out the tangles in her hair, the sound of shattering glass downstairs made her jump, and her heart accelerated to a hard, pounding beat.
Startled, and certain Noah had returned and accidentally broken something, she dropped the brush on the vanity and started out of the bedroom and down the stairs.
'Noah?' she called, and came to an abrupt halt when she saw that the glass from one of the windows flanking the front door was scattered on the floor in the entryway. The door was ajar, and the morning breeze wafted indoors. The cool air caused goose bumps to rise on her flesh, contradicting the hot prickle of unease invading her entire body.
Her gaze shot to the security system on the wall. The red light on the alarm panel flashed, indicating the silent alarm had been set off. Noah wasn't home, and someone had obviously broken into the house.
The phone rang, the loud, jangling noise breaking through the silence and Natalie's paralyzed nerves. Praying it was Noah, or even the security company, she leapt over the shattered glass on the floor, ran into the kitchen and grabbed the portable unit. Before she could connect the call a familiar male figure appeared on the other side of the counter and ripped the phone line from the wall, leaving her with a dead unit in her hand.
She screamed in fright and stumbled back a few steps. Terror gripped her as she stared at the man who'd been stalking her-her ex-boyfriend, according to Noah. A man who obviously had no qualms about breaking and entering to get what he wanted. And what he wanted was
An arrogant smile lifted his lips. 'Hello, Natalie,' he said, though he didn't make any move toward her. The counter between the family room and kitchen still separated them, but his presence emanated an underlying animosity she felt to her bones.
Shaking from the inside out, she curled her fingers tight around the receiver in her hand to keep her grounded. 'Ch-Ch-Chad,' she stammered, surprised that her vocal chords worked.
He lifted a blond brow, looking immensely pleased at her recollection. 'You finally remember me. I was beginning to think that your amnesia, and Noah's influence on you, had permanently erased me from your memory.'
His voice was low and tinged with malevolence.
Disjointed memories flashed in her mind, of Chad's face twisted with fury and a temper to match. And then the recollection crystallized. She'd been the victim of that rage before-it was what had caused her to leave Chad and start a new life here in Oakland.
She was stunned by the memory, and terrified by Chad's irrational frame of mind and what he was capable of doing to her. 'Get out,
'We'll be leaving together this time,' he said, too calmly. 'Do you know how long I've been waiting to catch you alone? It hasn't been easy with your watchdog by your side at all times.'
Refusing to turn her back on him, she took a step back, then another, edging closer to her only means of escape-a framed threshold leading to the formal dining room and the stairs that headed up to the second level of the house. She thought of Noah's revolver in the bedroom upstairs, and knew that it was her best source of defense against this deranged man.
But she had to get to the weapon first.
'You'll always be mine, Natalie,' Chad said possessively, drawing her full attention back to him.
Her chest tightened as his familiar words sank in. They were the same as the words she'd read on the card that had accompanied the bouquet she'd received at the hospital. Noah hadn't sent her those flowers, she realized. Chad had.
'You never should have left me,' he chided as he moved around the counter, his steps deceptively slow and unhurried, his gaze dark and direct. 'Did you really think that I wouldn't be able to find you? And I can't believe that your lover thought that I couldn't get to you, just because you were locked in his house. You're
He was too close, too dangerous, and she'd had enough. Taking advantage of the only weapon and distraction she had available to her, she pitched the phone in her hand at Chad's head. The unit hit its mark, striking him in the temple. He grabbed his head and howled in pain, and she turned and ran through the opposite doorway and up the stairs, desperate to get to Noah's gun.
Once she'd made it to the master bedroom, she shut and locked the door. She bolted over to the dresser and rummaged through the drawer where he kept his revolver, her heart beating in time with the heavy, angry footsteps of Chad coming up the stairs.
She tossed Noah's cotton undershirts onto the floor in her frantic search, and a sob of despair caught in her throat when she realized that the gun was gone. He must have donned it this morning, though for the life of her she couldn't remember him wearing his holster, which didn't mean much. She'd grown so used to the weapon being a part of him that she hardly noticed it anymore.
But the fact remained that the gun was gone, and she was trapped upstairs with a crazed man after her.
The bedroom door rattled as Chad tried to kick in the sturdy wooden panel, spurring Natalie to find another means of defense. She'd gone through two other drawers for something sharp or blunt to use when the door cracked and splintered from the force of Chad's repeated blows, then crashed open.
She jumped back with a gasp, while he stood there in the doorway, the cut near his temple oozing blood down the side of his face. His features were filled with violent rage.
Fear swelled within her. 'I'm expecting Noah back any minute,' she blurted out, hoping and praying it was true. 'I suggest you leave before he returns.'
Chad strolled into the room, seemingly unfazed by her threat. 'Ahh, Noah, your
She shook her head in confusion as she backed toward the far side of the room to keep distance between them. Knowing conversation was her best stall tactic until she could figure out an escape, she asked, 'What he?'
'The two of you aren't engaged.' He waved an impatient hand in the air. 'I've been watching you long enough to know that the two of you weren't
His comment rippled through her mind, and denial rose fast and furiously. Of course she and Noah were engaged! They lived together. She'd given him her body, her soul.
But along with that denial came snippets of conversations she'd had with Noah, of him skirting the issue of their engagement, no ring on her finger, no wedding date set, and no straightforward answers to the many questions she'd asked about them as a couple.
More vague images appeared in her head-Noah at the bar, talking and flirting with her, walking out with her the night of the accident, and her playfully fending off his flirtatious advances. They'd been friends, acquaintances, nothing more. The memories were fresh and real and gave her no choice but to believe Chad's words.
The truth crashed over her in waves, shaking the very foundation of her relationship with Noah, which in essence had been nothing more than an affair. No wonder so much hadn't made sense to her.
'I thought you'd finally changed,' Chad went on bitterly, touching her personal items on the dresser, taking a whiff from her perfume bottle before continuing toward her. 'But being the slut that you are, you moved in with him, slept with him and now you're his
He'd claimed she was a tramp for using her body as a showgirl, and he didn't like other men looking at her, lusting after her. Memories of her tumultuous past with Chad deluged her mind, overwhelming her-memories she would have been happy to keep suppressed. But this confrontation triggered a release of recollections she couldn't stop or escape.
Swallowing the whimper of panic rising to the surface, she kept inching backward, until her spine pressed up against the wall and she found herself cornered by Chad and the king-size bed to her left.
Knowing she was trapped, Chad continued to approach her like a savage animal anticipating pouncing on his prey. 'I've had enough of watching you with him. Now I'm going to take back what's mine.'
Her chance of escape was slim, but she wasn't going to let Chad bully her anymore. She refused to be a victim
