AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not going to hurt you, swan.” She starts to sit up, but I bark, “Stay low.”
She drops and makes a sound like she’s choking out a sob.
“They’ll have a harder time tracking us when they realize we switched vehicles.” If they even saw us get into the van in the first place. “But if for some reason they do, they won’t find footage with you in here.”
“Who was the other man?”
“A friend.”
She sighs. I don’t know what she knows about Jacobi’s history and his skills, but she knows less about Kase’s. In both instances, it’s better she knows as little as possible.
I drive until we’re out of city limits and back on roads I know well. I pull off at a park and drive to the end of the lot Kase said has the least amount of camera coverage.
“Wait here.” I run to the hatch of the SUV and get a tote bag. I can’t help but look over my shoulder. The road is quiet. No one should’ve been able to follow us, and no one can link this vehicle to Cannon Lannister. But my nerves refuse to be tamed. Back in the driver’s seat, I wait until we’re on the road again before I hand back a water.
“Thanks,” she mumbles.
I hand her a granola bar. She takes it, but I don’t hear anything after that. She manages to take a drink without sitting up.
Next, I hand her a thin blanket and a travel pillow. “It’s going to be a couple of hours.”
“What’s going on, Cannon?”
“Wait until we’re settled, swan.”
“When I first saw you, I thought you were familiar.”
My hand tightens on the wheel. She can’t have remembered who I am. I don’t want anyone to resurrect that boy.
“I’ve seen you before,” she insists.
“We’ve never met.”
“So you’re saying I might’ve seen you before?”
I can’t contain my irritation. Seventeen years of anonymity and she’s not ruining it. I’ll tell her everything—about Roman. Not me. “Do we have to worry about this right now?”
She lets out a gusty sigh. “I appreciate the rescue, Cannon. Really. Was that Kase back there?” When I don’t answer, she lets out a disgusted sound. “Roman claims you were paid millions to kill me. I have a two-hundred-million-dollar life insurance policy, and he locked me up. If I’m valuable to anyone dead, it’s him. But you won’t give me any answers, and I can’t go back to my life to figure it out. My only choice is to do what you say and hope you’re not going to try to collect the other half of your pay. I’m tired.”
Regret hits me hard. She’s not convinced I was trying to bait Roman. “I’m not going to kill you, swan.” I’d never snuff out the beautiful bright light she is in the world.
“Doesn’t mean you won’t hurt me again.”
Again. Shame soaks up some of the lingering adrenaline in my veins. “You have more power than you think you do.”
“Do I have the power to find someone to be with who likes me? No. I’m a payday. I was a payday when Roman married me, and I’ll be a payday when I die.”
“I’m gonna make sure you don’t die.” The only way I can prove it to her is to keep her alive—and quit making fucking mistakes. I maneuver around a curve. “That’s a hell of a life insurance.”
She sounds weary when she replies, “Yeah, I had a lot of time to remember the early days and how much I trusted him. What stings is that I remember being flattered he thought so highly of me, that he worried so much about my life to insure it for so much. I’m so fucking foolish.”
“It’s not foolish to trust your spouse. And for a guy like Roman, that sounds like a standard life insurance.” I won’t tell her what my mom was insured for. Or what she insured me for. If I had quit being her way to make money, I wonder if she would’ve tried to cash in.
“Two hundred million,” she mumbles. With sarcasm, she adds, “So I shouldn’t be flattered?”
“Honestly, anything over fifty million is a compliment.”
My joke could’ve landed flat, but a giggle sputters out of her. After her laughter fades, she sighs. “I’m getting drowsy.” Fabric rustles as she shifts around. “That should be impossible.”
Tension loosens my jaw and eases its hold on my neck and shoulders. Things between us are returning to normal. She’s willing to trust me again, even if she’s angry about it, and she can laugh, if just a little.
“Get some rest.” If everything goes well, we’ll be lying low for several days, maybe even weeks. If it doesn’t, she should get some shut-eye now. She isn’t used to this stuff.
I rescued the princess from the villain. I should be happy. All those years overseas have paid off. But tonight only showed me I left that life for a reason. I don’t want to go back, but I’m not done with it until she’s safe.
