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“No, unfortunately not. But I still thank you for that.”
“So the guy was just someone your husband sent after you?”
She nodded.
“Why?” I asked.
She cleared her throat and looked at her lap. Then she reached up and wiped more blood from her lip with the back of her hand. Seeing that motion enraged me, and I honestly wanted to kill that guy all over again. Slower this time, with more pain involved.
“You don’t need to explain if you don’t want to,” I said. And she didn’t. Who cared? Tomorrow she’d be on her way again.
She took my offer with a faint smile. I watched as she ran her slender hand through her hair and tucked a strand behind her ear. Her eyes stayed fastened to the road ahead.
“Please don’t think I’m ungrateful. I’m really glad that you showed up when you did,” she whispered.
I glanced at her and nodded. She could be in much more danger than she thought. Whoever that piece-of-shit husband of hers was, he was willing to send men after her who would hurt her badly or, even worse, rape and kill her. And, if they succeeded, they wouldn’t leave a trace of her behind.
I rubbed my thumb along the steering wheel and swallowed hard. After what I witnessed, no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn’t be safe anywhere in this country. Not South Africa. It cost less than a bag of dope to hire a hitman. And she seemed to have seen her fair share of horrors. Why else was she so calm when I took out that woman-beating asshole?
I checked my side mirror to see if we were being followed. Nothing so far.
“I want to ask you something...” she said, interrupting my thoughts.
Here we go. This was the point where she would ask who the hell I was. Avoiding that singular question was why I tried to keep a low profile. And here I was, on the run with another person who was also on the run. One that seemed to have almost as much trouble written all over her as I did.
“Go ahead...” I said, not knowing what else to do.
“Can I... trust you?”
I pressed my lips together and glanced at her quickly between the flashes of headlights. “To keep you alive for as long as you’re with me? Yes. To never hurt you like that man did? Yes. Anything else?” I narrowed my eyes. “No.”
She nodded, and I figured she understood. Then she shut her eyes and took a deep breath. “That’s more than anybody else has ever done for me. Thank you.”
I focused on my driving.I should be worried about myself. I should be running for my own life.But when I looked over at her beside me, she seemed so innocent yet strong, so in need of protection yet willing to fight the world without it.
“How long have you been running from your husband?” I asked, which surprised me too. Moments ago, I decided no more personal questions. And now this.
She blinked back at me. “Almost a year.”
“Damn. He’s a determined fellow, huh? Was tonight the first time someone came after you?”
She shook her head. “I lived in Johannesburg for a few months. Someone broke the door in when I was out. Stole some cash, a couple of rings, and left a message he’d come back later for me.” She sighed and pressed her palm against her forehead, as if ashamed. “This mess is my own fault for marrying that monster.”
I shook my head. “The heart can be our worst enemy.”
“Or our best friend.”
“So you’re one of these glass-half-full people?” I joked.
She smiled wide. “It depends on the day.” Her face dazzled in the low light.
I took the exit off the highway out of the city. When I glanced at my rearview mirror, I wasn’t surprised. A black SUV was following us right on our tail, traveling just as fast as we were.
Chapter 4
Elise
Icould hear my heart beating hard against my ribcage as Andrei brought the engine to a roar. My fingers dug into my seat as I took a deep breath. I had no idea where Andrei was taking us, but when I looked over at him, I was certain he knew what he was doing.
