He was going to kill me this time. He was on something. I knew it by the way spittle came out of his mouth.

I closed my eyes, fighting to keep the hysteria at bay.

Fighting to keep my imagination from running crazy.

I whimpered, an image of Declan in my head, his broad shoulders, his warm gray eyes, his sensual mouth that I’d never taste again. I pictured the future, us having babies—twins—me working on my jewelry while he made a living at the gym, going to the UFC. Dax popping in for dinner … laughter.

Simple and easy.

Just love. True love. Epic kind of love.

Colby speared me with his gaze, bringing me back. “Truth is, things got kinda out of control prom night. I didn’t mean to hurt you—or hit you—but that’s what happens in the heat of the moment. You were so helpless—I liked it. You get that?” He squeezed my cheeks together, his hands rough. His tongue snaked out of his mouth as he licked his lips. “You were good, Elizabeth. I liked hurting you.”

I closed my eyes.

“Don’t do that!” he barked. “I still have things to say to you.”

My eyes flew open. He kneeled onto the bed, eyes protruding with anger. “I came down here to get rid of you, but first, all this talk about prom …” He laughed bitterly. “Well, it’s got me excited, babe.” He jerked my hands up and pressed them against his crotch. “See? My dick is hard.”

A LITTLE AFTER midnight, my dad dropped me off at my flat. We said goodbye, and maybe I sensed something new between us. Respect? I didn’t know, but we had spent the last few hours at a steak place, working through the details about a huge-ass loan I was taking from him. I’d had to swallow some of my pride to ask, but in the end it was worth a future with Elizabeth. Maybe she was okay with my illegal fighting, but I didn’t want to put any kind of stress on our relationship. Reality had hit me like a ton of bricks last night as I’d held her in my arms. Yeti wouldn’t be my last illegal fight, and there’d never be enough money for the gym. Of course, I’d given him a choice: either he gave me a loan or I continued to fight. He’d been furious at first, especially since he hadn’t known about the fighting, but in the end, he’d agreed to a loan.

I climbed the steps to the stairs and popped open my phone to search for a text from Elizabeth. She’d sent me a few, the last one around eleven.

Should I let her sleep and talk to her tomorrow?

I stopped in front of her door and knocked but didn’t get an answer.

I knocked again. Her car was there.

Did she not want to talk to me?

Was she tired from last night?

I stalked back to my place and unlocked the door. Just as I was opening the door to go inside, something pricked at me. I stepped back onto the breezeway, a sense of urgency gnawing at me.

I scanned the carpark. All looked well.

But then…

My eyes went to Minnie’s Diner across the street. Parked in the back was a sports car, its lines sleek and powerful even in the dark. Porsche?

What the fuck?

BANG!

My shoulder crashed into the door and the cheap wood cracked. I rammed my hand inside and turned the knob. I don’t know why I didn’t just run back into my place and cross over the balcony¸ but this seemed faster.

A light burned from underneath her bedroom door and I headed that way. It was locked too. Fuck!

I kicked in the door and slipped inside, ready to kill whoever was here.

But what I saw made me pause, every nightmare ever imagined playing out in front of me.

Colby stood behind a bound and gagged Elizabeth on her knees, a knife at her throat.

“Don’t come any closer,” he warned, pushing the knife in far enough that blood bloomed on her neck and dripped down.

I jerked to a halt and held my hands up. “It’s cool. Just don’t hurt her, and all of this will work out.”

He inhaled sharply, his cold eyes leveled at me. “Oh? Like you hurt me?” He tightened his grip around her shoulders, and I watched as her eyes flared wide.

I wanted to rip his throat out with my bare hands. My chest heaved and it sounded loud in the quiet room as we faced off.

“I don’t see a way out of this that works for you,” I said softly, backing away from him while angling myself toward her dresser.

He grunted. “I do. You think you can touch me? Don’t you know who I am?”

I nodded. Oh, I knew exactly who he was. He’d hurt my Elizabeth.

I looked at her. “It’s going to be okay, love. I got this, okay. I will never let anything bad happen to you, got it?”