AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She opens her mouth to speak but the minute she does a fresh round of coughing rattles through her. I'm not dense I know the longer she's out in the elements the worse her sickness is going to get.
I rush into the small holding area, grab a cup and fill it with tap water. The water is a tinged brown but I don't see anything floating in it. She's not going to survive off that and neither is Chance.
I hand it to her and let her sip at it. She's right. I know she is but I don't want to believe it. I'm going to have to leave her and Chance here.
"Do I have to tell you not to leave?" I grumble out and she quickly shakes her head.
Anxiety seizes my muscles causing them to clench and tremble. I walk over to where she is and lift her face so I'm looking into her eyes. I like to think I'm a good judge of character but I need to know for sure that she's not just saying this so I'll leave. "Stella, this isn't a joke. I don't know how many people are after you and we can't stay here. If you leave there's a good chance that you'll die before you ever make it out of the forest. Chance they may leave alive but there's no way I'd ever find him."
Just the thought of not having either one of them in my life is like a steel blade being shoved through my heart. I don't know if I'd survive losing them now after I'd just found them.
"Vitto, we'll be safe. You're going to find a way to get us out of here and both Chance and I will be waiting here for you when you get back. The longer it takes for you to go the longer it's going to take for you to get back.” She tried to give me a soft smile but I didn't believe her. I had faith that she wouldn't leave right away but she was right the longer I left her here on her own the less likely it would be that she was here when I got back.
"Stella, don't fuck around. This isn't the time to play games with me." I snap at her even though she hasn't said anything to make me think she's playing.
"I'm not fucking around Vitto. I have my son here with me. I may not want to go anywhere with you but I'm not going to put him in any more danger than he's already in." She holds my gaze and I've got no choice but to believe her. This is the only way.
Once again showing how much she's changed me in the few days that I've been in her presence, I hand her back the shotgun she'd just been waving around. "Now, show me where you found this."
She nods once and the both of us go over all the different places in the cabin that she and the baby can hide if the unthinkable is to happen. She doesn't have much experience when it comes to taking care of herself but I'm just hoping that all she needs is to be safe for a few hours one way or another I'll be back before anything drastic happens.
After twenty minutes of preparing her for everything that I can I walk out of the small hunting cabin leaving both Stella and Chance on their own. It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
Twenty
Stella
I've been on my own for years.
Even when I was supposed to have the support of my friends and family I'd always felt alone. Yet I don't think I've ever felt as alone as I do now.
Chance gurgles and crawls from side to side in the small hunting cabin. A fresh clear river of snot dripped down from his nose. He smiles wide and continues to crawl away from me without a care in the world.
I wish I was as ease as he is.
Constantly I'm looking out of the window just to make sure I don't see anyone or anything coming up on us. Vitto explained the most likely areas for people to sneak up on me and we made sure to bar those spaces as well as we could.
"Chance, come back over here baby," I whisper and put my arms out for him. Instead of him listening to me he gurgles happily and crawls even further away as if this were a game. He can't tell how on edge I am.
I look over to the shotgun that is perched in the corner. I've never been comfortable around weapons but now that I know what to expect from the shotgun I feel like I'd be able to handle myself with it.
I could even figure out a way to get away from Vitto if I wanted to.
After all it's his fault that I'm in this mess.
Chance and I could've lived in peace for the rest of our lives if he hadn't upped the price on my head and now I'm on the run all over again. I thought when I got myself clean and did what I could to take care of Chance that I'd be through with all this crap. I didn't do anything to deserve this in the first place except see something I wasn't supposed to see. How was I supposed to know that I'd stumbled on a mob boss killing someone else?
Now all I wanted was to mind my business and take care of my child. It's Vitto's fault that I wasn't going to be able to do that.
My eyes travel over to the shotgun again. I've already killed someone, killing Vitto wouldn't be so hard, right? It'd just be one pull of the trigger. One shot and he'd be out of my life. Chance and I could go on the run again. We could be safe.
The opportunity is now if I wanted to get away from Vitto. All I'd have to do is pack up our stuff and leave. I'm sure I could make it back to my home before he did but that would mean I'd have to leave Vitto.
I growled and tossed my head back while I squeezed my eyes shut. Vitto's a murderer. He's the bad guy. The one that I'm supposed to be getting away from but in all my life I don't think I've had anyone care for me as intensely as he does. Not only for me but for Chance as well.
Sure I can say it's because he knows the child is his but even from before that it was almost as if Vitto was smitten with me. It was in a psychotic, stalkerish way but still it was better than anyone in my family or friend circle ever showed me.
Hell when I went off the deep end after the mob came after my parents my friends all but disappeared. I fell head first into drugs just to ease the pain and no one even showed up to let me know that I was still on their mind. It's been nearly two years since Vitto last saw me and he still looks at me as if he can't get enough.
