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I rested my head against the cool glass of the car window and stared out at the vehicles streaking past us on the highway beyond.
I just … I just couldn’t believe what had happened. I was still trying to wrap my head around the enormity of it, but it felt impossible. How could I begin to make sense of it? I had woken up to Alex cursing, reaching for his gun, getting me out of bed, the smell of smoke filling my senses, and then, the sight of those bodies scattered on the floor of the entrance hall. I had never seen a dead body before, but tonight, I had seen more than most people would over the course of their entire lives.
And now, we were on the run. Where to, I wasn’t sure, but we had to put as much distance between ourselves and that mansion as possible. Gregor had found us, found out who had taken me. Had he intended for me to die in there? Had he somehow found out that I’d had sex with Alex, and this was his way of punishing me? It always felt as though he had eyes everywhere, and I shivered at the thought of him knowing what I had done, even though I was sure it was impossible.
Alex took my hand and brought it to his lips, planting a kiss against the back of it.
"Hey," he murmured. "You’re okay, Morgan. You’re okay."
I wanted to believe him, I really did, but I wasn’t sure that I could, not after what I had seen today. I had always known Gregor was a violent man, a man willing to do anything to get what he wanted, but at the same time, I had never imagined he would take it as far as that. Burning down a house, with people inside it? Killing Alex’s guards like that? I didn’t even want to think what might have happened had his staff still been there. Even the thought of it was enough to make me shiver in horror. I knew I shouldn’t have let it get to me, but how could I not?
If Alex hadn’t found out about the marriage, if he hadn’t discovered that I had been married off to Gregor, then none of this would have happened. All of this was my fault, there were no two ways about it, and that horrified me. I was the reason for all the violence, all those people dead, and I was sure it wasn’t going to end just like that.
It was such a shock, after the intensity of the emotion I’d felt earlier when I’d finally given myself to Alex. That had been more than I could ever have imagined it would be, more than I could ever have asked for, and I just wanted to go back to that feeling of resting my head against his chest, inhaling the scent of him, letting myself get lost to the intensity of that closeness between us.
But I was naive to think it could have lasted, even for an instant. Someone like Gregory was never going to let me get away that easily, no matter how much I wished he would. No, he had decided I belonged to him, and that meant he would do anything to drag me back into his grasp.
I wasn’t sure how long we had been driving, but I could see Alex’s eyes starting to droop. I couldn’t imagine how brutal this had been for him, seeing his family home destroyed like that. Was he starting to regret playing the hero, coming to me to try and keep me safe? Was it worth it? I wanted to ask him, but I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know the answer. Maybe it would have hurt too much to find out.
On the side of the highway outside Bianco, a sleazy motel came into view with a vacancy sign flickering intermittently above the parking lot. Alex pulled the car in and helped me out as I gripped onto him for dear life.
"You think we’ll be safe here?" I asked him nervously. It seemed too exposed, too close to the road. Anyone could have seen us booking in.
"It’s the best we’ve got for now," he replied, squeezing my hand comfortingly. I wasn’t sure what I would have done if he wasn’t there with me. Though I had married Gregor, I wasn’t part of this world, not really, and being faced with so much bloodshed had sent a shockwave of terror through my system the likes of which I’d never felt before. I thought losing my father had been hard, but it was nothing compared to how this felt.
Alex booked us into a room, paying in cash. He had a go-bag in this car with a phone and some money to get him by for a few days. It wasn’t something I had ever given much thought to, but I guessed it made sense for him to be ready to make a break for it at any given moment.
We arrived at the small, slightly run-down room we were going to be calling home for the foreseeable future, and he closed the door behind us, double-checking to make sure it was locked. I sat down on the edge of the bed, hardly able to feel my body—it was as though I was drifting outside of myself, staring down at myself as I tried to figure out just how I felt.
"Are you okay?" Alex asked as he made his way over to me, sinking down between my legs and planting his hands on my knees. His touch was grounding, and my mind started to shift back into sense once more. My eyes widened, and I shook my head.
"I need to talk to my family," I blurted out. "Shit, my mom, my brother—what if Gregor goes after them? What if he already has?"
Alex smoothed my hair back from my face, his touch tender and caring.
"You can call them," he replied. "Do you know the number off the top of your head?"
"Of course I do," I replied, and he handed me the phone, where I dialed my mom’s number with shaky hands. I lifted it to my ear, silently praying that she was going to pick up. Come on, come on, come on …
And then, after a few rings, she did. Her voice was bleary as she greeted me.
"Hello?"
"Mom," I blurted out, and she let out a cry of shock.
"Morgan!” she exclaimed. "Is that you? Honey, are you okay?"
"I’m fine," I told her, a lump forming in my throat as I spoke to her.
"Where are you? What’s happening?" she asked. "Gregor told us—he came and he told us you were gone. That someone took you. What …?"
I could hear the fear in her voice, and I hated that she had been so worried about me, but there was no way I could have shared more with her than she already knew. I knew my mom and how much she wanted to help, and if she thought she had information that might keep me safe, she would have shared it with Gregor in an instant, no matter how much she hated him.
"I’m okay, Mom," I promised her. "I’m safe. That’s all you need to know."
"Really?" she pressed me. "You sound … scared."
I bit my lip hard, holding back the tears. She could always tell when there was something going on with me; no point trying to hide it from her.
