Page 28 of Pretty Hostage

But I couldn’t minimize the horrific shock of violence I’d just witnessed. I couldn’t distract myself from the memory of his beastly roar.

He would come back out of the trees soon. He’d come back into the house. There was nothing to stop him from coming into this room.

And I was trapped, locked in.

I pressed my hands against the window, and touching the cool glass jolted my brain to register the fact that it was a possible means of escape. There was hardly any drop from the windowsill to the ground outside. If the window wasn’t sealed, I could easily leave this room.

It seemed utterly ridiculous that this had never occurred to me throughout the course of the day.

Then again, I hadn’t really wanted to leave until now. I’d thought the alternatives were being forcibly taken to Daddy or going on the run.

I’d take my chances anywhere, as long as I could get away from Mateo. Sitting docilely in one monster’s lair because I was scared of others was beyond stupid behavior.

If I was going to escape, it was now or never. Mateo could walk back into the yard at any moment, and I had to start running.

I reached for the window latch, silently berating myself when it opened without resistance. God, I’d been such an idiot to not try this sooner. Instead, I’d sat in a locked room like a miserable, scolded child all day.

I pushed the window open and sat on the sill, swinging my legs outside. The night air kissed my bare legs, and I realized that I was only wearing Mateo’s huge shirt. For the space of a second, I considered going back for my dress and flats, but I couldn’t waste any precious time.

I pushed off the sill, dropping only a few feet before my toes hit the grass. Uncertain of where I was going, I took off running. I knew I had to get out of this overly-bright yard before Mateo came back, so I raced along the exterior of the brick house. I took the first left turn I could find, tucking myself into shadows.

I paused to assess my surroundings. Although it wasn’t nearly as bright as the yard, soft golden lights illuminated the area. Judging by the large, white-columned porch, I appeared to be at the front of Mateo’s house. The driveway had been designed around a central fountain, the pavement encircling the water feature. The golden light wasn’t bright enough to reveal the entire driveway, and the asphalt disappeared into darkness. I couldn’t tell how far I was from the nearest road. And even if I got to a road, I didn’t know how far I was from Mateo’s nearest neighbors.

I had to get as far away as I could, as fast as possible. Mateo would come after me the moment he realized I was gone.

There was a large structure on the opposite side of the porch. I’d initially assumed it was a wing of the house, but at second glance, I registered garage doors. I’d never seen a garage that large, but I didn’t waste any time pondering it. If I could get a car and drive away from here, that was all that mattered.

I jolted to action, sprinting to the structure. The huge doors wouldn’t open from the outside, but I quickly discovered a smaller entryway. When I darted inside, overhead lights automatically came on.

Holy shit.

Mateo had a lot of fancy cars. And motorcycles. And some strange vehicles I didn’t have a name for. I was pretty sure one of them was the Batmobile.

Before I could despair that I had no idea how to hotwire a car, I noticed the neat rows of keys hanging on the wall to my right.

I grabbed the closest one and pressed the unlock button. A black BMW flashed its lights, but it was two rows back, and I wouldn’t be able to get it out of the garage without moving other cars out of the way.

Frantic, I started pressing random unlock buttons on different keys until one of the cars closest to the door made a cheery little beeping noise.

The last thing I needed if I wanted to remain inconspicuous was a bright yellow Ferrari, but I was running out of time and options.

I found a switch near the big garage doors, and they slowly began to open. Hoping that they would somehow lift more quickly, I flung myself back toward the car and wrenched open the door before dropping into the driver’s seat. It took a few tries for me to steady my shaking hands, but I managed to get the key into the ignition.

The car roared to life, making me jump.

Shit!

Too loud. I was making too much noise.

Acting on muscle memory, I put the car in drive and slammed down on the accelerator. The Ferrari snarled, but it didn’t move an inch.

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