My car slams into an old oak tree across the road, shattering the windows as my head bounces from left to right. My vision blurs and everything goes quiet. Shadows dance behind my eyes, and when a hand curls around my arm, I scream.
Colby drags me from my car, and my body falls to the ground with a heavy thump before I’m pulled toward the bushes. Twigs and branches tear at my skin, and I heave a gasp as a heavy weight drops over my chest.
Something tightens around my throat, cutting off my airway, and my eyes spring open, finding Colby on top of me with his hands locked tightly around my throat. I try to scream but nothing comes out, and I grip on to his hand, frantically digging at his skin.
His eyes are wild and angry, fury rippling through his nasty gaze. “Say a damn word to the cops and I’ll fucking end you,” he spits, his face full of the evidence of Tanner’s beating. “I ain’t going down for this. Erica doesn’t know what the fuck she’s talking about, and if I’m going down, then you two bitches are too.”
He squeezes harder and my lungs scream for relief. “You hear me?” he growls, getting down into my face. “Say a damn word, and I’ll fucking slit your throat faster than I fucked that bitch.”
Anger blooms through my chest, but my oxygen is quickly dwindling, and needing to get him off me, I reach up and dig my nails into his face, clawing at his eyes, more than ready to gouge them out if I have to.
Colby growls and tears away from me. I suck in a desperate breath, gasping for sweet oxygen, but I don’t dare look away from him. Fresh blood trails down his face and his anger only gets worse. My fear skyrockets, knowing he’s not even close to being through with me. He goes to make his move when something has his back stiffening.
His head whips around, listening intently. “Fuck,” he spits, looking back at me.
A moment passes as if trying to decide what he’s going to do, panic beginning to overwhelm him. He glances to his car and then back at me, his lips pressing into a hard line. “Fuck,” he roars again, and the next thing I know, his heavy boot slams into my ribs.
I hear a distinct crack and scream out, clutching at my side as the familiar sound of Tanner’s bike brings a new hope surging through my veins. Colby dashes back to his Charger and drops down into it as I try to claw my way out of the bushes, crying out at the pain that rocks through my body.
The sound of Tanner’s bike becomes more distinct as he grows closer and heavy sobs tear from the back of my throat. Colby doesn’t hang around another moment, knowing damn well what will happen to him if he’s caught here right now. The Charger disappears, screeching down the street, and I continue pulling myself from the bushes, unable to get up.
I hear the very moment Tanner turns the corner and finds my car, his speed doubling as he races to get to me. The roar of his bike is deafening, but it’s welcomed, knowing that soon enough, I’ll be out of this pain and back in his arms.
He skids to a stop and I hear his helmet hit the concrete. “BRIELLE?”
“Tanner,” I call, tears streaming down my face. “Tanner. Help.”
He races around my wrecked car, his eyes frantic as he searches me out beneath the bushes. “Fuck, Bri,” he rushes out, storming toward me as he spots me amongst the thick bushes. His gaze sails up and down my body, taking in every last scratch, bruise, and cut before focusing on the way I clutch my ribs. “Are you okay? What happened?”
I reach for him and groan as the pain doubles with my movements. “Colby T-boned me,” I grunt, trying to speak over the pain while slowly drowning in it. “I think he knows that Erica told me. He dragged me out of the car and held me down with his hands around my throat. He said something about not going down for what he did to your sister. This was supposed to be some kind of warning, and I think he wanted to hurt me more, but he heard your bike and got scared.”
Tanner’s head whips back to my car, giving it a second look, and I watch as the anger pours out of him. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
He pulls his phone out and presses a few buttons before jamming it between his shoulder and ear. He talks to the 911 operator while reaching for me and doing his best to pull me from the bushes and into a safe place without causing me any more hell.