Not waiting to hear more, she raced to her apartment, unlocking the door before reaching for her phone. She called 911, telling them to send the cops as she grabbed her bat from under the bed. Throwing her phone on the bed, she raced out of the apartment. She pounded on the door but no one answered, not that she’d expected them to.
Another scream galvanized her into action and she took a few steps back then kicked the door. She had to kick it two more times before it flew open. Thank God for all those workouts Jaron had been putting her through.
Cady raced inside, bat raised. She found a man looming over a cowering woman in the living room, his fist raised as she whimpered in fright.
“Don’t even think about it, asshole,” Cady growled.
The man spun around. He was a huge guy, at least six foot seven and he had to outweigh her by a hundred and fifty pounds.
“Who the fuck are you?” he snarled.
“I’m selling cookies,” she said with a grin, trying for a nonchalance she didn’t feel. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. “Want to buy some skinny mints? Although you look more like a peanut butter cookie kind of guy.”
He looked at her in confusion for a moment. “What the fuck?”
“You know it’s kinda sad watching you attempt to fit your entire vocabulary into a sentence,” she mouthed off. Fuck, what was she doing? She could actually hear Hunter yelling at her for riling him, but she couldn’t seem to help it. When she got scared she got mouthy.
Besides, he was still standing too close to the woman quietly weeping in the corner. The fact that she didn’t make a sound just about broke Cady’s heart. She wanted his focus on her, not on the poor woman behind him.
“You know, you got a real smart mouth on you.”
“I know and I’ve still got all my teeth, what does that tell you?” She grinned at him.
“They won’t be that way for long.” He charged at her, his meaty fist raised in the air.
Cady swung out with her bat, catching him in the shoulder. He let out a roar but it didn’t even slow him down.
Shit.
She checked the urge to turn and run like a chicken, instead ducking to the side at the last minute then swinging back with her leg. It should have caught him in the back of the knee and had him toppling.
Instead he just turned with a snarl. Fuck, who was this guy? The Terminator?
She swung out with the bat again. He grabbed it with both hands, yanking it away easily and throwing it across the room.
Cady raised her arm, clenching her hand into a fist. The best defense was a good offense. She hit his stomach. Pain lashed up her arm. Then his fist connected with her face and she screamed as she fell backward, landing heavily on her ass.
Oh God, that hurt. That really, really hurt.
He kicked her stomach, making her gag as she curled herself up into a ball. Another kick was aimed at her back.
He was going to kill her.
She wasn’t ready to die. She had so much to do. Like tell Hunter exactly what she thought of him. Her head spun, nausea bubbling in her stomach.
He kicked her thigh, making her whimper. She shut herself down, closing herself off from the pain.
Yeah, she’d tell the big idiot exactly what she thought of him. That he was a fucking hypocrite who could kiss her ass.
And then he’d probably spank it. Maybe fuck it.
Christ, she was like a lovesick little puppy. She couldn’t even hold on to her anger against him.
Because she loved the bastard.
Shit. She loved him.
Talk about great timing, right as she was about to die, she realized she loved the idiot.