Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Wyn

I’ve never been so terrified in my life. I wasn’t lying when I said I know Lucas is evil. I’ve always known it. But what makes him dangerous are those ocean blue eyes, and his ability to fuck every last ounce of sense out of my brain…

And I know what I saw on that video. Watching him shove that person so effortlessly in front of that train, then just…walk away, made my stomach churn. I knew he was cold, but that’s psychopath cold. He thought that was Gabriel—his own cousin. Someone he said he loved.

His lips brush against my cheek, and I turn my head away. It doesn’t help. He has me completely trapped. The French doors are behind me, and I’m pressed against one of them, but it’s covered by the curtains.

“You need to leave,” I say again, my mind scrambling. “Alexis is coming over to check on me.”

The vibration of his deep laugh echoes through me. “Good, then she can watch…”

My mind is working a mile a minute, trying to think of a way out of this. But he’s so much stronger than me, and there’s no way I could push him off, or even set him off balance. Well, unless…

Sucking in a deep breath, I lift my knee and bury it in his crotch, while at the same time, pushing him off me. Doubling over, he cups his balls with a guttural moan. I use the distraction to turn around, unlock the French doors, and escape out onto the balcony.

My apartment is on the ground floor, but my building is on a hillside, so there’s an eight-foot drop beneath my balcony. I rush to the railing, and look down, which is the worst possible thing I could do. In the dark, that eight-foot drop might as well be fifty. Is this my only option? As I’m considering that, Lucas stumbles out onto the balcony.

Welp, thinking is over. Driven by pure instinct, I lift one leg over the railing. As I fling myself over, my right-hand grips the wood, and I hang on for a second, which is what saves me, I think. Because when I let go, I fall straight down and into the shrubs that surround the building.

“Ow! Shit,” I curse under my breath. Sticks and twigs dig into my skin painfully as I detangle myself from the bush, and stumble out onto the narrow lawn. Glancing up, I see Lucas peering over at me, his hands white-knuckling the railing, and he looks pissed.

Barefoot, no bra, and in my fucking pajamas , I take off running. I pray he decides not to follow me, but when I glance back, I see him hop off the balcony with ease, landing smoothly on the lawn, just missing the bushes.

Shit. Fuck.

Adrenaline pumps through my veins as my legs move beneath me, carrying me across the lawn to a nearby beach. It’s late, so I pray there are people around. Maybe seeing other people around will be enough to get him to back off.

I run as fast as I can, and still, I can hear Lucas quickly gaining on me. Crossing the main road, and pick my way past the bramble that separates the road from a parking lot. Just beyond that is a beach, and I can already see a bonfire burning in the distance, so I know people are nearby—that’s what spurs me on, and gives me new energy.

I dart across the small parking lot with Lucas literally on my heels. I can hear his heavy breaths, and practically feel his large hands reaching out for me.

The bonfire is dancing in the middle of the beach, halfway to the water. Red-orange flames lick the night sky as ExU students dance around it, drinking, and laughing. Singing. There’s always a party happening in Malibu. Even on a random weekday night.

I rush toward the group, opening my mouth to scream, but I’m breathing so hard that the sound is caught in my throat. Still, people see me running up, and it catches their attention…

I stop to catch my breath, the heat from the fire burning my skin. “Help me, please,” I choke out as Lucas catches up with me. “This…guy is chasing me.”

Am I delusional enough to think these people don’t know who Lucas West is? Dare I hope? Yeah, that hope evaporates when everyone’s eyes collectively slide to Lucas, then widen in shock. Of course, they know who he is. Everyone in this town does.

Lucas reaches out, and grabs me, pulling me against him. My breasts are crushed against his chest as he dips his head to whisper directly in my ear, “Did you really think you could run from me, baby?”

I whimper, my whole body trembling. “H-help me,” I call out to the people surrounding us. “Please. Someone call the police.”

There’s no response from anyone, and Lucas laughs, the sound vibrating deep in his chest. He releases me, and takes a dramatic step back, turning to address the party.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he holds it up. “Who wants to call the police? I’ll even lend you my phone.” He spins around slowly, looking for volunteers. But no one steps up. No one will even look at him. As his gaze slides over each face, they look away. Every. Single. Person.

Fucking cowards.

When it’s clear no one is brave enough to stand up to him, he shoves his phone back into his pocket and steps up to me with a smirk on his pretty-boy face.

He’s just proven exactly how fucked I really am. We’re standing in the middle of two dozen people or more, and none of them are willing to challenge a Sacred Son. Jocks that could twist someone into a fucking pretzel are studying their shoes. And the sorority chicks that talk about being empowered girl bosses? They’re looking down at their phones like this shit isn’t happening right in front of their faces.

Fuck them. For real. If I’m getting out of this, it’s clear I’ll have to do it on my own.

Lucas slides his hand around my hip and pulls me more tightly against him. “You, see, baby? I can do whatever I want in this town, and no one’s going to say shit.”

It’s true. He just got away with murder, didn’t he?

I try to separate myself from him, pushing my palm against his chest, but trying is so pointless, it’s comical. He’s not moving unless he wants to.

“I fucking hate you,” I spit.

He laughs again. “I know, baby. That’s what makes this so fun.”

Then he takes my face in one hand, and squeezing, forces me to look at him. Lowering his head, he kisses me, his tongue pushing into my mouth deep and forceful. Our teeth gnash together, and I moan.

Not because I want to. God, no. But because my stupid body is a treacherous whore. I have to mentally separate myself from this kiss, which is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. One thing I’ll give Lucas—he’s a damn good kisser. For a split second, I almost forget he’s a murderous psycho.

When he finally pulls back, I suck in a breath and lift my knee to pulverize his balls again, but he anticipates me this time and puts his hand down to block my knee.

Those beautiful lips stretch into a wickedly beautiful smile. “Fool me once…” he says.

God- fucking -damn. Even as hate and fear course through me, that smile…I swallow and squeeze my eyes shut, tilting my head back. Tears prick the backs of my eyes, but they are tears of frustration. I want to claw my own fucking skin off, because why? Why am I attracted to someone who is so unbelievably toxic? Whyyy?

I feel like I’m slipping into the quicksand of insanity, clawing at the surface, trying to pry myself out of its hungry jaws.

Maybe it’s already too late.

Abruptly, he pushes me back, separating us. I stumble over the uneven sand, colliding with someone behind me.

“Tell you what.” He shoves his hands into his pockets, head tilted downward, his eyes locked on me. “I’ll let you run. I’ll even give you a head start, ten seconds. If you get away, I leave you alone. I walk away.”

“And if you catch me?”

He smirks, the light from the fire casting shadows across his face. “Then I get to keep you.”

He looks way too sure of himself, which means this is a trick. His legs are longer than mine, and we’ve already seen how quickly he can catch up to me. So why this whole charade?

And do I really believe he’d walk away if I managed to run fast enough? No way in hell. I know he wouldn’t. But, honestly, it’s the only option I have right now, so I have no choice but to go with it.

“ Sixty seconds,” I counter.

He tilts his head to the side. “Now you’re just being greedy.”

“Thirty.”

He hesitates, his gaze flicking over me as he weighs my counteroffer. Finally, he nods. “Okay.”

“Turn around,” I demand.

He lifts a brow, but with a shrug, he does as instructed. I’m amazed, actually. He rarely takes direction from anyone else.

Pulling out his phone, I can see him open the timer app and set it to 30 seconds. When his thumb hits “start,” I turn and run. But this time, instead of trying to outrun him, I look for somewhere I can hide.

This beach is relatively empty, though. There are no restaurants, or apartment buildings unless I want to cross over the main road again, and I don’t. It would take up too much time.

So I zero in on the only thing I can see in the distance—the dark outline of a lifeguard tower perched atop a little hill that overlooks the water. I run toward it as fast as I possibly can, trying to keep my breathing as quiet as possible, because once I’m out of the glow of the bonfire, it’s pretty dark—so there’s a chance he won’t be able to see which way I ran. It’s why I made him turn around.

It takes me a few minutes to reach the tower, so I know my thirty seconds is already up, but I don’t dare look back to see if he’s behind me. I can’t. I have to keep going.

There’s only a sliver of moonlight tonight, so I can barely see anything, but I manage to find a little footpath that climbs up toward the tower. When I reach the base of the ramp that leads up to the tower, I realize the structure is all boarded up with no possible way to get inside.

Fuck .

I glance back, toward the bonfire in the distance, but I can’t see anything in the darkness. Lucas could be twenty feet away and I wouldn’t see him, which sends my heart rate skyrocketing.

Turning, I climb the ramp, ducking a little to keep myself low. When I reach the narrow deck, I realize it doesn’t even go all the way around the tiny tower.

M’kay, maybe this wasn’t the best choice for a hiding spot. But it’s not like I had a ton of choices, either. Hopefully, he assumes I ran toward the parking lot—unless people just tell him which way I ran. Fucking assholes. I wouldn’t put it past them.

Swallowing, I lean back and rest against the wall of the tower. The ocean is straight ahead, and I stare at it—though, honestly, the dark, churning water blends seamlessly with the night sky, so there isn’t much to see. But I can hear the waves crashing against the cliff directly below me, and the soothing sound gives me a moment of peace.

This spot isn’t going to work, obviously. It’s too exposed. I just need to catch my breath, then I can come up with a new plan. Maybe I could run back toward the bonfire? Or find a path up to the road?

I stay like that for a couple of minutes, until I feel more calm, then I turn back toward the ramp. I stop dead when I see a shadow waiting at the bottom.

“Lucas,” I breathe.

He doesn’t say anything, he just moves slowly up the ramp toward me. I don’t have anywhere to go. The lifeguard tower is perched on a little hill, and beyond the deck is a twenty-foot drop to the ocean.

Like an idiot, I’ve managed to trap myself.

“I guess this means I get to keep you,” he says, that husky voice skipping down my spine.

I swallow, remembering the surveillance video. Remembering the coldness on Lucas’ face when he pushed that guy into the path of a train. It takes a special kind of monster to do something like that. And then to pretend to grieve afterward? That’s just diabolical.

That’s the monster I’m confronted with now.

He moves closer, stopping right in front of me. I can barely see his face, even this close, but his clean, soapy scent surrounds me, and I suck in an involuntary breath.

Leaning forward, he grips the railing on either side of me, cadging me in. It’s dark, and it’s cold, and the ocean breeze is whipping through my hair. But his warmth surrounds me, and despite the fear knotted in my stomach, my body starts coming alive.

His lips brush against my temple, and he pulls in a deep breath. “You think you can run from me, Wyn…” His voice is barely audible over the sound of crashing waves below us. “But I’ll always catch you. Always .”