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My eyes flick to the door and back to him. “Just like that?”
He nods.
“This isn’t some trick where I run off and you shoot me in the back?” I’ve seen plenty of movies where the bad guys give someone hope, let them run, and then kill them when they are close to freedom. It’s a cruel trick.
“No.” A single word. A simple answer. My freedom is in that word.
My eyes trail around the group. Gage still won’t look at me, his knife digging harder into the table. Booker meets my eyes straight on, his chin tilted back. When I meet Eric’s eyes, I see forgiveness and understanding.
Somehow, that’s more painful.
“When?” I ask.
Archer gestures towards the door. “Right now.”
“I don’t even know where we are,” I begin. “I don’t even have shoes.”
Archer digs into his pocket and pulls out the keys. The jingle draws my gaze, and I watch as he tosses them on the table. They slide towards me and stop just within reach.
No one says a word.
I stare at the keys, then glance at the door, knowing the car is right outside. It’s my ticket out, and here they are, offering me freedom…
Why am I hesitating?
“This feels like a cruel trick,” I rasp out. “The moment I grab the keys, you’re going to kill me.”
“No trick,” Archer reassures me. “You’re free.”
Eric watches me sadly, his eyes on my shaking hand as it twitches towards the keys.
Freedom is within my reach.
“Go,” Gage rumbles. “Leave.”
It’s a threat, as if he wants to kill me where I stand rather than allow me to step outside the door.
That threat has me moving on instinct. I snatch up the keys on the table and move fast, faster than I ever have before. My dirty feet slide on the floor as I race towards the door and slam through it so hard, it bangs against the side of the house and swings inward. I’m already digging my toes into the mud and rushing towards the black car. Desperation claws at me. My heart pounds as I run, as the keys jingle between my fingers. I almost expect pain to explode from my back, but when I glance behind me, no one follows. The door swings closed so I can’t see where they sit, but apparently, no one is giving chase.
Still, I don’t slow. With shaking hands, I swiftly unlock the car, almost dropping the keys in the process, and then jerk the driver’s door open before sliding inside. The locks engage immediately when I hit them. I’m panting and trembling so hard, it takes me three tries to get the key in the ignition. If this were a horror movie, the audience would be cursing me out as I try and fail, leaving me vulnerable to the killer. But these killers aren’t giving chase, and the moment I get the key in the ignition, it’s like I’m doused in ice-cold water.
I pause, my gaze catching on my reflection in the mirror. My hair is still wild, though more so now that I’ve been frantically running. My eyes are hollow, but the fight I’ve always prided myself on reflects back at me. For a second, I slipped back into Birdie, but Genevieve is here now, and she’s strong. Birdie would have been proud of the hurricane I’ve become, but even she would look me in the eyes right now and ask me what I’m doing.
There’s no one waiting for me. No one is even looking for me anymore. With Chaz not doing anything more than acting like a grieving fiancé, who else will care if I return?
My eyes trail over to the old farmhouse. Despite its role as my prison, it feels warmer than my apartment ever did. If I leave, I’ll be returning to a cold, vacant flat still marked with police tape. It’s just an empty, sterile penthouse. If I go back, I’m going back to nothing. No fiancé. No friends. No family.
They were right…
I’ve reached all the heights I said I was going to and achieved my dreams, but at what price? I’m far lonelier now than I ever was on the streets.
Sighing, I shove my hair back and meet my eyes in the mirror.
“What the fuck are you doing, Genevieve?” I snarl at myself, as if it’ll help. “Freedom is right here. Just start the car and go.”
But I don’t. I sit here with the key sitting in the ignition, the car off. The sight of Eric’s eyes, the forgiveness there, has me looking at the old farmhouse again.
Eric, Booker, Archer, and Gage are thieves and kidnappers, and a far better family than I’ve ever known in my life. They say the best family is the one you choose, not the one you’re born with. They proved that. Despite everything, despite the way they treated me, despite it all…
