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She took a stroll.
A short bark of disbelieving laughter escapes me, and she shrinks under the weight of my anger.
I turn away and run my hand down my face in exasperation, trying my best not to explode on her.
“Here I am, looking all around for you and wondering where the fuck you could have gone to or if anyone had taken you captive while I was turned away from you, but you mean to tell me that you were taking a stroll?”
My voice shakes with anger, and I pause to calm myself.
“Have you forgotten what’s at stake? Or do you no longer care for your safety?” My tone is softer this time, although it still holds a residue of anger.
“I’m sorry. I should have let you know before I walked off. It’s just been a while since I could truly walk around without looking behind my back, and I thought I would return before you finished,” she explains, shifting on her feet.
A sigh escapes me. I can’t stay mad at her for long, especially since I understand what she must be going through. It can’t be easy to lose your freedom so quickly with no hope in sight of regaining it.
“It’s dangerous to walk off on your own, no matter how much you desire to be out again. Let’s go. You can have the tacos at home.”
She nods, following me in silence. The car ride is quiet and my eyes drift to her every few minutes. It would have been the perfect end to our outing to go to a movie or have fun, whatevershe wanted to do. However, I have a feeling she wishes to return home.
I sigh once again, focusing back on the road.
“I’m sorry for snapping at you. I could have handled the situation better, but I’d thought the worst and it just—” I cut off my words, frustrated by how today had turned out.
She nods and turns to me. “It’s all right. You don’t need to apologize. I should have told you where I was going.”
She smiles at me; however, it doesn’t reach her eyes. She’ll feel better when she gets home and eats.
Her stomach growls, and I smile.
“Good thing we’re already on our way back. You can have your food and get some rest.”
She blushes and holds her stomach before looking out the window.
My attention is drawn to the rearview mirror, and a frown settles on my face. I hadn’t given it much thought as a result of the guilt I felt for snapping at her like that. But I’d seen the black car that was currently behind us before.
Suspicious, I swerve to the right, overtaking a car just ahead of us to see what will happen.
Amelia turns to me with a confused look on her face, obviously wondering why I’d just increased our speed.
“Tanner, I specifically told you, no speeding.”
“Sorry, love. Can’t have you hungry for too long now, can I? I have to make sure the princess is fed, otherwise the others will not be happy with me,” I say, plastering on a smile.
She rolls her eyes at me before turning back to her window to look at the passing cars.
I focus back on the car, and much like I suspected, it drives past the car I overtook, keeping us in sight.
Shit! Shit! Shit! I should’ve known it was a bad idea to continue to indulge her desire to go out.
My hands tighten around the steering wheel. She can’t find out about this. It’ll only make her worry and feel guilty, especially after I just yelled at her about this.
I need to find a way to get us out of this situation before it becomes unavoidable.
“There’s something I need to take care of back home, so I’ll have to drive faster,” I warn her just before increasing my speed.
I weave in and out of traffic, discreetly looking at the mirror to confirm that I have indeed put some distance between us and them.
The headlights of the black car are visible in the mirror when I look back again.
