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“Ma’am, is everything all right?” The officer sticks his head into my window, and I open my mouth, about to say everything is great, when he takes a step back and yanks his belt over his big belly.
“Step out of the vehicle, please.”
My fingers are shaking as I punch the unlock button and my head swivels in Nate’s direction. He looks taut, severe; his forehead wrinkled into an expression I’ve never seen on him before. It’s the first time he looks less than the most delicious and confident man on earth.
“Forgive me,” he whispers.
“For what?” Tears tickle the back of my eyeballs, and I feel my lungs shutting down. I’m drowning, unable to come up for air. I need to breathe, but an impending catastrophe is threatening me.
Please don’t try and save me, I beg him with my eyes. I’ve only known you for a short time, but I already can’t live without you.
“I want you alive and protected. This ends here.”
“Ma’am, I said step out of the vehicle.” The cop’s screechy voice is louder now, grating on each one of my nerves.
“Nate, no!” I call, punching the dashboard as he yanks out the gun we got from Seb and squeezes it to my temple. I’m shaking all over. The officer steps back and lowers himself to get a better look at what is unfolding before him. His mouth hangs open and his eyes grow wide.
“Tell the bitch to step out of the car. I kidnapped her for the money and now I don’t need her anymore. I want the car and the cash, but most of all, I want her fucking gone. Do it,” Nate says coldly.
Jesus Christ, no!
He’s throwing himself under the bus for me. Again.
“Get out of the car,” he repeats, his voice like steel. “Out. Before I put a bullet in your fucking skull.”
“Ma’am, I ask you to step out of the vehicle immediately,” the officer says.
Nate knows exactly what he’s doing. If I step out of this mess right now, they’re going to either arrest him, if he doesn’t run away—or kill him, if he tries. As for me, I could walk away unscathed. But that’s not what I want. Not what I signed up for. We’re in this together, and I don’t care if he’s wanted by the police, Godfrey, the Aryan Brotherhood and the FBI.
“Beat,” I warn. It makes no difference whether the officer recognized Nate or not, because every version of him is breaking approximately five thousand rules in a row right now.
“Get out,” he says, this time almost pleadingly. The look on his face tears me to shreds from inside. “It was a cool ride, but we’re done here. Save your ass, Pea.” Then, on a whisper only I can hear. “Please.”
In the background, the officer is calling for backup while begging me to step away from the car. There’s a lot of commotion, more blue and red lights approach us, and the gun is still glued to my temple. Nate’s eyes are beseeching. He really does want me to get up and leave, even though it was my idea to send the world up in flames. He was getting by just fine until I barged into his life.
And now he wants to take my heat? To burn in hell for my sins?
This guy is delusional. I’m not leaving him. Ever.
“Screw you,” I mutter, revving up the engine and throwing the car into drive. I almost run over the officer’s feet as I pump the gas several times to gain more speed. The acrid scent of burnt rubber seeps into my nose and I open my mouth, gulping air. Say what you want to say about this car, but it is fast. Faster than Stella, God bless her heart. Or engine, in this case.
“What the fuck!” Nate yells while the car shimmies under the strain of its new speed. “What. The. Fuck?! Do you realize what you’ve just done? Why? Why, Cockburn? Why are you fucking your life up to try and save an asswipe with no future?” He is yelling and punching his seat, the door, everything around him but me. Though I suspect I’m the only thing he wants to punch right now. “I’m done, but you can still go and live in fucking Iowa, which, by the way, was the home of the person who invented sliced bread. Did you know that? I do. You know why? Because I googled the shit out of the place you want to live in. Because I love you. Because I fucking need you alive and safe! Pull over right now and go with Officer Incompetent before it’s too late. Do it fucking now.”
“No!” I pump the gas again, sliding off the highway and onto a side road. The officer didn’t even have a chance to get into his cruiser yet, but I know that soon enough, the police are going to be on our tail.
