“No!” I yelled. “Just go away and leave me alone!”

Kyle gave the door a good shove and it clocked me right in the forehead. I staggered back a step while still trying to maintain my hold on the door to block his entry.

“Taryn, come on. I just want to talk to you… give me a chance to explain.”

Most of his body was already through the doorway. He shoved the door again, more forcefully this time, tossing me like a ragdoll into the wall behind me. I quickly righted myself and lunged for the opposing door to the kitchen as my next means of escape.

I managed to grab the doorknob but Kyle was quicker. His hand wrapped around mine tightly, preventing me from twisting the knob. He used his body to cram me into the doorframe, trapping me in place. I kicked the bottom of the door with my foot.

“Please don’t hurt me,” I begged, pleading for my life. The grip he had on my hand was already sending messages of pain.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered in my ear, chuckling slightly from my fear. “Just don’t do anything stupid, okay… Taryn?”

I felt the doorknob jiggle slightly. I hoped Tammy would run for help instead of trying to rescue me. I didn’t want Kyle to have two hostages.

I was absolutely petrified, fearing he was going to harm me, or worse - kill me. His aggressive stance and the way he breathed hard on my neck terrified me. I nodded quickly. It was the only response I could give.

“You don’t mind if I check you for weapons, do you?” he said, slightly amused, taking the liberty to pat the front and back pockets of my jeans.

“I’d hate like hell to get maced today.”

My pockets were unfortunately empty. Kyle appeared to be pleased with that revelation, almost enjoying the fact that he caught me unarmed and completely helpless. I felt like the doomed rabbit, caught by my unlucky foot in the big bear trap.

My mind started to roll in fast forward, trying to remember the self-defense moves he once told me about. His knee was pressed into my leg, holding me off balance. Could I stamp on his foot and then elbow him in the nose? Just give me some space and I’m going to kick you right in the balls, you son-of-a-bitch!

“You don’t need to be afraid of me!” He laughed, lessening the pressure of his fingers on mine, but still not letting me go. “Sweetheart, I’d never hurt you. I’m just worried that you might try to hurt me.”

“Let go of me and we’ll find out,” I replied, a hard edge accompanied my tone.

“Feisty!” Kyle snickered in my ear. “How about you let go of the door so we can talk?”

“What do you want to talk about?” I breathed into the wood molding, still unable to move. My eyes glanced, noticing the glowing green buttons on the security system keypad. I was pretty sure I could hit the police call button before he would be able to stop me. My fingers were only a few inches away from it.

“I came here to tell you that we caught Angelica. She was picked up in Florida and is being extradited back to Rhode Island on a bench warrant.

Baby, she’s in police custody now, so you don’t have to worry anymore.”

A tinge of revulsion ebbed up my spine when he called me “baby.” Kyle eased up slightly on pressing me into the door. He effortlessly peeled my straining, clenched hand off of the doorknob.

“You can relax now,” he said reassuringly, obviously pleased with himself. “I told you I would get her and I did! You’re safe now.”

“Am I?” I whispered; tears of fright were dripping down my face. I felt so fragile in his grip; it would only take one quick twist and he could easily re-break my left wrist that he now held in his powerful hand.

“Sweetheart, I would never hurt you. You have to believe me,” he said softly, resting his forehead on my shoulder.

“Taryn, I had nothing to do with what happened to you in Florida,” he said smoothly, convincingly. “I was there because Angelica followed you to Miami. Why do you think I was in the airport? My spotters lost track of her for a few hours, so I made sure you were protected at all times.”

My breath hitched. Kyle was such a manipulator.

“She’s really in jail?” I whispered, asking for confirmation that my first stalker was locked up from my second stalker that now held me captive.

“Yes,” he said softly in my ear. “She can’t hurt you anymore.”

“What about you?” I asked, my breath stuttering from fear.

Kyle scoffed in my ear. “I’m not the one who broke your heart. He did that all on his own,” he groaned and took a few steps back, finally releasing me.