AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Come on!
From the corner of his eye, he spied a fire exit. He pushed the door open to find stairs, and took them two at a time, almost falling out of the door marked Ground floor/Lobby.
The same receptionist barely looked up from his laptop. ‘Did you see—’
‘I pointed her towards the taxi stand,’ he said. ‘Out the door and to the right.’
Alex didn’t bother thanking the man. He couldn’t let her wander the streets alone. It was dangerous at the best of times, but so much worse when a vengeful outlaw motorcycle club was looking for you.
He burst out onto the street. All of the buildings stood dark and uninterested in Alex’s desperate search. Street lights adorned with festive tinsel gave puddles of pale light every two hundred meters. No signs of life. A blue sign to his right halfway down the block looked like it was pointing to a train station. He took off in that direction.
She’d barely runtwo blocks before he caught up with her.
‘Where are you going?’ His usually steady voice trembled.
‘Away from you,’ she hissed.
‘Sarah, please. It’s not safe–’
‘No!’ she shouted.
Panic clouded his face. Although they seemed to be the only inhabitants in the frozen and indifferent streetscape, she lowered her voice. ‘Don’t tell me it’s not safe. I was perfectly safe until you arrived in London.’
‘And now you’re not, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you got caught up in my mess of a life. I never meant for that to happen. That’s why… ’ He ran his hand over his face and through his hair.
Sarah crossed her arms. ‘Why what?’
His chest moved up and down as he took several deep breaths. ‘That’s why I ended things between us the way I did. Why I said those horrible things to you.’
Her heart clenched at the memory. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘They knew about you.’ His voice was barely a whisper. ‘I couldn't come with you to London. You had to be as far away from me as possible. It was the only way to keep you safe.’ He looked past her, as if the truth lay hidden in a shadow. ‘I’m sorry, Sarah.’
Headlights from a lone car briefly illuminated the pain etched in his features. Her own emotions were exhausted, unable to process anything.
‘I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.’ The conviction had returned to his voice. ‘I love you, Sarah. I always have.’
Her heart skidded to a stop. For twelve long, lonely months, all she’d wanted to hear were those words from Alex Riley. Nothing about the way he’d ended their relationship had ever made sense to her. The love they’d shared had been so alive, so nourishing. It had lifted her to a plane higher than she’d ever imagined possible. She ached to feel his arms around her. To tell her that the only thing that was real was their love. Not the horror of the last few hours, and not the axe he’d hacked through her heart when he’d left her.
Sarah turned away to gather her thoughts. Maybe she’d been thinking about this all wrong. Alex had killed a man today. A man that had beaten her friend and was there to cause her harm. He’d protected her. Just as he’d protected her the night they met. And protecting her was the reason he said he ended it between them. Was it possible? Could they find a way back to each other?
She forced her brain to engage, to try to make sense of all the unimaginable events. What if Brodie was still out there? What if he had reinforcements? She thought about the dead body in her flat. Maybe Alex had killed him in self-defense, but neither of them had a scratch on them. Would they be believed? Then she remembered Heather. If she was awake, she could explain.
Sarah closed the gap between them. Reaching up, she ran her hand through his hair, a thousand memories rushing over her. Her heart began to beat again.
‘Alex, if we just explained what happened, you were protecting me.’ The words tumbled out as the thoughts formed.
Alex shook his head. ‘No one’s going to believe that, Sarah.’
‘But it’s true,’ she protested. ‘Heather will tell them, once she’s better. I know she’ll back us up.’
He took her hands between his, holding them over his heart. ‘It’s not that simple. The Devils won’t stop coming after me.’ He inhaled a shaky breath. ‘Or you.’
‘The police will help us, you’ll see. Everything is different here.’ She had to convince him of that. In London, she’d shed the shackles of her family and their secrets, she’d landed her dream job and now the man of her dreams was here. And he still loved her.
‘Sarah, I know this doesn’t make sense to you, but I’m asking you to trust me.’ His eyes pleaded with her to understand. ‘I never meant for any of this to happen, I would have stayed away. But now that you’re here with me, I can’t walk away from you. Not again.’
He really wants me?To be with Alex was all she’d ever wanted.
