This was probably the most stupid thing I had ever done. Running away without any idea where I was going or what I was doing.
I needed to go back. Carefully, because it was a miracle, I hadn’t slipped on the wet pavement the way I had sprinted out of there.
There was a tiny little coffee shop on the next corner, and my feet headed that way instead. It made more sense to get myself into somewhere warm and safe and give Keeley a call. Gio would be mad, but he would have someone come and get me to take me home. And while I waited, I could gather my thoughts about me.
Ghost had been right. This part of my life was over. No more London and no more Savage Sons. I wasn’t built for their crassness and their nasty ways. I just wanted to go home.
Pushing into the shop, I stood there for a second. It was as empty as the street. Only an elderly woman behind the counter. She took one look at me and came around.
“You look like hell, love.” She shook her head. “What are you doing running around in the rain in your condition? Come and sit down and I’ll get you a nice cup of tea.”
Shrugging off my soaked black coat, I let her help me into one of the seats. “Thank you.”
She hovered for a second. “Are you sure you’re ok?”
“Yes.” Placing my hands on the table, I stared at them and willed them to stop shaking. They didn’t, so I twisted my finger together. “I was just at a…”
Her eyes swept over my dress. “A funeral. I see. Well, you warm up and I’ll get you a nice cup of tea.”
I smiled my thanks at her and went back to staring at my hands.
I needed to call someone and to let them know I was safe, but I just couldn’t seem to force myself to move.
Legacy had every right to be mad at me because he didn’t know the truth. I just hadn’t expected to be attacked like that, not right there. And then there was Pocket.
My hand curved around the swell of my stomach, and I smiled.
Keeley had never once asked me who the father was, so I hadn’t offered the information, but I had expected Pocket to ask.
I had practised what I would say to him. How I would explain, but he hadn’t asked. In fact, he hadn’t said anything at all. All he had done was look at me with disgust and the kind of dismissal that shattered my heart.
I was so stupid to think that only because I had thought about him non stop that he had been doing the same.
The door opened, letting in a gust of cold air and rain, but I didn’t look up.
“Hello?” A pair of shiny black shoes and the cuff of tailored black trousers filled my view as the man stopped right by my chair.
I let out a sigh. “Hi.” I said without looking up. “I was just going to call Gio. Can you let them know that I am fine and that I am sorry? I didn’t mean to run away like that. It was silly and—”
The chair opposite me scraped back, and my head snapped upwards to stare at the man.
“It was silly,” he said softly. His voice was overly friendly, and I blinked in surprise.
He looked like someone who would work for Gio. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark suit, and that’s what I’d assumed he was. Someone Gio and Keeley had sent after me. But he wasn’t looking at me like I was a stranger and he wasn’t making a move to call his boss, either.
“Don’t worry, I’ll text him.” I reached for my bag and his hand lashed out and smashed my hand down onto the table.
“Put the phone down, Chloe.” His fingers squeezed as he barked out the order. I dropped the phone back into my bag and froze.
“You don’t work for Gio,” I said flatly.
“No. I don’t work for anyone but myself.” His fingers flexed around my wrist in time with my thundering heart beat.
“And I’ve been looking for you for such a long time to bring you home where you belong.”
My heart took off at a gallop. Lifting my eyes, I searched his face. I didn’t know him and he looked different to how I imagined, but I knew who he was. He haunted my nightmares.
The man sitting opposite me, holding my arm in a vice-like grip, was the reason I had never had a normal life.