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I slam on the brakes, and he opens the door and vaults into the dark night. My heart pounds, adrenaline coursing through me as I look back.
I’m alright. We’re alive. I didn’t hit anything, and… no one’s there.
He runs into the night, but it’s only him. Whoever or whatever was there left as quickly as it came.
“What the hell was that?” I ask when he comes back to the car. “I saw someone there!”
“Someone or something,” he says with a nod. “Yeah. Have you ever used a gun?”
I gawk at him. I’m still panting, still trying to slow the rapid beating of my heart and remember how to breathe again.
“Your silence is answer enough for me. You keep driving. I’ll keep watch.”
It feels oddly symbolic. Will our whole life together be like this?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ollie
We sat alonein the garden. I had managed to convince Mikhail to give us a little space. The air was cool, the scent of blooming flowers fragrant in the air. We walked in silence as if each lost in our own thoughts.
"Tell me about you, Ollie. You've asked me about me, and I feel like you already know me. But I don't know much about you."
No one ever asked me that before.
I never wanted to tell anyone. I didn’t think anyone would ever care enough to ask.
My family knew, all my brothers, of course, but it wasn’t something we ever talked about.
I looked at her, and for some reason, felt I could trust her. I shrugged. "There's not much to tell."
"I find that hard to believe," Renata said sweetly. "I know you've been through a lot, and I think a part of you is actually really good."
I laughed, not sure how to take that. "Uh, thanks?"
"You know what I mean," she said quietly.
I did know.
"All right, I'll tell you about me if you really want to hear it." I ran a hand through my hair. How was it that I could face an enemy or a whole room full of enemies and not feel as nervous as I did now? I hated this. But there was something about her…
I took a deep breath, my eyes focusing on the distance as I began to talk. "When I was a kid, my father was involved in a bunch of shady shit. I wasn't aware yet. I was just a kid, and I didn’t realize who my father was or what he was doing. My parents would always fight at night, and I didn't know about what until that day his enemies came."
She listened intently, her eyes reflecting her emotions. She didn't move, sitting as still as a statue as I continued.
“So my father's enemies came for him one day," I tell her softly, even though my voice is still tight with emotion. "They broke into our home. My father didn't survive that day. His enemies made sure of it, and I was just a boy. Powerless."
"Ollie," she whispered, tears filling her eyes.
"I hid," I said in a whisper. “My mother and I hid and watched as they tortured and killed my father. I was just a kid, but even now, I’ll never forgive myself for hiding. For not stepping out and doing something—anything to stop them.”
She reached for my hand. "You couldn’t have stopped it, Ollie. You were just a boy, and no one could expect you to face that kind of danger alone. Your mother was probably only trying to save you.”
I shrugged. "I don’t know. It doesn't make it any easier. I think she wanted him to dead. He was terrible to her. I still wish I could've done something. If I could go back in time…"
We stood in the garden, the shared confession hanging in the air between us.
We’reten minutes out from a small motel in the northernmost corner of upstate New York. It’s midnight, and Yelp assures me this place gets less than stellar reviews, but that’s not my priority. I’m less concerned about the condition of the place and more about its strategic location. The run-down motel sits on a rise, giving me a perfect vantage point—a place where I can see any threat long before it sees us.
