He’s lying to me again. Whatever his real plan is, he’s not telling it to me.
I’ve been numb for hours, but now that numbness is replaced with something that burns like gasoline.
“Just leave me here. I’ll go to California and stay with Del.”
He shakes his head. “The Iron Raptors will be looking for you too, and the first thing they’ll do is check if you’re staying with any of your friends or family.”
My stomach drops. “You’re saying… Are you saying I may have put Del in danger?”
“If you’re not there, they won’t do anything to her. But if you are, you’ll bring them straight to her doorstep.”
No. That can’t be right.
Desperation and anger claw their way up my lungs. “I didn’t kill those guys.Youdid.”
He rakes his fingers through his hair. “I know, but that doesn’t matter. They’ll want us both dead.”
“Won’t they track us back to New York then?” I ask, searching for any flaw in his logic that could give me a way out of this nightmare.
“They might. But they won’t do anything to you if they know you’re protected by Rafaele Messero. The Messero family is far too powerful for the Iron Raptors to provoke.”
I want to scream in frustration.
“We have to do this, Blake. Let’s go.” He reaches for me, but I jerk away, plastering myself to the door. I don’t want him to touch me.
“Don’t,” I snap.
Something pained flashes inside his gaze. “I need to cut the zip tie. May I?”
I glare at him for a long moment and then give a terse nod. He leans over again and quickly snaps the tie with the tip of his pocketknife.
“If you don’t come willingly, I will have to carry you inside,” he warns.
“I’d like to see you try.”
My weak attempt at bravado doesn’t seem to affect him. “I could do it easily, and you know it.”
As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. Physically, I don’t stand a chance against Nero. I can’t fight him off. I can’t outrun him. The only thing I can do is beg him to let me go or try to reason with him, but I already tried both, and I’m still here.
I push a dirty strand of hair behind my ear. “The officiant won’t marry us without my consent.”
“The officiant will do whatever I tell him to do when he sees my gun.”
The tiny balloon of hope I still had inside of me deflates.
With one last lingering look at me, he gets out of the truck. I track his movements as he walks around to my side and opens the door.
A cold desert wind blows in, whipping my hair against my face. My lips are cracked, and my skin is dry. The bruises Uncle Lyle left on me pulse with dull pain, but they’re the least of my problems.
Nero offers me his hand to help me out of the truck. I ignore it.
My Converses land on the pavement with a dull thud, but my knees are so achy from sitting inside the car for all those hours, they buckle beneath me.
Nero catches me, wrapping his palms around my waist. “Careful.”
I suck in a breath. He’s standing close to me, his brow furrowed in concern, and when his gaze snags on the bruises on my face, it darkens.
“After we’re done here, we’ll stop by a Walgreens to get more ice. I want a doctor to take a look at you, but that’ll have to wait until New York.”
