1. Adriana #4
His good eye opens, focusing on me with difficulty. For a second he just stares, like he can't quite believe I'm real. "Adriana?" His voice is rough, barely more than a rasp. "What... what are you doing here?"
"I came to get you out." I'm already looking around, trying to figure out how to move him, where to take him. "Can you stand? We need to—"
"No." He tries to shake his head and winces. "No, you need to go. If they find you here—"
"I don't care." I look around for something to cut the zip ties on his wrists and ankles, and eventually find a toolbox and something with a sharp edge. He groans with pain as I saw at the zip tie around his wrists, jostling his broken hand, but when it snaps free, he lets out a breath of relief.
When he's freed, I slide my arm under his shoulders, trying to help him up. He's so much heavier than I expected—solid muscle and dead weight. "Come on. We're leaving. Together. Like we planned."
"Adriana—"
"We'll go upstate. We'll find a way to get into Canada. Or we can go hide somewhere in the Midwest. Or—or anywhere. Somewhere far away where my father can't find us. We'll change our names, we'll—"
"Stop." His hand—the one that isn't broken—catches my wrist. "Stop, please. You can't... you can't come with me."
"Yes, I can. We can—"
"Your father will never stop looking for you.
" Lachlan's eye is locked on mine, and the hopelessness in his expression that makes my chest tighten.
"You're his daughter. His property. He'll hunt you to the ends of the earth, and when he finds you, he'll kill us both.
Slowly. You know that. Even if I were to lie again, say I kidnapped you…
there's no guarantee he'd believe it a second time. "
"I don't care—"
"I care." His grip on my wrist tightens. "I care, Adriana. I'm not letting you throw your life away for me."
"You threw yours away for me!" The words come out too loud, echoing in the empty building. I lower my voice, leaning closer. "You lied to save me. You let them do this to you. How is that different?"
"Because I chose it." His voice cracks. "I chose to save you. Don't take that away from me by getting yourself killed."
Tears start streaming down my face again, and I feel like they'll never stop. "I can't just leave you. I can't—"
"Yes, you can." He pulls me closer with his good hand, until our foreheads are touching.
"You have to. It's the only way this works.
If you stay, if you tell your father you're sorry, that you were raped, that you couldn't stop me...
he might let you live. But if you run, if you disappear with me, he'll never stop hunting us.
Every moment of our lives will be spent looking over our shoulders.
Every knock on the door could be him. Every stranger could be one of his men. Is that what you want?"
"I want you." The words are barely a whisper. "I just want you."
"I know." His thumb brushes across my cheek, wiping away tears. "I know, baby. But you can't have me. Not like this. Not if it means you die too."
"So what, I'm just supposed to let you go? Pretend this never happened?"
"You're supposed to live, Adriana. Try to be happy. That's all I want. That's all I've ever wanted."
"I can't be happy without you. I can't live without you—"
"You'll learn." He leans back, his hand falling away from my face. "Now go. Before someone realizes you're gone. I can sneak out of here myself."
"Lachlan—"
"Go, Adriana. Please." His eye closes, and I can see how much this is costing him, how much pain he's in physically and emotionally, how exhausted he is. "I can't... I can't watch you die. I can't. So please, just go."
I should argue more, fight harder. I should refuse to leave until he lets me go with him.
But he's right. I know he's right.
If I run, my father will never stop hunting us. His reach is too long, his resources too vast. We'd spend every day waiting for the other shoe to drop, for someone to find us, for the bullet or the knife or the hands around our throats.
But if I stay, if I play the victim, if I let Lachlan take all the blame…
He might escape. He might survive.
It's the only way.
"I love you," I whisper. "I love you so much."
"I love you too." His voice breaks on the words. "Now go."
I lean forward and kiss him, tasting blood and salt and earth on his mouth. His lips are swollen and split, but he kisses me back anyway, pouring everything we can't ever have again into this one last moment.
When I pull away, I don't look back. If I look back, I'll never leave. I make it to the door before his voice stops me.
"Adriana."
I pause, my hand on the doorframe.
"I'll come back for you. Someday. When it's safe, when I'm strong enough to protect you. I'll come back."
I want to believe him. I want to hold onto that promise like a lifeline, enough to keep me from drowning for the rest of my days, until he comes back to me.
But we both know it's a lie.
"Okay," I whisper anyway. "I'll wait."
Then I step out into the darkness and leave him behind.