Read Online Protected by Him by Hannah Ford - Free Book Online Page B

found him.
    You can go to him.
    The thought filled me with strength, and I tipped my chin into the air. “I’m not helping you.”
    “Then I’ll be forced to –”
    “Do what you have to do,” I said, cutting him off. My hands were curled so tightly at my sides now that my nails pressed into my flesh, and the place on my arms where I’d cut myself last night began to throb. “But leave me the hell alone.”
    Then I pushed back out the door and onto the street.
    I forced myself to walk slowly and not run, even though everything inside of me wanted to. I made it to the next block before I bent over and dry heaved into a garbage can, praying Caleb wasn’t watching.
----
    A few minutes later , I boarded the city bus that would take me to Declan’s apartment complex, the adrenaline still coursing through my veins and wiring me with nervous energy. I tried not to make eye contact with the man sitting next to me, who was eating a salami sandwich and gawking at me, his eyes moving over my body lasciviously.
    I wanted to get up and move, but there were only a couple of empty seats left on the bus, and they were in the back where some guys my age were spread out playing dice. They looked like the kind of guys who might be even more trouble than the man next to me.
    So I bided my time, breathing a sigh of relief when man got off the bus, and relaxing even more as the houses outside began to change from broken down and ramshackle to shiny and modern.
    The people on the bus began to change too, and by the time we got to Declan’s street, the bus was filled mostly with businesspeople in suits or skirts.
    The bus let me off at the end of Huckleberry Street. The street was on a hill, and it rose up in front of me, twisting and turning between the two cobblestone walls that flanked it on either side. The apartment complex was modern and sprawling, with multiple brick buildings built into the hill, each building dotted with balconies that looked out across the valley.
    You should have called him first, Olivia, I told myself as I took a deep breath and started up the hill. What if he’s not home?
    I pushed the thoughts out of my head and trudged up the hill, scanning the buildings for number 102. They were all clearly labeled with cheerful looking brass numbers, and I felt an almost overwhelming wave of happiness rising in my chest at the thought of Declan living in such a nice place, at the thought of him getting out, of somehow being able to stop the cycle we’d both been in.
    Maybe he’d have some advice on how I could do the same.
    When I got to building 102, I closed my eyes for a second and wiped my palms on my jeans.
    This was it.
    I was about to start up the walk when a vibrating sensation came from inside my purse. My phone. Well, the phone Colt had given me. The phone you stole from him.
    His name flashed on the screen. COLT. He must have programmed it into the phone before he’d given it to me.
    I hesitated, my finger over the little green “answer” icon as Caleb’s words echoed through my brain.
    You don’t want to do this, Olivia. You don’t want to ruin everything, you don’t want to go down for people you don’t even like.
    I sent the call to voicemail.
    It rang again, and again, I sent it to voicemail.
    But now I was frozen, the phone clutched tightly in my hand, wondering if he was going to call me again.
    After another minute, it became clear he wasn’t, and disappointment rolled through me.
    Call me back. Call me back and I’ll answer.
    But the phone didn’t ring again, and I waited longer than I should have before accepting that as fact.
    Rage boiled inside of me.
    This was supposed to be a happy moment, the moment right before I saw Declan again. But instead, Colt was ruining it. He’d invaded my mind, he’d taken over everything. Now all could think about was his lips, his mouth, his kiss, his touch, his cock inside of me, the way he’d made me moan, the way he’d made me come, his hands