Chapter Sixty-Seven Ella
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Ella
Istare out through the back windows, not really seeing the scenery rushing past. Trees. Frost. Road. It all blurs together.
We jumped into this van at the edge of the forest. The driver, another Freemont agent, was waiting for us. The transfer was seamless.
A new set of clothes was laid out inside. I pulled them on with Rhia’s help.
She keeps glancing at me with worried eyes, but I don’t have the energy to reassure her that I’m fine. Or that I will be.
I wouldn’t be telling the truth.
I don’t let myself think of Tiero. The moment I do, I’m done for, and sobs threaten to break free. I know once they start, I won’t be able to stop.
So I don’t go there, because we’re not out of the woods yet, pun intended, and I can’t afford to fall apart.
The air conditioning hums softly, keeping us warm, while outside, fat snowflakes have started to drift down and cling to the glass. Ordinarily, I’d enjoy the sight. Today, the beauty evades me.
“This snow couldn’t be timed better,” Rhia says beside me. “It’ll cover the tracks the bikes left through the forest.”
I nod, the movement all the response I’m capable of.
The adrenaline is gone now, burned off somewhere between the forest and this van. What’s left is something hollow and shaky, like my body hasn’t realized yet that I’m still alive.
Or that I almost wasn’t.
The bomb.
The thought slips in quietly, then detonates all at once. A cold sweat breaks out over my skin.
Someone wanted me dead.
Me. The baby. Tiero.
They partially succeeded. The flat, unchanging rhythm of Tiero’s heart monitor replays in my mind.
And now they, whoever they are, will believe they fully succeeded.
Gualtiero De Marco’s line is gone.
The realization sends another jolt of dread through me.
Will they go for Mateo next? He’s the only one of his family left now. The last remaining piece on the board.
My hand curls into my sleeve. I press my lips together, trying to contain my spiral.
Rhia pulls a phone from her pocket and turns it on.
The small action makes my pulse spike. Is that such a good idea?
I don’t have the energy to ask. I just raise an eyebrow.
“It’s a burner,” she says, already reading my mind. “Lex got it for us.”
She opens the messages, her fingers flying over the screen.
“I feel like a badass spy,” she adds, forcing a grin. “Watch this.”
She types the word WHITEOUT, then she exaggerates the tap as she hits send.
The phone vibrates almost immediately.
“And there we go,” she says. “Our getaway plan and route.”
She tilts the screen toward me, but the words don’t register. Ignoring the lines of text, arrows, and place names that mean nothing, I turn back to the window.
“Our destination is Homer,” she says, scanning the message.
“Alaska?” I ask.
Couldn’t they have picked somewhere warmer? But warmth would have reminded me of Italy. And T—
No, the cold is right. It fits how I feel.
“Yep,” she says. “But we’ll take a few detours first. Just in case someone doesn’t believe we’re dead and manages to sniff around for a bit. We’re—”
“Rhi,” I cut in quietly. “I don’t really care.”
She pauses.
I’m exhausted. The only thing I want to do is curl up, close my eyes, and let the world blur out for a while.
“I’ll just follow you,” I add. It’s the most honest thing I have left.
Her expression softens. “Works for me.”
She shifts closer and wraps an arm around me. I let myself lean into her, resting my head against her shoulder. She’s my rock once again.
Tears sting my eyes. How many more times does she have to hold me together?
“Rest for a bit,” she murmurs. “I’ve got you.”
I let my eyelids flutter shut. They’re too heavy to keep open.
Bad idea. The terrifying quiet that comes after survival is where the grief finally finds room to breathe.
I force my eyes open again, but don’t lift my head.
“You shouldn’t have come with me,” I mumble, the words muffled against her shoulder. “Now we’re both dead to the world.”
Rhia doesn’t move, but I feel her breathing steady beneath my cheek.
“What about your business?” I whisper. “Lex?” My chin dips, my whole body slumping. “You can never be seen with him again. You can’t go back to your life.”
The reality of it lands hard. I didn’t just run. I erased her too.
What have I done?
I pull back just enough to look at her, my eyes burning.
My voice drops. “You gave up everything for me.”
Rhia pulls back, so I have to meet her gaze.
“I’m here because I want to be, El,” she says.
Her voice is steady, even though her eyes shine.
“I didn’t give up anything. I chose.”
“You spent years building your business,” I argue weakly. “It’s your baby.”
She shakes her head. “It’s work. You’re family.”
She swallows once. “If this is the price of keeping you and Peanut alive, it’s one I’d pay again in a heartbeat.”
“And Lex?”
A faint, crooked smile tugs at her mouth.
“He’ll fake his death,” she says lightly. “The whole world knows he can’t survive without me.”
She winks, trying to lighten the somber mood.
“So he’ll be… overcome with grief over my tragic loss and, well…” She shrugs instead of finishing the sentence. I don’t need her to.
Then her expression sobers.
“Lex and I talked about this at length,” she says quietly. “Neither of us walked into this rescue mission blind.”
She meets my gaze. “To the mob, you need to be dead. Otherwise they’ll hunt you forever.”
Her voice softens. “And for my own happiness, I need you in my life. Phone calls like we had when you were at Mountain Breath were nice, but they can’t replace spending time together. Besides, Peanut needs her Auntie Rhia.”
She exhales slowly.
“And Lex? He struggles with us being apart when he’s sent on missions just as much as I do.”
A small smile returns.
“He’s been talking about setting up an online cybersecurity thing even before all of this. Something he can do from home… or anywhere we decide to be.”
She squeezes my hand. “He and I will be fine.”
“And your family?” I ask quietly. “Connor especially? They’ll be beside themselves if they believe you’re dead.”
Rhia exhales softly. “We’ll tell them the truth. They can keep a secret.”
She pauses, then adds, more certain, “And when all the dust has settled, we’ll see them again. This doesn’t have to be forever.”
She rests her forehead against my temple.
“Nobody is really that interested in Lex and me. We’re collateral. And with the mob believing you and Tiero are dead, I doubt they’ll dig deep enough to find any of us.”
Then she adds, “Still, Freemont is taking all the precautions. We will be safe.”
The tight knot in my chest eases, just a fraction, and I let myself believe her.
“So you see,” she murmurs, “you didn’t erase my life. You just changed the shape of it.”
Her hand slides to my stomach, rubbing it gently.
“We’re going to create something beautiful,” she says softly. “It’s like being given a clean slate.”
I don’t answer.
How can something beautiful grow out of this? Out of ashes and loss and the space where Tiero should still be.
It seems impossible. Like pretending light exists when all I can see is darkness.
But my hand drifts to my stomach anyway.
For her, I can’t afford to sink the way I did after my parents died. Back then, grief swallowed everything. Days blurred. Weeks vanished. I barely survived myself, let alone lived.
I won’t do that again.
This child deserves better. She’s my only link to her father now, something I’ll never squander or take for granted.
So I stay quiet and hold the thought without letting it break me. I let the doubt exist without giving it a voice.
The van rattles beneath us as it hits a rough patch of road, the steady jostling rocking us forward, carrying us on whether I’m ready or not.
My eyelids grow heavy again, and I let them fall closed. But just like before, the chaos in my head rushes back in.
“What about Claudette?” I ask, the memory of my harsh words cutting deep. “She didn’t really leave, did she? I didn’t mean what I said.”
“She knows that,” Rhia says immediately.
I swallow. “So we just left her behind? After everything she’s done for me, that’s really shitty.”
Rhia shakes her head.
“All she wanted was for you to be safe. Nothing else mattered to her.”
“But what will happen to her now?” I press. “If she’s still at the hospital—”
“Lex is taking care of everything,” she cuts in, firm but calm. “We’ll see her again. Just like Lex.”
Her voice dips on the last part, and I realize how much she must be worried about her man, still surrounded by mobsters.
She’s holding it together for me.
I snake my arm around her waist and squeeze her tight.
“Lex will be fine. He’s Alexander fricking Dougal. Nothing fazes him… except you, of course.”
She nudges my side, a small chuckle escaping her.
This time it’s her resting her head on my shoulder, and somehow that helps too.