Page 33 of With Spite

He grunted. “Normal for a kid.”

“When I was eleven, I got punched in the face because my brother was trying to beat up the bully that was kicking my ass every day after I couldn’t produce him any lunch money.” I found a bowl on the counter behind me and started filling it up with the parts that he said that we would need to grind. “My bully missed my brother, nearly fell on his face when my brother stepped out of the way, and caught himself on my face. Broke my nose and my eye socket.”

Hux made a noise in his throat, but didn’t interrupt.

“Things like that happened throughout my life, but a couple of years ago.” I leveled Hux with a look. “This never leaves the room.”

Hux’s brows rose. “Okay.”

I’d never told anyone this.

Not a single soul.

I couldn’t believe that I was telling Hux it now.

But for some reason, I was in a sharing mood.

And honestly, I wanted someone to know.

Just in case.

“I was in the bathroom,” I said quietly, keeping my eyes on the way Hux’s muscles moved in his forearms. “At my job. And I survived a serial killer attack.”

Hux’s muscles stopped moving.

I looked up to find his gaze solely on mine. “I’m sorry, what?”

“It was a great thing that Creed’s wife, Birdee, came to find me when she did. I was being stalked by a serial killer for almost a year. If it wasn’t for the new name and the new life? I might not have been alive for him to ever talk to again.”

Hux gently laid the knife down.

“Tell me everything,” he ordered quietly.

I walked behind the table and stared at the meat grinder. “How do you work this?”

He came up behind me, not touching, but definitely not giving me very much space as he reached over and flipped the button on.

It was a lot quieter than I expected it to be.

“Use this paddle here to shove it all down the tube,” he said. “Start talking.”

He dumped the meat onto the tray that was above the long tube that eventually led to the meat-grinding part and then shoved it down the tube with the paddle.

Once I understood, he stepped back, let me do my thing, and waited.

Patiently.

I gathered my thoughts before I started .

“Like I said, I was in the hospital bathroom. Desperately trying to control the asthma attack that was trying to kill me. I was sitting on the toilet fully clothed, head on my knees, feet resting on the toilet lid. It looked like no one was in there, you know?”

He grunted.

I continued to shove more meat down the long tube with my paddle.

As it ground away, meat resembling hamburger pushed out the other end into a large bucket already there waiting.

“I don’t know how long I was in there when the man came in,” I continued, feeling my stomach tighten at the words that were tumbling free of my mouth. Again, something I hadn’t ever told a single soul. “I was first aware someone was in there when I heard the crying.”