I don’t know what’s going to happen. All that matters right now is putting distance between us. I never thought they would do anything that cruel. What am I supposed to do with a tattoo on my ass?

It’s the sound of an approaching car that catches my attention first. My head snaps up from the phone. No. It’s impossible. I can’t be seeing this.

The car pulls to a stop in front of me, and the driver’s side window rolls down. “What are you doing out here?” James asks once he sticks his head out from inside.

No. No, no. I had over a week. Why is he here? “I was taking a walk,” I lie, closing the app.

“Well, surprise. I’m home early.” The way he smiles is the way he used to, back when he was pretending to be a normal person. It’s even more chilling than if he flat-out acted like a psycho.

“And Mom?” I ask since I don’t see anybody in the passenger seat.

“She’s still at the resort. It’s all paid up after all, and it’s not her fault I had to come back early for an important call that came up out of nowhere.” He lifts a shoulder, chuckling. “Some people, right? No respect for a man’s honeymoon.”

He’s back. Alone. Not that I would trust my mother to protect me, but I figured there’d be less chance of him hurting me while she was here. He’d want to keep up appearances, right?

“I know the guys will be happy to see you. I’ll be back in a little bit.” Nothing in the world has ever been more important than getting away from him, from this house, from all of it.

“No. You’re not going to do that.” The smile is gone and replaced by a scowl. “You’re going back to the house, and that’s where you’re staying. Right now. I’ll follow you the rest of the way up.” He rolls the window up but doesn’t move the car, staring at me from behind the wheel. Like he’s challenging me to go against him.

There isn’t just one red flag waving in front of my eyes right now. There are about a hundred. So many red flags that it’s basically all I can see. Red.

I can’t believe this. I can’t believe I have to turn around and walk up the driveway, but what else am I supposed to do? My feet are heavy but nowhere as heavy as my heart. I could try to run past him, down the driveway, and toward the road. If I’m lucky, I’ll get to wave someone down before he catches me.