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The dark thoughts cause a nervous shiver down my spine.
This will work, I reassure myself. It has to.
As I watch the headlights of the car reveal the narrow road ahead, I become more lost in my head. I wish I could predict the future and knew how this will all play out. There are too many bad scenarios, but I have to have faith. I’ll be happy when this is nothing more than a faded nightmare of a memory.
I lean my head back on the seat. As my eyes flutter closed, I listen to the quiet music as we travel down the road. Events from the past two weeks flash by in a blink from Victoria showing up announcing the pregnancy to her threatening me to leave. Then there’s Tyler, who has risked so fucking much to help Liam and me. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to properly repay him for his selflessness, but I’ll never stop trying.
Eventually the car slows and we roll into a large, secluded parking lot. I must’ve drifted off because when I look at the clock, I see it’s after seven in the morning, and the sun is beginning to rise. Sitting up, I rub my hand across my face and look around. My back and neck hurt for being in the car for so long, but I suck it up. I have no right to complain about any of this.
“Oh, look. Sleeping Beauty is awake,” Tyler teases. Glancing over at him, I notice how exhausted he looks. I feel bad that he drove while I slept on and off.
“Where are we?” I finally ask because nothing looks familiar.
“Portland.”
“Already?” I look back at the clock. He told me where we were going when we first got on the road, and it seems we’ve made good time, though we’ve been driving for nearly nine hours. We only stopped for gas, and Tyler made it very clear there’d be no emergency bathroom breaks. Not as if there were tons of places to go anyway, considering how remote the areas were. I’d much prefer a gas station bathroom than squatting in the dark woods. Regardless, it seemed like time passed in a blink.
“Told you I wasn’t stopping until we got here unless absolutely necessary.” He grins, and I roll my eyes at his stubbornness. “I have some friends who live here. I trust them with my life, so I thought it’d be the safest bet for us.” Tyler pulls his phone from his pocket and sends a text, then reclines his seat back before he closes his eyes. I’m sure he’s tired from driving, so I don’t give him shit about it even if I really want to. At one point, I offered to take over just to give him a break, but he refused to let me and was overly adamant that he had it under control. Since I don’t drive at night that much, I didn’t argue.
Although I slept for a few hours, I’m still beat, and my muscles feel sore and stiff. When I open the car door, I get out and stretch. Tyler rolls down the window and barks at me. “What are you doing? Get back inside.”
“Geez, I just need a minute. My limbs feel like jelly.” I stand tall and raise my hands above my head allowing each vertebra to pop before bending over and touching my toes. Quickly, I do a few arm reaches, then get back in the car. Tyler looks at me when I rebuckle. “We can’t be too safe right now. I don’t know all of Victoria’s connections, considering who her father is, or when she’ll put a search out for the both of us. Perhaps she has already. The fewer people we come across, the better, because she has the money to have us found.”
I look around, not seeing a soul in sight. Not even a freaking bird in the sky. “There’s literally no one around us, but okay, I get it. Victoria kinda gave me PTSD too, especially after I found out she had me followed.”
“It makes me even more happy that she’ll be getting a taste of her own medicine soon. The problem with the O’Learys is no one really questions or tests them. They play by their own rules and laws and aren’t used to anyone retaliating, other than the DeFrancos, which is why they don’t like each other. Everything’s gonna work out, Maddie, but we have to be smart and not make it too easy for her. I promise, she has the money to have the entire underworld searching for us by the time the sun sets again.” Before Tyler can say anything else, his phone buzzes with a text. He opens it and grins. “Finally.”
“What is it?” I study him.
He yawns. “We’ve got a condo setup on the other side of town for as long as we need.”
