Chapter 19 #3
Before I can fight back, I’m shoved against the side of a building. I crash into the wall with enough force that the air gusts out of me. My forehead raps against the brick, bringing tears to my eyes.
Then I’m spun around, coming face to face with a much taller man looming over me.
He crowds me, using his body weight to hold me in place. “Fucking bitch,” he snarls. “Think you’re too good for me now?”
Panic explodes through my body, locking my muscles. My heart thunders in my ears.
Fight! my brain shouts. Don’t just stand here. Fight back! You know what to do. So do it!
In theory, it makes sense. But in reality, I can’t make myself move. All I can do is stare up at the strange man above me while I shake in fear.
Stop it. You’re in downtown Manhattan. There are people everywhere. Just shout for help, if nothing else. They might not notice now, but if you scream, they will.
I know. I know.
But I can’t. Memories crash into me, one after another—of being dragged into the alley, the pillow coming down on my face, the bullet slamming into the car right above me—and I’m helpless to do anything but relive them.
I can feel the agony when my shoulder was dislocated. The explosion of pain when my head hit the ground. The suffocating terror as my air ran out.
I try to speak, shout, do anything to help myself, but all that comes out is a strangled gasp.
It’s happening again. I thought it was safe. But it’s not.
The man pinning me to the wall bares his lips in a rictus of a grin. “Imagine my surprise, finding you here. I haven’t stopped thinking about you, you know.”
“What?” I manage. “Wha—”
He slams me into the wall again. His hand tightens around my upper arm to the point of pain. Then he shoves something round and hard against my stomach. “Don’t try anything,” he hisses. “Or I’ll shoot you.”
My heart stops.
No, no, no, no, no.
This can’t be happening. It can’t. Not here. Not now.
“I couldn’t believe it was you,” he continues, “when I saw you outside that building. But then I thought; it must be fate, running into you like this.”
Fate?
What does that even mean?
Unless.
Did Elio somehow send someone after me? Or did Caruso decide he wanted out of Nico’s deal? Could I possibly be unlucky enough to have another case that ended me in trouble?
“I think we’re going to go for a little walk,” the man says.
“Someplace more… private. Where I can show you what happens to women who think they’re too good for regular guys like me.
Who waltz around in their tight clothes, just begging for men to approach them.
But when they do, you bitches just love shooting us down, don’t you?
Making us out like we’re the bad guy when you were asking for it. ”
What?
Asking for it?
Who—
Like the last puzzle piece clicking into place, it hits me.
Blond hair. Blandly handsome features. A hint of bitter malice in his eyes.
“Do you remember me?” the man from the subway train asks. His gaze narrows on me. “Do you remember how much of a bitch you were?”
What? A bitch? He wouldn’t leave me alone after I politely asked him to. Then he called me a bitch when I left my seat. And he’s accusing me of being the bad guy?
Panic fades as anger takes over.
This asshole. This psychotic, misogynistic asshole.
My frozen muscles thaw.
He thinks he can get what he wants by using his body to control me? Just like those men in the alley? And the one in the hospital?
No. Just no.
I’m not a victim anymore. And I’m not letting him get away with this.
“What are you doing?” I snap. “Get off me. Now!”
Surprise flickers in his eyes. “Shut up. Or I’ll shoot you right here.”
Will he, though? Or is it a threat he’s hoping I won’t call him on?
Though it’s a gamble, my gut tells me he won’t shoot me right in the middle of Midtown. So I pin him with an angry gaze and firmly say, “No. You won’t.”
“I will—”
“You won’t!” I shout.
Then I yank my pepper spray out of my pocket and spray it directly in his face.
He claps a hand over his eyes and shrieks.
Just as I’m bringing my knee up between his legs, Nico’s voice erupts beside me.
“GET OFF HER!”
Nico flies into action like an avenging warrior, ripping the subway asshole off of me and flinging him to the ground. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Nico roars. Then he lifts the still-stunned man up and slams him against the wall a few feet away from me.
“Don’t you dare touch her!” Nico barks. He grabs the subway guy’s throat and squeezes. “Don’t you dare!”
I thought I’d seen Nico angry before. But this time, his expression is murderous.
Subway asshole stares at Nico in abject terror, his red and watering eyes wide with fear and his mouth agape. “I… I… I didn’t touch her,” the man bleats.
Nico looks over at me. Worry and anger war in his gaze. “Are you okay, Soph? Did he hurt you?”
Now that I’m safe, my adrenaline fades. Hugging myself against the tremors shaking my body, I reply, “That man, he—” My teeth chatter. “He—”
“It’s okay,” Nico soothes. “You’re okay.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“He bumped me,” I say. “Three times. Then he grabbed me and shoved me against the wall. I didn’t realize who he was at first. But then I remembered.
He hit on me on the subway. A couple months ago.
When I was coming here that night. But I turned him down.
He recognized me on the street and decided to teach me a lesson. ”
“WHAT?” Rage suffuses Nico’s face. “He wanted to teach you a lesson?”
“Yes.” I shudder again. “After he grabbed me, he pressed a gun—”
That dangerous look comes back to his eyes. In a scarily controlled tone, Nico asks, “He threatened you with a gun?”
Where is the gun, now that we’re mentioning it?
While Nico quickly frisks the subway guy, I scan the sidewalk. And there, about six feet away, lies a slightly dented flashlight.
Anger heats inside me.
It was a flashlight. Not a gun. A flashlight.
Rushing up beside Nico, I punch subway guy in the arm. Hard. “You asshole!” I shout. “How dare you!”
Nico blinks. Subway guy flinches.
“It was a flashlight,” I explain. “A stupid flashlight. He pushed the end of the flashlight against me. And I thought it—”
Nico stares at me. Then at the discarded flashlight. His jaw clenches. Rage flares hot in his gaze. Then he turns back to the asshole. “You grabbed my girlfriend, shoved her against a wall, and threatened to shoot her?”
“No,” the man replies in a wavering tone. “No. She’s lying.”
“I’m not,” I snap at him. And then I punch his arm again for good measure. “You are.”
Nico lifts the man off his feet and slams him into the wall again.
If I didn’t know better, I’d swear the entire building shakes.
Then Nico gets right in his face and roars, “How dare you! Don’t you ever touch a woman like that!
You think you’re so big, using your strength against a woman? I’ll show you what strength really is.”
Then Nico slams him into the wall again.
Asshole subway guy looks at Nico and whimpers.
“I hit him with the pepper spray,” I offer. “That’s why his face is all red.”
I can see Nico fighting not to completely lose it.
He glances around at the fifteen or so people around us, and takes several long, steadying breaths.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Nico says.
“The police are going to come. You’re going to admit everything.
And when you get out of jail—because you are going to jail, I promise—I’ll be watching you.
Always. And if you try anything like this again… ”
Nico dips his head to speak close to the subway guy’s ear.
The guy looks absolutely terrified. And it’s great.
“Don’t even think about moving,” Nico adds in a louder tone. “Not even an inch.” He throws the guy to the ground. “If you move, trust me, you will regret it.”
Then Nico walks back to me and gathers me into his arms. His entire body is trembling. He presses his lips against my hair. “Shit, Sofia,” he says. “Ah, shit.”
After a few seconds, he pulls back just enough to inspect my face. Gently, he brushes his thumb across the sore spot on my forehead. “Shit,” he murmurs. “Shit.”
“I’m okay,” I assure him. “He didn’t really hurt me.”
Nico kisses my forehead. Then he says, “Hang on one second, Soph.”
“Wait.” I jerk my head up, almost smashing him in the chin. “How did you get here so quickly?” Because although the whole encounter with the subway asshole felt like it went on forever, in reality, it lasted less than a minute.
“I was following you,” Nico admits. “I know I said I was okay with it. But as soon as you left… I just couldn’t.
So I followed you. Then I went into the diner across the way to wait.
I didn’t want you to see me, so I hung back a block.
And then I got stuck at the light…” Regret shadows his gaze.
“I should have been here for you. I’m so sorry. ”
“You were,” I insist. “You came.”
“Not in time,” he retorts. “Not in time to stop it from happening.”
I can’t argue with that. But the truth is, Nico won’t always be able to be with me. He’ll be working. Or I will. I might be at the grocery store, or he could be on a trip. No matter how much we love each other, we can’t be together all the time.
“You had my six,” I tell him. “I hit him with the pepper spray, just like I was supposed to. And then you came swooping in to help.” Wrapping my arms around his waist, I hug Nico hard before adding, “I was scared. At first, I couldn’t do anything.
But I got past it. I overcame the panic. And I fought back.”
He stares at me, emotions working in his eyes. Then he strokes my cheek. “You did. And I’m so proud of you, Soph.” He pauses. “But I think I need a little more time before sending you off alone again. Is that okay?”
I nod. “That’s more than okay.”
From a couple blocks down, police cars approach. Before they arrive, I stretch up to whisper in Nico’s ear, “Do you think, after we deal with the police, we could go home? And maybe you could take a few hours’ break from work to try out the kitchen island thing?”
Nico kisses me hard. “Yes. We absolutely can.”