My head snapped back. “What? Why would you ask that?”

“Someone had to tell Blake that the two of you were at the mall. Was Candice texting or calling anyone that day? Does she tell you if she talks to him?”

“She knows I don’t want to talk about him; she was so mad when I told her about what he did. That was the first time she’d ever gotten mad at me like that. So we don’t talk about him or that day at all. I mean—she and Eli went to go see him that night Eli was in town, but that was . . . that was Eli who brought it up. Not her. But Candice is always texting someone—like, it’s weird if she’s not on her phone—so I can’t say who she ever is or isn’t talking to. But I do know she talks to him a lot at our classes and hangs out with him.”

He nodded his head and sighed heavily as he held my stare. “I don’t want to say this about her, but I think she’s unknowingly giving Blake information about you.”

I was going to throw up. Or pass out. Okay, maybe both. Trying to take deep breaths, I clasped my hands together and the shaking in my body seemed to only get worse. “She didn’t believe me, but she wouldn’t hurt me.” But she still may have told Blake where you work . . .

“I’m not saying that. I said ‘unknowingly.’ If she’s telling him anything, she doesn’t realize she is, because he’s probably asking in a way where she wouldn’t realize it. I can’t be sure though, we’d need her phone.”

“Why is he doing this—why can’t he just leave me alone? Wait. Why are you telling me all this now? Do you think that guy was in here?” All the blood drained from my face. “Oh God. Was it Blake? Was Blake in here?”

“I don’t know, Rach. But who else knows about the journal and song other than me?”

“Um, C-Candice’s entire family knows about the journal, but only Candice knows about the song.”

“And who knows about pancakes besides us?” he asked softly, and reached for me.

“Oh God,” I cried, and my vision instantly blurred as I let him pull me back into his lap.

“Shh. It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m going to keep you safe. I swear.” His lips brushed my forehead and he held me tighter to him. “If Candice hasn’t told him about those things, then either Blake or the other guy is watching us a lot closer than we thought. Do you know a Marvin Cross?”

I tried to think, but my head was spinning with all this new information. “Um, I don’t—I don’t think so. It doesn’t sound familiar. Why?”

“That’s the guy’s name. If you ever see a dark green Explorer, I want you to call me.”

“How do you know his name?”

There was a short pause before his answer. “We called the police and had them run the license plate on the car.”

I didn’t think they would just give that information out. But I was so shaken up, I was sure I was just second-guessing everything right now. I shuddered when I thought about all the times I’d been near Blake recently. The possessive gleam in his eyes . . . his smile, like he had a secret . . . his vows to remind me whom I belonged to. I thought I’d been terrified of him before, but after all this new information, I knew I’d had no idea what he was capable of and fear ran through my veins like ice. “I can’t keep going to school. He’s always there, I can’t—I don’t want to be near him. And what if he knows where our apartment is? What if Candice told him? I can’t stay here, we need to leave! Oh, God—”

Kash grabbed my cheeks and kissed me soft and slow until my body sagged with exhaustion from everything I’d just learned. “I’ll keep you safe, Rachel. If you want to get away from here again, I’ll make it happen. Say the word and we’re gone, I swear.”

I sighed heavily and whispered against his lips, “Thank you.”

16

Rachel

“WHY ARE YOU leaving so early?” Candice unwrapped her hair from the towel and vigorously rubbed at it before tossing the towel back into her room. “Or are you going to meet up with your man before class?”

I’d stayed with Kash last night and had only come back to change. “No, I’m, uh— Candice . . . I decided I’m going to withdraw from my courses.”

She froze midstep; her gaze was one of complete shock. “What?! Why?”

I’d been worrying over whether or not I should tell her all night. I hadn’t slept at all because I was so stressed about what was happening and over the fact that my best friend wouldn’t believe me, and I still didn’t know if telling her was the right decision. “Blake has been—”

“Oh my God, Rachel. Again? Seriously?”

“Candice, he’s been breaking into our apartment!”

She rolled her green eyes and shook her head at me. “I swear to God, it’s like I don’t know you these last few months! First you accuse my cousin of rape, then you meet and get engaged to a guy that you just met, and now you’re saying my cousin is breaking into our apartment when he doesn’t even know where we live? Classy, Rach. You’ve turned into a real bitch.”

I bent forward and exhaled roughly, as if she’d actually punched me. “Candice.”

“And you know what pisses me off more? The fact that throughout all of this, all of this lying to me, all of this acting like you’re so in love with Kash and like you’re some fucking victim . . . you’re still dating Blake!”

“Whoa, what?! I—no! Where did you hear that?”

“He hates that you treat him like crap at school and that you’re hiding your relationship with him. He showed me all of your texts to him.”

I shook my head furiously and attempted to swallow past the dryness in my throat. “I haven’t texted him since our dates at the end of last school year, Candice, I swear to you.”

“I’m so done with this, Rachel. I’ve been waiting for you to just come clean to me, but for whatever reason, our friendship doesn’t mean anything to you anymore. But if you’re actually going to go through with this marriage to Kash, at least be respectful to my cousin and break it off with him. Nicely.”

“Our friendship doesn’t mean anything to me?! You’re the one who won’t believe me and you’re the only family I have left!”

She snorted and whirled around with her hand on the door. “And another thing. I’d love to know how you’ve been going between school, work, Kash, and Blake without Kash or me noticing. Share your secrets sometime, it could really come in handy for me, seeing as I’m the slut and all.”

The door to her bedroom slammed shut and I stood there unmoving, just staring as I tried to comprehend what the hell had just happened. How had this happened? How had he not only hurt me but hurt my relationship with Candice as well? I hated Blake West with every fiber of my being, and I hated what he’d done to my life.

When I could finally make myself move again, I turned and jolted when I saw Kash and Mason standing at the door.

Kash moved toward me and pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry, Rach.”

“How long were you standing there?”

“We just opened the door, but we could hear her from the breezeway.”

I nodded against his chest and my body shook on a sigh. “I swear I’m not seeing Bla—”

“Don’t. I know you’re not, babe.”

“Kash,” Mason called from the door. “We need to go.”

He released his hold on me and shot Mason a look before grabbing the back of my neck and kissing my forehead. “Wait for me to get back from doing inventory with Mase, I’ll go with you to drop your classes.”

I needed to get these classes dropped before things got too busy on campus, and there was no way I was waiting until next week to do it. “I’m fine, I’ll just go get it done and come back here to wait for you.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

After another hard kiss he let me go. “We’ll be back soon.”

I forced myself to my car and over to campus. The woman in administration eyed me curiously before giving me a look that clearly said I’d just made her Friday morning awful. It took all of five minutes, and I wanted to let her know she should try smiling instead . . . but I couldn’t even force a smile on my face at the moment. So, I just thanked her, left her presence as quickly as possible, and headed toward my car.

I was less than a row away when he grabbed my arm and dug his fingers right into a pressure point. “I would love to know why my cousin is beginning to question me.”

“Let go of me or I’ll scream.”

“Scream and I’ll kill someone you love.”

I turned to finally look up at Blake’s cold blue eyes. “W-what did you say?”

“Exactly what you thought you heard. Now, let’s go.”

I dug my feet into the ground and tried to walk toward my car. “No! Let me go.”

“For shit’s sake, Rachel,” he growled, and leaned close so it looked like we were hugging, “don’t be difficult or I’ll make good on my promise.” From the tone of his voice, I had no doubt he would.

“Please, just let me go home, how did you even know I was here?”

Blake blew out an annoyed breath and dug his fingers into the pressure point harder before walking us toward his car. “Candice called me this morning screaming at me. Demanding to know what I did that would make you go drop all of your classes today. I was already on campus, so I’ve just been waiting for you.”

Wait. Does that mean she believed me? Hope and an ache for the friendship Candice and I had always had blossomed in my chest but was quickly replaced by fear when Blake put me in his car and lifted his shirt just enough to show me the gun holstered to his hip.

“Run, Rachel. I dare you.”

MY CHEST TIGHTENED and I choked on a sob. “No.” My horrified whisper was barely audible as I looked at the screen in my hands. “No, God. Please, no!”

“Now, Rachel . . . are you going to be difficult again?”

I cried out and gripped the iPad tighter, letting my fingers trail over the video feed. Shaking my head quickly, my legs gave out and I landed on the hardwood floor of Blake’s studio apartment with a dull thud. “What—what do you want from me?”

“You, Rachel. Just you.”

“You’re sick, Blake.”

Grabbing a good amount of my hair in his hands, he yanked back and a cry of pain left my chest as I fell from a sitting position to my back. “I’m going to pretend like you didn’t say that. You’re mine, and someday soon you’ll understand that.” He took the iPad from my shaky hands and zoomed in on the house of the people I loved. “If not, I can promise you they won’t be the only people you lose. Just think, sweetheart, if it was this easy to get close to them, how easy do you think it’ll be to get to Candice, or your precious boyfriend?”

“You can’t do this to them! They’re your family, how could you—how would you be able to live with yourself? What did I do to deserve any of this? You raped me and harassed me! Why?! All because I didn’t want to be with you?”

How a guy like Blake West could turn into a monster of this magnitude just floored me. He gripped my jaw hard and crushed his mouth to mine. I’d kissed him before, and I hadn’t felt anything. But after this, I felt like I needed to scrub everywhere he’d touched me and brush my teeth until I no longer could taste him.

“You. Are. Mine.” With that he released his grip and my head smacked against the floor. He straightened and pulled his phone out of his pocket. In seconds the person answered the phone. “Can you please show my guest that I’m not fucking around with this?” It sounded like more of a demand than a question, and as soon as his phone was back in his pocket, he was on the ground with me, pulling me up so I was sitting in between his legs, my back against his chest. Both his legs wrapped around mine, pinning them to the ground, and he maneuvered his arms so I couldn’t move mine, all while he held the iPad up in front of us.

I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut, but I couldn’t stop looking. It was like watching a train wreck, although nothing was happening on the screen. It was still just the video feed of the Jenkinses’ house. Same as it had been for the last few minutes since he’d pulled it out. My breathing escalated as I continued to stare. Seconds felt like hours as I waited for something to happen. All of a sudden the silver Audi’s alarm started going off in the driveway and I shook my head, trying to figure out what this proved. “No!” I screamed as Candice’s dad walked outside, looking at his car, then around the street for whatever had made the alarm start. “George, no! Please go back inside. He’s your uncle, Blake!” I stared in horror as he made his way down the long walkway. Halfway to the driveway his car exploded and I screamed again, thrashing against Blake as I watched George fly backward a few feet before landing on the grass. “George!”