Hopefully by then she’d have an actual plan. She needed one, and fast, because she couldn’t be sure Jace would show up in time.
“Dani?”
She closed her eyes for a heartbeat, swallowing a sob. Of course, it was Liam. She turned her head and saw him walking in her direction, Gillian clinging for dear life and wearing a petty little grin.
She’d never been so thankful for the competition.
“Did Bailey pick that dress out?” He growled as he came closer. “You’re gorgeous, but it’s the size of a Band-Aid. If I hadn’t gotten a flat, I would have been—”
“Don’t come near me,” she said loudly, forcing a glare on her face when all she wanted to do was kiss him. “You got what you wanted. We’re even now. I’ll be moving out tonight, so feel free to bring your new girlfriend home. I won’t be there.”
Several people around her gasped and turned in their direction. Great. Everyone would be talking about this tomorrow.
Liam looked as though she’d sucker punched him. “What the hell are you talking about? My phone died and I got a flat tire in the middle of fucking nowhere. I’ve had the shittiest day imaginable, and the only thing I was looking forward to was getting back to you.”
At any other time, she would have wrapped her arms around him and given him the hug he so clearly needed, but she couldn’t have him following her. The only thing that could break her was Sal finding a way to hurt Liam.
“Liar.” She injected as much venom as she felt for Sal into the word. Liam went so pale at that she started to worry. “If you ever cared about me, if what we’ve shared meant anything to you, you’ll let me walk out of here. Alone, so I can have some time to think.”
Turning away from him felt like she was tearing off a piece of her soul, but she managed to walk through the crowd, now buzzing like gossiping bees, as she made her way to the door. In the parking lot she picked up the pace, pulling the keys out of her clutch purse as if she were leaving.
Running away again. Sal would believe it, and that’s all that mattered.
A year ago, a few months ago, she might have gotten in her car and kept driving until the wheels came off. But that wasn’t who she was anymore. She wasn’t a runner. She had to trust in her friends, trust in herself to get her out of this.
The small rocks in the parking lot dug into her bare feet, but it was nothing compared to the pain she’d already suffered through. She let it fuel her. She had more to lose than her freedom now. She wouldn’t let him take any of it away.
Will had told her that there was a lesson in every story and that everything was connected. What did it mean that Sal arrived as soon as she’d made her decision to stay? As soon as she realized how deeply she loved Liam? Was this punishment for being happy for a few glorious hours?
Or was it the chance to face her demons?
She heard his familiar footsteps behind her, said a prayer and spun around as swiftly as she could, taking him by surprise and scraping his face with the sharp edge of her keys.
“Bitch!” Sal shrieked and grabbed his bloody cheek. She tried to dodge him, but he seized a handful of her hair and threw her down to the ground so she couldn’t get away.
Rocks scraped her thighs, and for a heartbeat she wondered if this was where her body would be found. If Kaya would tell Liam she hadn’t mean the things she’d said.
No. That wasn’t her story.
“Miss me, my love?” Sal’s sneering voice made her wince. But more than that, it made her angry. If she could channel Stax right now, she’d change into a coyote and rip his evil throat out.
She wasn’t afraid of him anymore.
“Not even for a second,” she told him honestly. “And I’ve never been your love.”
He tried to kick her, but she rolled away, up onto her knees, every sense on alert as he took out his knife. Some things never changed. “I see you’re still a coward.”
His brow furrowed. “You used to be so quiet and easy to control. Boring and fat and devoted to me.”
She flinched, because she remembered that girl. “I wonder how you managed to put up with me?”
This, she knew, was his favorite topic. “I was the only one who would. You had no one else, remember? No family. No friends. And you were so grateful that you took whatever I gave and crawled back every time I brought you flowers. It was perfect.” He scowled. “Now that you’ve got someone to replace me, you’re acting brave. I hadn’t realized you had such delusions, sweetheart. That you’d leave me to become a gold-digging whore.”