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We get out of the car and make our way into the gas station. It's eerily quiet, the only sound being the hum of the fridge and the occasional beep from the cash register. I feel exposed, vulnerable, like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
She picks up a couple of cold coffee drinks while I use the ATM. We’re both tense. I tell myself we’re fine. I withdraw all I can before picking up a box of donuts and some orange juice. Together, we walk back to the car, both of us looking left and right. I know we probably look suspicious, but I don’t care.
As we get back in the car, I can’t shake off the unease. There’s a sense of finality to this, a feeling that our lives have been forever changed. But we have to move on, keep going. I look at Paige, and I can see the same determination in her eyes. She starts the car and we're off again, back into the night.
“I would understand if you want to go back,” she says quietly.
"No, I'm in this with you. We'll keep going until you’re safe. There is no way I’m leaving you alone to deal with this.”
“Thank you. Thank you for sticking with me.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” she smiles.
“Are you sure there is nothing I need to know about this guy?” I ask her. “If this Adrian guy keeps sending men after you, men that clearly have access to some pretty powerful technology, I guess, well, I get the feeling there’s more to this story. Not that I don’t think you’re amazing, but this seems excessive.”
“He’s a powerful man from a powerful family,” she replies. “They’re used to getting their own way. They don’t like when things don’t go their way.”
“Just who are you?” I ask. “Are you royalty?”
She laughs. “No.”
“Then forgive me for being blunt, but what is it about you that makes this guy willing to do whatever it takes to have you?”
She took a deep breath. “I don’t think it’s me. It’s the idea of being rejected.”
"Rejected?" I repeat, not quite understanding.
She nods. "Adrian's family controls a large part of international business. They have a lot of power and influence, and they expect people to follow their rules. When I didn't, it was a shock to their system. They couldn't accept that I was capable of making my own choices. Hence, their desperate attempts to bring me back under their control."
I nod, but I still can’t get my head around the idea that a man would go to this extreme to get a woman that didn’t want him.
Chapter nine
Paige
My mind races with a whirlwind of emotions—fear, frustration, and a gnawing sense of guilt that threatens to consume me. My plan, once so carefully crafted, now lies in shambles around me, a tangled mess of mistakes and missteps.
I can't help but feel a surge of anger at myself for letting things spiral out of control, for allowing myself to become distracted by Hunter and his comforting presence. I let my guard down, and as a result, we almost paid the ultimate price. I hate that I dragged him into my mess. It isn’t fair.
He reaches out, his touch gentle yet firm. "We've learned from this," he says, his voice steady with conviction. "It won't happen again. We’ll get you to Miami. Your plan was good. I’m afraid I was the flaw. I used my credit card to buy snacks at the gas station and then the hotel."
“It’s not your fault,” I sigh. “They would have gotten me back at the airport if it wasn’t for you.”
“What’s on your mind?” he asks.
I glance over at him and smile before putting my eyes back on the road. “Nothing. Just driving.”
Truthfully, I was just now getting the chance to process what happened between us. Sex. We had sex. Hot sex. In fact, my body was still tingling.
As the miles passed by, I felt the tension in my shoulders slowly ease up. I glanced over at Hunter, watching his face as he seemed to be lost in thought, but I didn't want to disturb him. Our encounter at the motel was still fresh in my mind, and I couldn't help but find comfort in his presence. What the hell was I doing?
I had sex with a total stranger. I ran away from home and my life and I had taken up with a stranger. This could be the craziest thing I had ever done. And I had done a lot of wild stuff in my day, including hopping on a private jet with some prince of somewhere for a wild week of partying after knowing him for five minutes.
Maybe being impulsive wasn’t the smartest thing. But I just couldn’t resist.
“We should ditch the car as soon as possible,” he says. “They know this car. I have a feeling it’s not the last time we’ve seen them.”
