Fuck. Deciding that sitting there and thinking was getting her nowhere, she figured she’d go upstairs and try to get some work done. She’d spent the afternoon emailing clients and telling them about the unfortunate delay. Immy had been kind enough to go get her some supplies earlier today. She was going to pay her back, of course . . . but she felt so helpless. Useless.
A burden.
A chill ran through her and she stiffened as she felt someone step up behind her.
“You ran, Little Birdie. That was so naughty when I wanted to play.”
She turned just as someone grabbed her from behind. Instead of dragging her away from the pool, though, they shoved her in. She immediately pushed up. Fear flooded her. She could swim, but she wasn’t that good.
And if this asshole tried to drown her . . .
She attempted to swim away, but he must have jumped in as well, because he grabbed her, forcing her under the water. His hand was in her hair, holding her head down.
Fight, Maeve.
Fight!
She tried to kick him. To claw at him. But nothing was dislodging the hold he had on her.
This was it . . . she was going to die.
And she never even got to tell Gray how she felt. Sure, she hadn’t been planning on doing that but now that she knew she was going to die, what would she have had to lose?
Blackness filled her vision.
Her lungs burned.
Her body begged her to take a breath.
Pain. It hurt so bad.
And then it didn’t.
Lethargy filled her and she stopped fighting. What was the point? This was how her life ended.
Slowly, the world went black.
* * *
Gray wassurprised at how easily he managed to get onto the grounds of Knight’s place. Shouldn’t he have better security? He’d been unable to get through the gates. The asshole in the booth hadn’t reacted to threats or bribes. He had placed a call through to Knight’s house. But when that had gone unanswered, the security guard had told him he’d have to go before he called the cops.
Since he wasn’t interested in pulling the attention of the cops, he’d left to make different plans. Instead, he’d waited until dark so he could sneak through the gated community. Jesse had found Knight’s exact address so he knew where he was going.
But still . . . it shouldn’t be this easy. He’d thought for sure he’d run into trouble already.
Moving closer to the pool, he heard a splashing noise and then he saw someone climbing from the pool. They paused, looking over at him but he was too far away to see them properly. Then they took off.
What the fuck? Who was that?
Part of him wanted to go after the guy.
But there was a larger part urging him to go see why he’d been in the pool.
Go. Go. Go.
He’d never been one to ignore his gut, so he ran toward the pool, coming to a sudden stop as he saw there was someone floating in it.
Someone with long hair.