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“Good girl,” he murmured, and my heart nearly leapt up into my throat at his praise. In an instant, my palms felt clammy, and a feverish flush broke out at the edges of my brow.
I stared straight ahead, too afraid to look at him should he notice just how much of an effect his words had on me. If he noticed, he didn’t say anything, which was almost enough to make me sigh with relief.
“I already know your first name is Riley. What’s your last name?” he asked gently, and I hated how my heart wanted to open to him. I licked my lips and swallowed hard.
I didn’t want him to know my true identity. Once I made my escape, I could disappear without a trace. He wouldn’t be able to find me if he had a fake name.
So I lied.
It’s not like it mattered.
“O’Brien.”
“Nice to meet you, Riley O’Brien,” he said, his voice far too gentle and warm for my liking. It called to something deep in me that I didn’t care to look that far into right now… or maybe really ever.
Whatever.
As we pulled away from the curb, the engine’s purr barely audible, I turned to him, my voice steady despite the chaos of everything going on in my head.
“What are you going to do with me?” I asked softly. For some inexplicable reason, I didn’t think he was going to kill me. Even though he exuded danger, none of it was directed at me and that was strangely comforting.
“I told you. I’m going to protect you. I don’t know how you got involved with Gregor Orlov, but his death will have consequences and I don’t want to see a pretty girl like you caught up in them,” he explained gently.
He glanced at me briefly, his hands firm on the steering wheel, the city lights casting shifting patterns across his face. In the soft lighting, he looked even more handsome than before.
I glanced down at his lips before I could stop myself and my stomach dropped once that I realized that he’d noticed. I jerked my gaze away and looked out the window, swallowing hard.
What was it about this man that kept pulling me in?
With a quick shake of my head, I did my best to push whatever this feeling was far away. Instead of focusing on him, I looked out at the dark buildings along the side of the road. It was then that I realized something else.
Maxim hadn’t locked the passenger side door.
If I waited for the opportune moment, I could jump out of the car, run into the alleys, and disappear into the shadows never to be found again.
Maxim wouldn’t know what hit him.
A slight smile edged at the corners of my lips, and I quickly covered it up with a pretend cough into the palm of my hand.
As the car moved through the increasingly busy streets of Boston, I pressed my face slightly closer to the cold window, my eyes scanning the outside world.
The blurred faces of people walking by, the neon glow of flickering street signs, and the fleeting shadows in the alleys between buildings all painted a picture of a city alive and teeming with an endless amount of possible escape routes.
When I glanced to the side, I saw that Maxim’s focus remained on the road, his profile stoic and seemingly unperturbed by the tension that crackled like static between us in the confined space of the car.
As we approached a bustling intersection, the traffic light flipped to red, and the car came to a complete stop. The streets were crowded with people, a group of late-night partiers maybe, their laughter and chatter piercing the silence between us.
This was the moment I had been waiting for.
Without a second thought, I unlatched my seatbelt, my movements quick but discreet. As soon as Maxim’s eyes flicked to the red light, I pushed the door open and threw myself into the crowd. The cool night air hit me like a splash of icy cold water as I melded into the sea of bodies, my heart pounding furiously in my chest.
“Riley!” Maxim called out from behind me, his voice laced with both surprise and anger and something else that I decidedly didn’t like the sound of.
I didn’t look back. I wasn’t dumb. I knew what happened in horror movies. When the female lead looked back, she always inevitably tripped and that wasn’t going to be me. Instead, I ducked into a nearby alley, my footsteps loud as I sprinted along the pavement.
Adrenaline surged through me as I darted through the maze of alleys, my footsteps echoing off the grimy walls. I pushed my body to its limits, desperate to evade the persistent sound of Maxim’s footsteps behind me. His pursuit was relentless, the heavy thuds of his boots a constant reminder that the distance between us was far too close for comfort.
Turning sharply into another alley, I skidded on a slick patch of wet pavement, barely catching myself before I fell. The brief slip cost me precious seconds, and I could hear Maxim’s footsteps growing louder, and disturbingly more determined behind me. Panic gripped me, tightening my chest with each rapid breath.
