“No, no, I’m fine. I think,” she says, looking down at the road rash on her palms. It pisses me off that she’s going to have to suffer from this now too.

“Is it on fire?” a woman asks as sizzling sounds come from the Escalade. It sideswiped at least four cars before it crashed into a pole.

“It’s gonna explode!” someone shouts when smoke billows out.

Everleigh and I walk closer to see who’s driving. Two men surround the door and try to open it. It looks like the airbags have deployed, but the whole front is bashed in. A screeching sound echoes out as the door is forcefully pulled open.

They help a woman step out, who then pushes them away when she stumbles to her feet. Her face is bloody from the shattered glass. Though her red hair is messy, I get a flash of recognition.

It’s her—the woman who attacked Everleigh.

“You fuckin’ bitch,” she screams in a high-pitched tone. Her eyes are just as crazed as before. “You skank! You deserve to be dead because you’re the reason my husband is no longer alive!”

That’s all the confirmation I need to know that this is Natasha, Eric’s wife. We all assumed right.

I move Everleigh behind me, trying to block her from this psychopath.

“You deserve to feel the same pain I felt the night I learned he was gone,” she yells. With the large crowd surrounding us, it becomes more of a showdown than anything.

Someone tries to grab Natasha’s arm, but she yanks it away. “Don’t fucking touch me!”

“You deserve to be in jail,” I hiss.

“And that slut deserves to be dead!”

Gasps are heard all around.

“You’re insane, Natasha!” Everleigh shouts. “I didn’t know he was married!” Everleigh’s body trembles against me.

“Yes, you did,” she seethes. “You’re a goddamn liar!”

“I’m not lying. It was a fling, and it would've never happened had he told me he had a wife,” Everleigh tells her, but there’s no way she’ll ever convince Natasha otherwise.

It all happens so quickly. Natasha reaches behind her and pulls a gun from the back of her pants. The crowd gasps, then disperses. I swallow hard, guarding Everleigh with my body. If she wants to shoot her, she’ll have to go through me first, but I’m not about to let that happen.

“Natasha…” I say, holding out my hands. “Put the gun down.”

“Move out of the fucking way,” she says between gritted teeth. “This is between me and that whore.”

“You don’t want to do this. Set it down before you hurt someone.”

Natasha moves forward until she’s standing three feet away. I reach behind me, holding Everleigh in place.

“Get out of the goddamn way,” she says at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing off the downtown buildings.