Chapter 30
CHIARA
My pulse is trapped in my throat, anger and fear fighting for first place inside my heart.
I don’t know how long I’ve walked down the dimly lit two-way road, but it’s been at least a mile and I’ve yet to see a single car. Not surprising, since it’s probably past one a.m. already.
I need someone to show up before Dom comes after me. I can’t stand the thought of being anywhere near him.
He’s worse than my father. At least I knew where my father stood with me. Sure, maybe I didn’t know he was planning on offing me, but I did know he never loved me.
But Dom was different, or at least he used to be. I guess things have changed. I guess some things aren’t meant to last. He managed to ruin every good memory I had of him, and instead of finding me and making new ones, he ripped our future from the ground and watched it shrivel up and die.
Holding on to the strap of my duffle, I continue on my path, about to give up hope of ever finding a ride, when a pair of bright headlights appears behind me, illuminating the entire street.
I stop, frantically waving my hands and jumping up and down from the side of the road.
The car slows while it’s still yards away, the lights blinding me.
“Hey! Please stop!” I shout, my pulse quickening.
Finally, the lights flicker off, and thanks to the nearest lamppost, I make out the black sedan.
My heart lurches in my chest. My stomach tightens with knots.
What if whoever is inside isn’t here to help me at all?
I’m no longer excited, my legs held down by cement. My heart races so fast, I can no longer catch my breath. I grip the gun still at my waistband, getting ready to shoot.
The window starts to roll down.
“Hey, miss,” says a woman’s voice. “Do you need help?”
A whoosh of a breath pours from my lungs, and I crouch a little, dropping my palms to my knees with relief.
After I compose myself, I run toward the passenger side, finding a blonde-haired woman, probably in her early fifties.
“Yes, please,” I beg.
“Sure thing. Where are you going?”
“Anywhere but here.”
“You’re not gonna kill me, are you?” she asks with a lighthearted laugh.
“I don’t think so?” I giggle nervously.
“All right, young lady. I’m Laura. Hop in.”
“I’m Chiara. Thank you!” I open the door and rush inside, and then we’re off as I fasten the seat belt.
“You running from someone?” she asks, passing side-long glances at me while juggling to keep her eyes on the road.
“Kind of.” I don’t want to tell her too much in case she gets afraid and kicks me out of the car.
“Well, I’m heading to the city, so hopefully that’s far enough,” she says, the sides of her eyes crinkling as she gets the words out. “I had my son’s engagement party tonight, lucky for you. It’s usually dead here at this time of night.”
“I know,” I scoff. “I was walking a while before you found me.”
“Good thing, too.” She exhales loudly. “Lord knows what kind of creep you could’ve met at this ungodly hour.”
I nod in agreement. “Would it be okay if I used your cell to call my aunt?”
“Of course you can.” She gestures with her head toward the cup holder. “Grab it. The code is seven five seven five.”
“You’re an angel. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
I quickly pick up the phone, unlock the code, and dial my aunt’s number.
She doesn’t answer.
“Fuck!” I spit out, then am immediately embarrassed to curse in front of a stranger who probably already thinks I’m insane. “Sorry.”
“Shit, honey. I say way worse things than that.” She chuckles, her shoulders bopping up and down a little. “Did she not answer?”
I shake my head with disappointment.
“Why not text her and say it’s you? Worth a try.”
“You’re right.”
I do as she suggested and wait a minute before calling back, and this time, I hear my aunt’s voice.
“Chiara? Oh my God! I’ve been worried sick after I couldn’t reach you at work!”
“I’m okay. Kind of. Can I come to you? I don’t have anywhere else to go. I’ll explain everything when I get there.”
“I’m home, waiting. You don’t know how scared I’ve been. I thought your father hurt you. I was ready to call the police.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. He’d definitely come after you.” I release a burdened sigh.
“Let that bastard come.” Her tone is as rough as sandpaper.
“I’m about an hour or so away,” I explain. “If you need to reach me, call this phone.”
“I love you, sweetheart. We’ll run together if we have to.” Her voice breaks. “I won’t lose you too.”
“You won’t. I love you. I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay.” She sounds more composed now.
I hang up, placing the phone back where I took it from.
“You two sound close,” Laura remarks.
“We are. We only have each other.” There’s pain riddled in my words.
She nods in understanding. “It’s good to have that one person you can count on. Sounds like she’s that for you.”
“She’s the best.”
I love my aunt, but I’d do anything to have my mother back. To feel her arms around me. To hear her voice. Without her, there’ll always be a piece of me missing.
We continue on the road at a comfortable speed when suddenly headlights jump behind us, a car speeding its way closer. Laura looks in her review mirror while I turn my head, wondering where the hell this car came from.
“That person sure is in a hurry, ain’t he?”
“Yeah,” I laugh nervously, my pulse back to a frantic pace.
The tires of the car screech as it makes its way closer until maybe a car’s length separates us. I find it hard to breathe, my chest tingling, stomach rolling inward.
“I’m going to move out of the way so this idiot can go past us.”
“Okay,” I mumble, my throat going dry. My wild heartbeats thrash in my ears, my fingers trembling.
Could it be Dominic? My dad? Maybe it’s a crazy driver? Let’s hope that’s it.
But my gut’s screaming that we’re in danger.
They’re here for you. To kill you. You’re dead already. You were dead from the moment you were born.
Laura signals and moves to the right, and the car follows.
Fuck!
“Let me out,” I quickly tell her, my voice a shrill. “You don’t need to be in the middle of this.”
“This about you?” Her brows knit tight, her eyes still on the road.
“I think so, but I don’t want to wait to find out.” I grip the handle of the door, yanking it. “Stop and let me out right now.”
She only increases her speed. “Absolutely not. I’m not leaving you for some psycho. I’d never be able to live with myself.”
“Please! You don’t understand the people I’m running from.” Tears well up in my eyes. “They’ll kill you.”
She frowns as she glances at me, the battle weighing heavy in her gaze. This stranger owes me nothing. Why should she pay for my problems?
The car gets closer now, driving at a higher speed.
“No.” She shakes her head, her lips in a tight line. “I won’t do it.”
My vision dims, my head spinning. I don’t want to be the reason she’s taken from her family.
The car zooms closer as Laura peers up at the mirror again. I can see the worry on her face. Why is she doing this?
“It’s not too late!” I urge her. “Let me out!”
But before she has a chance to respond, the vehicle is beside me. I turn to stare at the passenger, and relief washes over me.
It’s Miles.
I roll down my window. “What are you doing, Miles? Tell Dominic I don’t want to see him. Go! You scared the shit out of me.”
His eyes hold mine as he continues to drive, and there’s nothing friendly within them.
They’re empty.
Cold.
He must be pissed about my pointing the gun at him. His dark blue sedan continues to keep pace with us.
“What the hell is wrong with that guy?” Laura asks, and when I turn to her, I find her eyes staring at my window, gaze widened in horror. “Look out, Chia—”
Boom.
Her words die with the scream ripping out from her or maybe from me.
There’s pain on the right side of my body from the force of our car being hit, causing the vehicle to roll over multiple times at high velocity, our screams piercing through the night until the car stops abruptly with a bang on its hood.
I tremble, my entire body shuddering.
“La-Laura? You okay?” I stammer with a cry, finding her still in her seat, groaning in pain.
There’s blood coming out from her forehead, but it doesn’t seem deep.
“It’s going to be okay. I—I’ll get us help.” My shaky hand lands on the seat belt as I press to release it, but the damn thing doesn’t budge. “Come on. Don’t do this to me. Please work.”
I press the button repeatedly, until it finally gives way and slides out.
My hand lands on the door, adrenaline filling me as I push it with all my might. Heavy pants roll out of my chest as it flies open.
Yes! I think to myself
But it’s short-lived. Rough hands grab me, and the next thing I know, I’m being dragged out roughly by my legs. I glance up to find Miles, his eyes evading mine. My head wobbles against the hard concrete as he continues to pull.
“What the hell are you doing?! You almost killed us!”
“Shut up,” he growls, no kindness in his brown eyes as he finally looks at me. He picks me up by my armpits. “Walk.”
He pushes me between my shoulder blades as terror fills me. He isn’t the guy he appeared to be back at the mansion.
Why is he doing this? Did Dominic order him to hurt me?
I keep moving toward his sedan, my hip aching from the car accident he caused. “Why are you doing this? Where are you taking me?”
He ignores my questions, opening the door to the back and shoving me inside.
Instead of getting into the driver’s side, he locks all the doors and moves to the trunk.
I follow his every movement, my pulse beating loudly in my ears.
The trunk opens, then a few seconds later he slams it shut, holding a red canister.
What the hell?
He marches back to Laura’s car, and part of me hopes he’ll get her out too, but instead he’s opening the cap of the canister and pouring the liquid all around.
“No!” I shout, gripping the handle, pushing, pulling, hitting the window with my other hand, desperate to get to Laura. “Don’t hurt her, you son of a bitch!”
I bang on the window, my palm stinging from the repeated blows. But I’m too late. He’s walking back to his car just as the flames start, slow at first, and then, as though out of nowhere, they light up the sky with angry orange and red sparks.
“Nooo!” I shriek, sobbing, my palm planted against the cool window. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”
He gets inside, turns on the ignition, sending the car rolling back down the road. Laura’s burning car gets smaller as he drives away. A stabbing pain hits the center of my chest.
“How could you do this?” I scream out with tears etched in my voice. “She was an innocent person! A mother!”
His eyes meet mine through the rearview mirror.
“Call Dom right now,” I demand. “I want to hear him tell me he ordered this.”
He laughs, frosty and sinister. “Dominic? You’re not going to see him anymore.”
My entire body’s swallowed up by fear. “What the hell are you talking about? Where—where are you taking me?”
But even before I ask, even before those words leave my mouth, I know the answer.
“Your father. He’s demanded your presence. And he doesn’t like to wait. Now shut up and go to sleep.”
Then he stops the car momentarily, takes out his handgun, and whips it hard on the side of my head until everything goes dark.