I’m in a fog of helplessness, my hands slick with sweat. He’s going to drive off without her… he’s going to leave her here! He doesn’t care about her at all. What an idiot I am! Of course hedoesn’t!
He’s turned onto the small road that leads to the highway. Where is she? Where did Dolores take her? He’s going to leave—what can I do?
I’m in such distress I barely notice the car lurch to a stop. Logan rushes out into the road, and I gape to see him run toward Dolores. She stares at him in shock as he lifts up Aurora and puts her in the car seat. Then he says a few words to Dolores that I can’t make out, and she clambers into the back seat.
“What about my clothes? My belongings?” she grumbles.
“I’ll get you whatever you need,” he answers tersely.
I stare at him mutely, then hastily dry my tears and turn toward my daughter. She’s babbling just as cheerfully as ever, launching into a monologue to tell me all about her afternoon.
All I can whisper is, “Baby,” and reach out behind me to latch onto her tiny hand.
“I promised you I’d never hurt her,” mutters Logan, pressing down on the gas pedal. “Didn’t I?”
I nod, my throat constricting when I see the pain in his eyes.
“I’m… sorry.”
He doesn’t answer, turning his full attention to the road.
It’s only when we’ve merged onto the nearest highway that I think to ask, “What now? Where are we going?”
He marks a long pause, before saying at last, “I have no fucking clue.”
_
We drive in silence for a long time, and although Logan stares straight in front of him, I can tell by the way he makes sudden hairpin turns, switching lanes, leaving the highway repeatedly to merge onto other roads, that he’s running.
I’m reminded of the way I escaped him, driving as fast as I could, taking as many different roads as possible to make my trace harder to pick up.
But I only made it one month before they found me. How much time do I have left with Logan?
The thought makes panic crawl up my chest and into my throat.
“Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay.” He tears his eyes away from the road for a moment to look at me. “I won’t let him take you. You’remycaptive, remember?”
I nod, trying hard not to cry.
“If he gets you, it’ll be over my dead body,” he adds through gritted teeth.
“I don’t want you to die,” I breathe.
“That’s not going to happen. That’s not going to fucking happen!”
He sounds like he’s convincing himself, though. I squeeze my hands between my legs. “What happened? How did he find us? Did the don change his mind?”
Logan doesn’t answer right away, and I sink back in my seat, succumbing to my thoughts. It was crazy to think we could hide for very long. I know the boss wants Carmelo to focus on Idaho and on the Tito and Stefano thing. His son is nothing if not under his thumb—but he’s also very proud. It was only a matter of time before that pride got the better of him.
I’ve escaped him, and he won’t rest until I pay for that.
“The don is dead,” says Logan, breaking his silence.
Oh. Fuck.
“The don is dead, and Carmelo wants you back.”
I squeeze my hands into nervous fists. “And he found out where I’m am? How?”