A foreboding sensation washes over me.
This is much more than I thought.
A couple of men stand in front of the car, their buffed-up silhouettes dark against the headlights.
One of them looks familiar.
I flick my eyes to the SUV again. The memory comes back to me. This is the man who harassed me the night I spotted Jaden for the first time.
They shout at someone lying on the ground, holding him at gunpoint. I crane my neck to take a better look.
There are two men down.
One is sprawled on his back and has his knee bent. The other one lies on his stomach, his hands clasped at the back of his head.
My heart stops as I recognize Jaden’s emblazoned black racer jacket.
None of them move, although Jaden slowly tries to lift his head.
One of the standing men barks at him.
He freezes.
I keep rolling until the rumbling noise of my car makes them shift their eyes to me. My heart pounds ferociously.
Reaching under the back seat, I brush my gun.
I keep rolling. They swivel around fast. At the very same moment, I flick on the headlights and drown them in a thick beam of dense light.
Swiftly, I hit the brakes and pull the gun out before I swing the car door open and jump out.
“Drop your weapon and move away from him,” I shout at the man who stands next to Jaden.
My voice rings cold, without a trace of emotion in it.
The men freeze for a moment.
Shrouded in darkness behind the headlights, I watch them shield their eyes from the blinding light.
“Drop the fucking weapon!” I bark again.
The man I know from Jill’s swaggers toward me.
Laughing.
“Is that you, Senna?”
“Stay the fuck away,” I snarl as he edges closer.
“Senna baby, this night gets better by the minute. Truly, I couldn’t have asked for more. I’ve been dreaming about pounding that sweet pussy of yours for weeks now,” he sneers, his words a distant buzz in my head as I keep my eyes on the man with the gun.
He flicks his hand in my direction, and I pull the trigger.
The sound splits the air, the echo floating above us as the man’s gun bites the dust. He bends at the waist, screaming in pain, his hand tucked between his knees.
“Fucking bitch!”
The big mouth halts, finally taking notice.