Page 55 of This Life of Mine

Val’s face drains of color. “That asshole!”

“Not…sexually. I mean…he did put his hands on me, pushed me, pulled my hair, and knocked me to the ground. So much happened,” I say evenly. “The police were called. He was arrested.”

“What thefuck,“ Val breathes, the words barely contained.

“Oh my God,” Kay whispers, hand flying to her mouth.

Joey mutters, “That son of a—“ and stops himself when he sees me.

Val steps closer, eyes scanning me like she’s only now seeing the bruises. “Jesus, Lina. Are you okay?”

“I’m sore. Scraped up. But I fought back and even landed a good headbutt.”

Kay lets out a shaky breath. “You’re kind of badass,” she says, nearly a whisper.

Val’s jaw tightens. “I’m going to kill—.”

“Val—,” I say knowingly.

“No,” she snaps. “No, you can’t ‘Val’ me. That man nearly—“ She breaks off, dragging a hand through her hair. “After everything he’s already done?”

Donna shakes her head. “I knew something was off about him when he used to come in here. He was always watching and hovering.”

“Yeah, I hated that guy,” Joey adds. “He had weird energy.”

I inhale. “There’s more.”

That gets everyone’s attention.

Chapter eighteen

Lina

My team’s eyes are locked on me, waiting in anticipation for me to tell them the remaining part of the story.

“Alex showed up. The one you guys all call Mr. M.”

Val stills. “Alex…wait…you mean the hot guy that comes into the shop?”

“Yes…” I respond, a smile creeping onto my face, remembering how she and the other girls described Alex.

“The tall one?” Kay asks, excitement practically vibrating off her. “The mysterious one who drinks quad espressos in the evening like it’s a personality trait? The one I tricked you into talking to?”

“Yes,” I sigh. “That’s the one—wait. Quad espressos? Jesus.”

Kay clasps her hands with glee.

“Yes. The tall, hot one. And yes, the one you conspired to make me talk to.”

“How?” Donna asks. “People online have video of a guy talking to the police. I wasn’t sure who it was. But the way hestands there—arms folded—in sweats.My…my...,“ Donna says, daydreaming.

“Focus, Donna,” I say.

“He heard me screaming while he was on a late-night run,” I explain. “He intervened. Pulled Cole off me—well,” I pause, “more like picked him up and threw him off me. Then he called the police and made sure I got home safely.”

Val stares at me, her mouth gaping open. “Hethrewhim?”

“Yeah. Hard to explain,” I say, remembering how one second Cole had a hold of my hair and then he was gone.