Page 137 of WTF
With a strangled sound, he pushed up and around to gently take my face in his palms and whisper, “You don’t need to remember me because you aren’t going anywhere, and neither am I.”
“Can I still have your shirt?”
His low laugh was indulgent. “Of course you can,” he said, helping me put it on before grabbing another for himself. After zipping up my suitcase, he reached for my hand.
I hesitated, hating the fear inside me but unable to make it go away. “What if he’s out there?” I whispered.
He is going to be so mad I defied him. He’s going to take it out on Win.
“I’ll kill him.” Win’s voice was matter-of-fact. Then he unlatched the lock and pulled open the door.
33
Win
There werebruises in the form offingerprintson his neck.
Marks another man put there while trying to choke the life out of the person I loved most.
Most people didn’t know what I kept hidden, but there was darkness in me. An inky, opaque black with the complete ability to eclipse the sun I preferred to shine. A black hole of anger, fear, and resentment from watching everyone I’d ever loved be broken or taken away. I could feel that obscurity now, orbiting closer to the sun, ready and waiting to snuff it out.
The fear I sensed radiating off Lars only made it worse. As did the fact he seemed to think he could sacrifice himself for me.
When hell freezes over.
No.Not even then.
His footsteps sort of dragged on our way out of the bathroom, the terminal growing busier as passengers arrived for morning flights. Keeping my hand wrapped firmly around his, I glanced over my shoulder, taking in his battered face and how his eyes darted around nervously.
His agitation and fear only added fuel to the fire already raging inside me. “You see him?” I asked, anticipation filling me with adrenaline.
He shook his head once.
I grunted. “If he’s smart, he’ll get on a plane and go back to where he came from,” I intoned, tugging him toward the large glass doors.
The hand in mine went rigid, his footsteps stuttering to a stop. I swung back, taking in his ghostly pallor, which only made his black eye appear worse. His alarm was palpable, tinging the air with a bitter taste.
I took a step closer. “Lars.”
The Adam’s apple in his throat bobbed. “He’s not very smart.”
A veil of calm dropped over me, my pounding heart decelerating to a dull, even thud. I pivoted, tucking Lars behind me, using my body as a shield.
A torrent of familiarity gusted through me the second my eyes found him standing down the terminal with a red fleece coat zipped over his chest. The man I’d warned off the day I’d gotten to Sweden. The man Lars had claimed he owed money.
He didn’t owe him money.
“You should have told me.” The words ripped out of the dark inside me, my own voice taking on a new sound.
“Let’s just go,” he pleaded, tugging my hand.
Oskar, as Lars called him, started forward, walking arrogantly through the people as if he didn’t notice them at all. His eyes were fixed on me, but it wasn’t me he saw. His vapid stare attempted to bore through me to get to the one I loved.
“Please,” Lars whimpered, a tremble in his hand. “I want to go.”
The impulse to confront this prick and wipe that smug, self-important look off his asshole face was nearly all-consuming. But my satisfaction would come at a cost to Lars. And that meant my satisfaction was not worth the price.
“All right, angel.” I soothed, angling toward him, but keeping my attention trained on the enemy. “If you want to go, we’ll go.”