Chapter 34
RILEY
I have no idea where Vaughn is right now. I’ve tried reaching him on his cell, but he doesn't pick up. If I had his hacking skills, I might be able to track him down.
But I don't. Instead, I’m fully occupied with trying to keep down the glass of water I just drank.
On the nightstand in our hotel room lies a pregnancy test that Valentino brought back from the pharmacy for me, along with the bottle of water and a chocolate bar. “For your nerves,” he said before heading back to the car.
I haven't taken the test yet. It just lies there in its plastic packaging, staring at me like a bomb waiting for someone to press the detonator.
I wish Vaughn were here, but I let him go.
Not because I wanted to, but because in that moment, I lacked the strength to run after him. I had just told my father—my false father—to his face that I was leaving him. I had vomited my soul out in there. And immediately after, I learned that my nausea might be because I’m carrying a child.
And then he ran away.
If I weren't so sad, the situation would almost be laughable: Vaughn Mercer, the man who put me in a locked car and drove me into the desert so I couldn't run away, has run away himself.
At the first sign of something he can't control, he did the same thing as every other man on this planet: he bolted.
I roll onto my side and pull the blanket over my head.