Page 55 of The Perfect Heart

“I’m not leaving.” The words forced their way out before I could stop them, a last-ditch effort to send him away. “Go home, Jack. I don’t want you here, and I’m not leaving. I’m done with you.”

His dark eyes widened for a moment, flashing at my show of defiance. I shrank back, expecting the explosion that was sure to follow. But instead, his smile returned. It was a charming smile, the one that had grabbed my attention that night at the club and never let go. The one that made other women swoon and won men over to his side. But I could see right through it and knew nothing was behind it but malice, ice, and self-regard.

Except this one was also wicked enough that it sent a shiver of fear racing through me.

“Come on, Hal. Don’t be that way. You’re my wife. You don’t want people to think there’s something wrong with you, do you? Our friends are already talking, and I’ve had to come up with lies to cover your ridiculous behavior.”

“Go to hell, Jack. You and your friends can all go to hell for all I care, but I’m not going back with you.” I didn’t know where the growl came from, but it came with a flare of anger for everything he had put me through, all the promises he had broken, the way he had treated me, and the way he had made me feel.

I was free of him, and I wasn’t going back. Being here, being back home with Nash, had shown me what I deserved, and it wasn’t being a princess trapped in a tower back in LA.

Despite the pain in my side, I launched myself off the dumpster, hoping to dash around Jack, outside of his reach and out the alley to get help.

Except Jack was much bigger, and adrenaline wasn’t dulling his reaction time. His shoulder hit me with the force of the football lineman he had been in college, knocking me into the opposite wall. Pain exploded in my shoulder and head as they hit the bricks, the sensation superseded by a stinging at my scalp and terror a moment later as Jack’s fingers twisted in my hair and jerked me back.

“We’re going home, and you’re coming with me,” he hissed, an icy promise in his words.

A scream erupted from my throat as Jack dragged me back, his fingers still twisted in my hair, an arm around my waist. I fought, kicking and clawing at him. Jack cursed as a kick landed on his shin, but he didn’t stop.

In the back of my consciousness, I heard the loud bang of a door hitting the wall, but it didn’t register until I heard another sound, this one a crack along with the sound of skin making contact with skin. And suddenly, I was stumbling away from Jack as his arm and hand retracted, leaving me free.

I fell back against the wall, my vision swimming with the adrenaline flooding my system. Jack came into focus, an angry bruise already blooming on his cheek where Nash’s fist, bruised and bloodied itself as he stood facing my ex, had hit him.

“Leave her the fuck alone, you fucking asshole,” Nash snarled, already in a defensive position.

For a moment, seething hatred twisting his handsome features into an ugly mask, I thought Jack might charge Nash. Instead, he straightened, that nasty grin replacing his scowl as his eyes flicked to me momentarily before returning to Nash.

“Ah, your boyfriend. So glad he could join us. This is the guy, isn’t it, Hal?” His gaze flicked to me again. “Your friend from high school? See? I was right to forbid you from seeing him. He clearly wanted you. But she’s mine, you know that, right? Halle’s mine, and I don’t share her.”

“Halle doesn’t belong to anyone.” Nash’s hands closed in tight fists, his eyes nearly glowing with rage. “Get out of here, Jack. She doesn’t want you. Leave and don’t come back, or I’m calling the police.”

The smile slipped from Jack’s face. “She belongs to me, and I don’t give up what belongs to me.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun, one I recognized from the collection he kept in a safe in the back of his closet. The one I was never allowed to even get near, except when he wanted to show me his newest acquisitions in a move I had always thought was meant to intimidate me.

I almost screamed, but terror held it fast in my throat so that it only came out as a strangled rasp. All I could see was the gun pointed straight at Nash, my entire body coiled tightly as I waited for the sound of it going off.

If anyone ever wondered who would win a fight, a defensive end or a hockey player, it was the hockey player this time. Lighter and faster on his feet than Jack, Nash managed to close in on my husband and barrel into him just as Jack clicked the safety off. They both crashed to the ground, Nash emerging on top as he pummeled Jack in the face with his fist, dazing the larger man, before he dove for the hand with the gun in it.

“Halle, run!” Nash cried, then grunted in pain as a flailing elbow landed in his chest.

But I wasn’t about to leave Nash here alone with my crazy husband, especially when he had a gun. Instead, I dove for my purse, trying frantically to find my phone to call the police.

And Jack wasn’t giving up easily. He twisted in a move that seemed too quick for his large frame, throwing Nash off-center. He kicked out, catching Nash in the stomach, but his aim must have been off-center because the smaller man hung on, grappling for hold of the gun.

The scuffle was so fast, so furious, and I was so terrified, it was a blur as they kicked and struggled, curses muffled as they writhed in the slush and ice until a thunderous explosion echoed around the alley, so loud I screamed and covered my ears.

The men had both managed to get to their knees, but now Nash stumbled back, clutching his middle. My heart stopped beating, my lungs stopped inflating, my mind froze in the seconds I thought Nash had been shot. Until Jack let out a pained howl, and bright crimson on the snow beneath Jack drew my eye.

“You fucking shot me!” he howled, blood seeping out from between the fingers he had clutched around his leg.

“Your fucking gun went off!” Nash’s eyes flashed as he waited for another aggressive move from his adversary.

Jack stumbled to his feet, blood still soaking his pants, and Nash tensed as we both waited for him to find the gun that had fallen into the snow. But my husband’s furious glare found me instead, icy promise in his eyes.

“You haven’t seen the last of me, Hal. I’m still your husband, and I’ll kill you before I let anyone else have you. Don’t forget that.”

And then he was gone, running, stumbling down the alley. A moment later, we heard an engine roaring to life and squealing tires as a car sped rapidly away.