He leans into me, using the solid weight of his upper body to nail me to the wall. “Your old man went a step too far,” he snarls. “Bitches should never come before brothers.”

“Then talk to him about it.” My confident mask slips. I struggle to free myself, but he’s too heavy. He slaps his hand against the wall next to my face.

“Where you going? I ain’t done talking to you.”

Fear makes the hallway blur around the edges, but I answer loud and firm, “I’m done talking to you.”

“Don’t act so high and mighty, girl. You may have cut off Z’s nuts but you’re still a whore desperately trying to prove you’re more than a dick motel.”

Charming.

I stop struggling and laugh. “How old are you, Shadow?”

“Huh?”

“How old are you? Running around calling women who aren’t interested in you dick motels? Sounds like fifteen, sixteen years old?”

He grabs my hand and yanks it toward his crotch. “No, baby. I’m all man.”

I pull away but he has an iron grip. “I’m sure you are.”

“You want to find out?”

Still stunned, I take a few seconds to respond. “Get your hands off me.” I issue the warning in a much more calm, confident tone than my racing heart suggests.

My mind’s still swimming with disbelief.

This isn’t supposed to happen here.

This can’t be happening again.

Not again.

Never again.

Too terrified and ashamed to protect myself, I’ve frozen until it was too late. Fear freezes me in place. Memories of that horrible incident and all the awful moments that followed threaten to drown me, leaving me weak and useless again.

The world comes rushing back. I’m in danger. And I’d rather fight like hell than do nothing. I slap my hands against his shoulders, attempting to push him away. “Get off me.”

Obviously, he’s not used to girls fighting back because I succeed in shoving him away enough to slip out of his grasp.

Party. I need to run in the direction of other people. Maybe he’s just screwing around. Trying to scare me.

I’m not sticking around to find out if he wants to have a hostile chat or laugh in my face.

I’m jerked to a stop and yanked backwards, almost falling out of my heels. My back thumps into the wall again. A soft oof bursts past my lips. My head hits the wall with a painful thud. Stars burst behind my eyelids.

Hostile it is.

“Let go before I scream.”

He wraps his fingers around my neck and squeezes enough to terrify me into silence. “Go ahead.” He leans in and I almost puke when his lips brush against my ear. “The louder you scream, the harder I get.”

Big shock there.