I would never forget that face no matter how long I lived.
“Melanie? Are you all right?”
Dropping the phone, I stumbled back into the kitchen table. Evan got up from the couch and rushed toward me, his eyes wide and filled with worry. He reached his hands out to grab me but I knocked them away, desperate to get away from the situation.
He was out.
He was coming for me.
He must know I was here.
“Oh, God,” I said breathlessly.
“Melanie, what’s wrong?” Evan asked.
“I just—need water—I think—”
My vision was tunneling as I dropped to my knees in the hallway, and I felt Evan’s strong arms wrap underneath my own. The bile was rising in my throat as tears poured down my face.
Evan’s voice in my ear was the last thing I remembered before my world went black.
I didn’t know how long I was out and I didn’t know what Evan did to get me back, but when I came to I was lying in his bed. The room smelled of cinnamon and the world was dark. I was shivering underneath the comforter of his bed before I felt something cool touch my forehead.
“Can you hear me?” Evan asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“No,” I said, whimpering. “No. I’m not—”
Suddenly I remembered the earlier phone call from my dad. “I need to call my dad,” I said, sitting up.
“Melanie, the guy in that article—” he trailed off.
I slowly nodded my head. “Yes. It’s him. He’s the one who took me. He’s the one who tried to rape me and nearly destroyed my whole life. He’s out there and he’s looking for me. I know it. He wants me dead for what I did to him.”
Evan held me as I shivered uncontrollably. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I had finally started putting my life back together, allowing a man in, and dreaming of a future for the first time in four years.
“Evan, my dad. I need to call him and make sure he’s safe. If he knows where I live, he could go there looking for me. My dad is still too weak to defend himself.”
Evan got up and grabbed my phone from the table, sitting next to me as I called my dad. He picked up on the second ring and I released a sigh of relief. “Dad. Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
I heard him let out a breath on the other end. “I didn’t want you to be scared, sweetheart. I was hoping that the police would catch him before you even found out. I knew as long as you were with Evan and away from the house, you would be safe.”
“But what about you?” I asked.
“I’m fine, Melanie. I’m still with Layla’s parents. When the news broke early this morning, they asked me to stay until it was clear. I fought them on it but, once I knew you weren’t home, I agreed. I didn’t want you rushing over worried about me and putting yourself in danger. Now, is your fella nearby?”
“Yes, he’s sitting right here,” I answered.
“Good, put him on the phone.”
CHAPTER 31
EVAN
“Hello?” I said into Melanie’s cell phone.
“Son, I need you to listen very carefully to what I’m about to tell you,” Melanie’s father said.
I stayed silent as he spoke.
“My girl is all I’ve got in this world. I almost lost her once, and I don’t intend to ever go through that again. Now she seems to think the world of you, and I’d like to believe that you are worthy of her. Now I’m not a big man, and my strength isn’t what it used to be, but I promise you this: if you let anything happen to Melanie, you will have to answer to me, and it won’t be pleasant.”
I nodded. “I understand, sir. You have my word that nothing will happen to Melanie as long as she is with me. I love your daughter very much, sir.”
Melanie’s father gave me a few more instructions before hanging up. I handed the phone back to Melanie who was still shaking under the blankets. Everything inside of me wanted to go out and find that asshole and kill him myself. I looked down at the beautiful woman – the woman I loved – and wondered how anyone could ever want to hurt her.
Well, it would not happen on my watch, just as I’d promised her father. Just as I would promise her. I would protect this woman and the life we were building with everything I had. I wouldn’t allow anyone to steal any more of Melanie’s future from her.
“Melanie, look at me.”
She turned her teary eyes toward me and I hooked my gaze with hers.
“He is never going to touch you again. He’ll never hurt you again. While you are with me, nothing will ever happen to you. I won’t let it,” I said.