My chest starts to ache with every breath I take. Panic clamps down on my lungs until all the air is squeezed from them and I can’t suck in another breath.
Dark thoughts roll over me in sickening waves.
This is not happening to me.
I swallow back the bile pushing up my throat and try to suck in a painful breath. Digging my nails deeper into my sweaty palms, I focus on every step that brings me closer to home. I need to get away from their perverted clutches.
I can feel them right behind me, and it makes the panic and fear spike sharply in my chest. I’m not going down without a fight. I struggle to get my next breath into my burning lungs, to stay calm for another few precious minutes.
My vision tunnels on the road in front of me.
Keep your shit together, Della. Almost, babe, you’re almost there.
You can make it.
I want to sag down to the floor and just curl into a ball. My lungs are burning something fierce. But I can’t stop running because that will mean that I’m giving up, and I’m not a quitter.
Suddenly, a car swerves in front of me, coming to a screeching halt half over the pavement.
My stomach sinks heavily as it blocks my way. When I swerve to run around the back of it, one of the guys catches up to me. His fingers dig into my arm, yanking my body back.
As I lose my balance and slam against the guy, I want to scream for help, but there’s nothing but my terrified breaths escaping my lips.
I fight to get my balance back and wrench my arm free from his grip. As I turn to run, I slam hard into something. Arms come around me, and I finally find my voice. I let out a frightened shriek, hoping the occupants of one of the nearby houses will come to my rescue.
The person takes hold of my chin, but I rip my face away. “Let go of me!”
His arm tightens around me, and this time when he takes hold of my chin, there’s no pulling away. He nudges my face up until our eyes meet. The second I see that it’s Carter my blood runs cold.
Is all of this because of the fight last night? No one can possibly be that cruel?
“Are you okay?” he asks, but the words don’t register through all the fear. I push against his chest, trying to get free.
“Della,” he snaps, and I instantly freeze. “Fuck,” he hisses, then I’m shoved into another pair of arms. “Hold her while I deal with these fuckers.”
My eyes are wide and watering. When I look up at Rhett, I almost start to cry.
“Let me take her,” a gentler voice says. My head snaps toward it and when I see that it’s Logan, I actually feel a flicker of relief. Logan doesn’t look like the kind of man who will hurt someone, especially not a woman.
He pulls me away from Rhett, and I willingly go, hoping I’m not wrong about him.
“Come on, man.” One of the guys that were chasing me whines. “We saw her first.”
When I hear the same guy grunt, I glance over my shoulder. Carter, Marcus, Rhett and Jaxson circle the two guys. I see the moment the guys realize that they’re in trouble.
Carter throws a punch, slamming his fist against the jaw of the guy that grabbed me.
Only then do I start to understand what’s happening. The guys stopped to help me.
Logan turns me away from the group as they start to beat the two assholes.
“You don’t want to see this. Get in the car,” Logan says.
“They’re not your friends?” I ask, needing to make sure that I’m not in trouble anymore.
“We don’t associate with trash,” Logan grinds out as he opens the backdoor.
I slide inside with Logan following behind me. When he pulls me into his arms, I curl up against him, glad to finally be safe. My heart is still beating wildly and I feel dizzy from the fright.