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“No. I didn’t tell him.”
Giana tipped her head back and closed her eyes for a moment before she turned to look out the window. Silence settled around us and we rode in it for a few minutes. I wasn’t sure what else to say but with the way Giana was looking at me now, I couldn’t help but feel like maybe I had made a mistake by leaving.
Harper let out a breath as she pulled her car into my driveway. “I need the code to get in.”
I told her it and she punched the numbers in as Giana began to sign to me again.
“You have to tell him, Winter.”She shook her head in disapproval and gave me a knowing look.“Would you want him to do the same to you?”
“Well, no,” I told her in a rush as Harper put her car in park in front of my house. “I did it to keep him safe. You know how cruel his father is. The last thing I need him to do is come after Kai.”
“That’s not your choice to make, babe. Malakai is a grown man. You need to tell him what happened and let him make his own decisions.”
Her words took me by surprise. I didn’t expect her to be like Sutton would have been, but I also didn’t anticipate her fully being on his side. Not that there were sides to take. I just expected her to agree with me on the decision I had made.
“You know he’s not going to let this go, right? As soon as he realizes you left, he’s going to come looking for you. That man would burn down the entire world looking for you.”She raised her eyebrows at me.“You’re going to have to tell him because he’s not going to give you a choice.”
A sigh escaped me and I nodded. “I know. I was afraid he would come looking for me and I’m not sure what to do about that.”
Harper turned to look at us, the side of her face illuminated from an unknown source of light. “Were you expecting someone else?”
My eyebrows lifted as I looked out the window and saw another car racing down the driveway. My heart all but stopped in my chest and I glanced at Giana.
“That didn’t take him long,”she signed to me with a ghost of a smile playing on her lips.“I told you he’d come looking for you.”
The headlights were bright and blinding as they shined directly on me like a spotlight. I was momentarily frozen in place as time felt suspended. I looked between Giana and Harper. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Good luck,” Harper said with a touch of encouragement.
Giana smiled.“Don’t fight it, Winter. Let him in.”
I nodded at her and slowly got out of the car. Harper put it in drive and slowly drove away. Kai killed the engine of his car, his movements slow and calculated as he climbed out. His strides were long and he didn’t stop until he was standing directly in front of me.
“Hello, darling.” There was a hardness in his gaze, but his voice was smooth like honey.
I inhaled sharply as he looked down at his sweatshirt in my hand and back to my eyes. The air had left my lungs and I couldn’t formulate any words. He cocked an eyebrow at me, but didn’t comment on the stolen shirt.
“I appreciate the effort, but you can’t run away from me that easily.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
MALAKAI
Winter stared back at me as if she were completely in shock. Almost as if she wasn't expecting me to show up.Foolish girl…
When I woke up and found my bed empty, I had thought Winter slipped out to go to the bathroom. When I heard the front door to my condo closing, I knew she was leaving me instead of coming back to me. I gave her enough time to change her mind and come back, but she never returned.
I knew she was running and home was the only place she would go at this hour. After her panic attack, I thought things were okay. Apparently I was gravely mistaken. Something else was going on and I wasn’t leaving until I had an answer from her I was satisfied with.
“Why are you running from me, Winter?”
Her slender throat moved as she swallowed hard. I watched the shock and reservation vanish from her expression. My eyebrows scrunched together in confusion as a wave of fear washed over her eyes.
“Come inside with me,” she said quietly as she slipped her hand in mine and led me toward the house. She was silent as she pulled me inside and locked the door behind us. She didn’t speak another word as we ended up in the living room and she curled up in the corner of the sectional couch.
I had never been more confused and conflicted than I was in that moment. I knew there was something she hadn’t told me, but her fear left me feeling unsettled.
“What’s going on?” My tone was soft and gentle as I sat on the couch beside her. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
