AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do you think we’ll ever get out of here?” I whisper. “Find love. Maybe start a family?”
Gabby pushes her lips to one side. Her eyes get sunken all of a sudden. “I try not to think about it, Sia. I’ve been here a long time now.”
“Never tried to escape?” I ask.
“Of course. Summer time is the easiest to try. We won’t freeze to death. But the night is still terrifying in the woods. There are bears, bugs, all sorts of terrible things out there. Not to mention, Leandro always finds us.”
Hearing her say the words forms a pit in my stomach. Him and his fucking chases. We aren’t game.
“He wants you to run,” I say through gritted teeth.
Gabby nods sadly. “This is his playground. He built it just so.”
“In that case, Anabel struck a good blow last night.” Anger starts to flare up in me.
Gabby shrugs. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Don’t tell me you see it like Maria does, too.” I lean closer.
Gabby raises her eyes to meet mine. “I don’t know anymore, Sia. Bruno’s death hurt more than anything in my life. You know how it is. We were high-school sweethearts, just like you and Joey.”
She’s kind not to bring up how awful my man was. There’s nothing lower than a rat in our world.
“I never loved Joey,” I admit.
“Then why…?” She’s shocked.
“I don’t know. I guess I felt he’s the best I could get. I held on to that bad boy, popular kid image. The way people looked at us in the hallways. His confidence. It drowned out everything else, and I clung to it for a long time. Then things turned ugly.”
Gabby nods. She knows the whole story.
Footsteps come our way, and there’s frantic knocking on the door.
“Come in,” Gabby says with a furrowed brow.
Jane’s eyes are wide. “Come out. Leandro is down here.”
I forget how to breathe and reach for Gabby’s hand.
Her skin grows cold to the touch, as does mine. Are we in trouble? Maybe he’s going to execute one of us for last night’s breach.
Oh no. We slowly inch off the bed.
Jane is tall and hides us, but I can already see him down the way. White tank top failing to cover up a body of lean muscle and sleeves of tattoos. His left arm is flexed, holding a duffel bag, and his hazel eyes pierce through me like spears.
Why is he looking only at me?
I want to scream ‘I’m not Marissa,’ but I fear something like that will end me up in a ditch.
His gaze sends goosebumps prickling my arms. I want to hide behind Jane and Gabby, or better yet, run back into her room.
When we get to the living area, Maria is the only one unbothered by his visit. The woman really is confident in her position. It makes me wonder if she’s a plant to keep an eye on us. No, that’s crazy. Who would—?
“Take a seat,” Leandro’s voice rattles the space. There’s so much testosterone emanating from him that I’m actually intrigued just as much as I am scared. “Not you.”
I stop in my tracks, giving him a confused look.
“You’re coming with me.”
