When I'm with You (Hope Town #3)(76)

He grunts when my legs connect with his body and throws me back with all his strength. My back scrapes roughly against the pavement and my head hits the unforgiving surface with teeth-rattling force. My vision goes black for a second, but I struggle until I can see him again, fighting against the dizziness.

“All you had to do was listen, Emberlyn. I gave you plenty of chances to come running back. You just kept ignoring them. Cleaning up my presents instead of being scared and calling me for help! You called him, though. Spread your whore legs for him without a second glance at ME!”

Oh, my God. All those things that I thought were just weird accidents. It had been Levi the whole time.

“I should have killed that f*cking mutt of yours the night you used a headache as an excuse to go home. I still have his teeth marks on my ass from when I brought you back. I couldn’t even f*ck you because he took that away from me.”

“Levi,” I moan in pain when I try to move from the pavement. Not wanting to have him this close now that I see he’s holding a knife in his hand. “You don’t want to do this. Let’s talk?”

“You’re f*cking wrong. I’m going to f*ck you right here under his nose, and by the time he finds you, he’s not going to want you. You’re going to be used up, and if you’re lucky, you might be alive.”

“Please,” I beg, holding my hands up when he stands above me and bends over my body. I keep fighting with the blurred darkness that is trying to suck me under, blinking rapidly as my head swims.

“You were supposed to run into my arms after I made sure your old ass house had some wires cross. That was my chance to come to save you!” His spit hits my face and mixes with the tears running down my cheeks. “I had just enough time to start that f*cking shit and rush over to the station so I could be in the right place at the right f*cking time, but you still didn’t listen, and I’m done waiting. If I can’t have you, bitch, no one can!”

His hand comes up, the one with the knife, and I sob louder knowing that this is how it’s all going to end. I bring my hands and arms up to shield my face from the knife that is shining in the moonlight, and I pray.

“You motherf*cker!” I hear roared. It takes me a second to realize that the blow I had been waiting for didn’t come, and I try to blink back some of the darkness that had been edging in my vision.

But once I hear Nate, it’s as if that was all my mind needed to give up, and with a rushed exhale of relief, I pass out.





I STAND IN THE DARK hospital room and keep my eyes on Ember. I haven’t looked away since the doctor assured me that she was going to be okay. Other than the handprint to her throat and the few scrapes and redness on her back, she has no outward signs of what happened earlier.

But the blow to her head left her with one hell of a concussion.

She’s been sleeping peacefully under my watchful eyes for the last three hours, and all I’ve been able to do is pass the time by planning.

When I saw him leading her away from the bar, I rushed after her. The fight had kept me from getting through the club floor quickly, and all I could do was pray as the dread consumed me and I worried I wouldn’t make it in time.

I can still feel the jolts shooting up my legs as I ran as fast as I f*cking could through the crowd and then down the hallway. When I finally got to her, seeing that motherf*cker she used to date standing over her with a knife, I saw red. I was ready to kill him with my bare hands.

But when he took off running, I had to pick between him and my sweet girl and that had been an easy pick.

And now, I’m left with the need for vengeance that rivals the hunger of a starved man. Now that I know she’s going to be okay, all I’ve been able to do is plan for that vengeance and thank God she wasn’t taken from me.

“Son? Why don’t you go get something to eat?”

I don’t look at my mom.

“Nate, we won’t leave her side.”

I blink at my father’s tone but keep my eyes on Ember’s face.

“Leave him be.”

That voice gets my attention, and I look up to see Ember’s father standing on the other side of her bed. Emmy’s in Maddox’s arms as she cries silently, but what I see in his eyes lets me breathe for the first time since I picked her up and rushed her to the hospital. Some of the fear made tension easing off my chest when I realize he isn’t trying to get me to leave or to calm down. He’s accepting my need for blood, and if anything, giving me his silent support. I give him a nod but look back at Ember.

Our sisters are sitting behind me on the bench by the window, but they’ve been silent since they arrived.

Meanwhile, I wait.

It isn’t for another hour that I know it’s time. My parents had stepped out to get me some food since I refused to leave, and Dani had left to call her husband and check on her kids.

I waited for the nurse to check her and give us a small nod. I heard her tell me that she still had stable vitals and was just sleeping. I stayed put with my eyes on her until the doctor came in to say that as long as everything was clear on her scans later, she would be released in the morning.

Then I made my move.

I stood, silently, and bent to kiss her slack lips. Without a word or a glance to the people around me, I started to stalk down the hallway. I had one thing on my mind, and I wasn’t going to rest until I had retribution for every scrape and bump on her body.