Page 7 of The Beast

“Somebody is following us,” he muttered, his voice just barely above a growl. I looked into the side mirror and saw a black SUV speeding along behind us. I pushed my back against the seat and gasped for more air.

“Sit tight and hold on,” he told me.

I watched him checking the mirror from time to time while he kept us going at a nice clip, driving at a speed that would have made my grandmother shudder. I tried to calm myself, counting my breaths.In... one... two... three. Out... one... two... three.

We turned onto a busier road and headed east. I didn’t know where we were, but it didn’t matter. All that was important was that we keep driving faster than the vehicle behind us.

He took a sharp left turn. The street was quiet with just a few houses, and it soon turned into a gravel road without any houses at all. There was so much dust behind us that it was difficult to tell if the other car was still following.

Andrei turned left again, and we were back on a paved road with cars parked along the side. Behind us, the SUV made the same turn. I noticed that a train crossing ahead of us was lowering its barriers with blinking red lights. Andrei didn't show any signs of slowing down. I waited for him to press on the brake, but he kept his foot on the gas. I started to worry he would smash right into the train and braced myself for impact, squeezing my eyes shut tight.At least I won’t die at my husband's hands.The days of torture and being his punching bag would be over. But just as I prepared myself for the worst, I heard a loud train horn right next to me, and moments later, Andrei finally slowed down.

Cautiously, I opened my eyes. We weren’t dead. Instead, we were going perfectly with traffic again, on the other side of that long train that was now blocking the SUV that had chickened out.

I exhaled, thankful we’d made it through that. I’d been holding my breath for so long I felt giddy.

“I’m sorry for that,” he said, glancing over at me.

I smiled faintly, which I hoped reassured him that I wasokay. He didn’t have to be sorry. All this was my fault. I was just grateful that we were still alive.

“It’s all right. We lost them. That’s all that matters,” I said.

I kept quiet after that. Honestly, I just didn’t know what to say, so I allowed my head to rest against the car seat and closed my eyes. Not a day went by that I didn’t wish I’d listened to my ultra-religious parents who objected to Marcello. Usually my parents were batshit crazy and not a reliable source for anything, but even they saw the warning signs I chose to ignore thanks to Marcello’s good looks, humor, and wealth. I knew he was a powerful man, but I had no idea he was a psychopathic criminal. Or cruel. It was almost like in one of these bad movies. Literally the day after we got married, he showed his true colors: a slap in the face because I had accidentally interrupted him talking to one of his thugs. The memory disturbed me, and I opened my eyes and sighed.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“It’s better if I don’t tell you.” Andrei’s voice was solemn and quiet.

I glanced at him. I wasn't scared of him—his presence was still a comfort. But there was something different about him since we’d started running from that SUV. There had been a shift in his attitude, he’d become more intense and focused, like this washisproblem and he was hell-bent on solving it.

We kept driving out of town and turned onto a quiet road. Outside the window, I could make out the outlines of bushes and trees whizzing past. We kept driving for a while until we came to a nondescript road. It was dark, illuminated only by our headlights.

Andrei eased the car into the turn. At first, I thought it might be a dead end, this far from the city. But as we drove deeper into the thick, dry forest, the road continued on and on.

After a few minutes, he slowed the car to a stop along the roadside and got out. I followed him, wondering all the while where the hell I was.

He crossed in front of the car and moved toward me and then, in one smooth gesture, covered my shoulders with his coat. I hadn’t seen him grab it from the backseat, but I was glad for the warmth. I didn’t realize how cold I had been until that moment.

I smiled up at him, appreciatively. He gave me a tight-lipped nod and then locked the car doors with a click of his keys.

An African wild dog howled in the distance as he led us off the road and flicked on a small flashlight that he’d produced from under a rock. He directed the beam onto a narrow path that led through some bushes beyond. I was glad for his jacket, shielding me from the wet chill, but I was still wearing my sandals, which didn't help things. I looked down, following in his muddy footsteps. My feet were drenched in dirt and dead leaves, but I didn’t really care. I was just glad that wherever he was taking me was far away from people.

Normally, I might have asked more questions.What is this place? How do you find it?But I was mentally and physically drained, and it was too late to run anyway. If he had wanted to hurt me, he would have already done it or just left me with my husband’s thugs. But he’d protected me, and as much as I tried to block the memory... fucking killed for me without even knowing me!

So, I hurried after him as he moved through the underbrush, the gentle whooshing of leaves brushing against our clothes as twigs crunched under our feet.

He stopped in front of a wood cabin with solar panels. Not a big one, but not small either. Andrei allowed the flashlight’s beam to rest on the door.

He opened it and stepped aside, allowing me to walk in first. I did as directed and paused by the door, waiting for him to follow. Moving through the threshold, he flicked a switch to the right of the door and an overhead light flickered on. I blinked a few times and swept my eyes across the room.

I was standing in what seemed to be a small living room with two leather couches. The floor and walls were made of wood. At the center of the room lay a circular oriental carpet.

Classic... and clean.

Seriously, every inch of the place was sparkling.

"Water?" he offered. I nodded gratefully.

The thought of a warm drink after the cold night we’d just walked through sounded like heaven, but I also didn’t want to seem rude.

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