forcing me into marriage so you could steal my trust fund was really the icing on the cake, Liam. You’re not the man I thought I knew. You’re selfish and weak. Looking out only for yourself and the next piece of pussy you can claim.”
He sighs again. “Then I guess talking about working things out between us is pointless.”
“I think so.”
His jaw ticks, but he doesn’t move. Maybe he’s thinking about all the things he’s done, maybe even reconsidering what he’s doing now. He doesn’t have many options. The only path to a happy ending for him is stealing my money and disappearing.
Frustrated, I shift my legs, which are starting to cramp. Then I realize my left is wedged between Liam’s.
Cock shot.
This stupid motherfucker is either so lost in the haze of his own twisted fantasy or convinced that I’m too blinded by fear to see that I can easily put my knee in his junk.
Fuck him.
And fuck this.
My knee thrusts upward and I connect with his balls so hard that I wonder if he can feel them in his throat. If I’m lucky, they’ve returned to wherever they dropped from.
Liam hollers in pain, keeling over and releasing my hands. I don’t hesitate, shoving him off me. He rolls to the mattress as I turn away and nearly fall to the floor. Quickly, I get my feet under me and stand, unsure of what my next step is.
He has a gun somewhere, and I have nothing. Nothing except a stolen phone that I can’t lose.
“You fucking bitch !” he roars, legs still clenched together.
My eyes land on the bedside table. On the gun lying there.
This is your chance.
I round the bed quickly, picking up the weapon before Liam has a chance to recover.
Instead of widening in surprise as I level the barrel at him, Liam’s eyes narrow to thin, challenging slits. He doesn’t think I’ll do it. Doesn’t think I can shoot him and walk away.
It’s what an entitled asshole would do. What he would do.
“Fuck you, Vee,” he clips out. “You’re not going to shoot me.”
“Try me.” I’ve never held a gun before, but I manage to hold it steady, which is surprising. “I’m leaving,” I profess evenly. “And you can fuck all the way off, Liam. I don’t want to see you ever again. Don’t come after me again, don’t even think about being in the same room ? — ”
“You think you can banish me after marrying my uncle? We have debts to settle! You’re never going to be free of Angelo,” he presses, pushing himself up on one elbow. “This isn’t a game, there’s no get-out-of-jail-free card.”
“But you thought you had one, right? And it’s your fault I’m in this mess to start with. If you hadn’t posted that fake engagement picture...”
He glowers at me. “I had a plan. And you can still come?—”
“Fuck your plan. Fuck you.” Liam begins to slide off the bed and I move the gun, keeping it pointed towards him. “ Don’t move.”
“You’re not going to shoot me, Vee. You’re stuck with me—” My finger tugs at the trigger, past the brief resistance, and a loud shot goes off. My ears start ringing and I step back, shocked by what I’ve done, what I’ve had to do.
Liam jerks back, a shout of pain escaping his lips as he glances down at the damage.
My eyes follow his gaze.
A red stain blooms across his light blue shirt, spreading out from his shoulder.
“You stupid bitch!” He lunges off the bed, and I’m held captive by my own shock. In a second he’s on me, forcing my arm wide so I can’t put another bullet in him. Then he punches me in the face.
Over and over again.
I feel each impact of his knuckles on every hit. I’m trapped in the wild haze of pain, falling to the hard floor as Liam continues his assault.
Black starts flooding in from the edge of my vision as I fight to stay conscious, but the effort is futile.
I have to believe that Ellie got my text. That she believes it.
That she tells my husband.
Dante’s coming .
It’s the last thought I have before the darkness overtakes me.