“I’ve missed you,” he said. “It turns out your screams are hard to forget.”
Kat’s breath sped, turning shallow. A part of her wondered if she’d snapped beneath the pressure of dealing with what had happened, of burying it down and pretending it hadn’t happened. Maybe this was her brain giving up the good fight.
Except, it didn’t stop. A cold laugh came through the line. “No fight left? Don’t tell me that’s true. You were far too much fun. Maybe you’re just surprised to hear from me. You did move, after all. I don’t mind you playing hard to get.”
“How did you get my number?” Kat asked.
“Do you really think that is so difficult? Finding someone’s number takes little work.”
“What do you want?”
“Isn’t that obvious? You.” At Kat’s silence, Jerry let out a dark chuckle. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to come and get you. What fun would there be in that?”
“You didn’t mind doing it before.”
“You were a happy accident last time. Now, though? Now you’re more than that. I am a very patient man, Kat, and I’m more than willing to wait you out. When you’re ready, you’ll make the right choice and come to me.”
Kat shook her head, and despite the tightness in her throat, she forced herself to speak. “I won’t.”
“You will. I haven’t made it as far as I have in this world by not being able to read people and knowing how to get what I want. You will walk, on your own, to me. You will choose to give yourself over to me. I don’t care if it takes weeks or months or years, but you will. Until then, Kat, make sure no one else gets to hear those pretty screams of yours. They’re only for me.” The call ended, leaving Kat holding the phone, her heart pounding so fast she became lightheaded.
He was wrong, right? Kat wouldneverreturn to him.
Yet…the way he’d spoken, the absolute certainty in his voice, the memories of how he’d dragged that knife over her skin and laughed as she’d screamed, it all made her unable to be sure.
And before she knew what was happening, the world started to fade out around her.
Dean hadn’t had a call to make, but the way Kat had decided who he was had driven him away to collect himself.
Which made no damned sense. Dean had always prided himself on looking exactly like Kat saw him. He wanted to be that charming man, the smart one, the one who no one looked too closely at. So why was it that when she saw exactly what he put forward, it bothered him?
Why mattered little, however. He’d stepped out, given himself a few minutes to rebuild his façade, then walked back into the bar with a smile, ready to play his part as always.
Except, he didn’t see the Kat he expected. She stood by the bar, but her normally pale skin was even whiter, as if all the blood had leeched from her face.
“Kat?”
She didn’t respond as he came closer, his steps slow so he didn’t further startle her. He moved around the bar, repeating her name, trying to get her attention to no avail.
Then it seemed whatever was going on in her head went too far. She wavered on her feet, giving him only a moment of notice before she toppled. It was just enough time for him to reach for her, to capture her before she hit the ground.
She trembled, her breathing sawing in and out of her lungs, and her body felt so damned fragile in his arms.
What the fuck is going on?
“Hey now, take some deep breaths for me.” He pulled her against him, then all but carried her over to one of the seating areas. He set her down and kneeled in front of her.
The girl was panickingbadbut over what? He hadn’t even been there when she’d lost it, so he didn’t think it was him.
Or maybe it was? Had he frightened her with his attitude? She had just been through a lot… Maybe his annoyance at her guess had shown on his face and reminded her of Jerry?
Dean struggled to decide how to proceed. Maybe he should call Sunny… If anyone knew how to handle this sort of thing, if anyone was equipped for it, it was that woman.
However, when he reached for his phone, Kat seemed to come out of it a bit. She grabbed his hand, her eyes wide as she shook her head.
“This is a bit out of my league, Kat.” By which he meant that while he held some strange desire to take care of Kat, he knew his emotional depth wasn’t near enough to deal with scraped knees let alone whatever Kat was suffering.
She gripped his hand tighter, and he dropped his gaze to the touch. His skin turned white where she held him, where her nails dug into him as if she needed the touch to keep herself together.