Chapter 2
Chapter Two
E lias Blackwell had known the wedding of a billionaire’s son and heir to a Carolina Cove local would prove to be interesting, but he had no idea that agreeing to help out his brothers by driving for them would lead him to…this.
“What are you waiting for?” the runaway bride demanded, panic searing her tone and making her bright green eyes flare wide.
It was her panic that cut through his anger that Quinley Anders was the type of woman to leave her groom looking like a fool.
Elias glanced into the rearview mirror and spotted three hotel security guards plus two tuxedoed goons who were undoubtedly bodyguards quickly closing in on them, their faces dark and more than a little menacing. More black-clad guards emerged from the hotel and followed the others, quickly closing the distance between them and the ones in front.
And as he watched, he also noted that none of them looked to be the type to let the bride leave on her own if their boss said otherwise. And that made the decision for him.
He swore softly and followed her frantic orders to put the vehicle in gear. The shouts rose in volume when the security guards realized the limo was in motion, but the two in tuxedos picked up speed and shoved by the hotel security, looking like jocks passing the couch potatoes in gym class as they sprinted.
Elias gunned the powerful engine and shot out of the otherwise quiet street beside the massive new hotel. A horn blared from an oncoming vehicle, and he quickly swung the limo into the proper lane and ignored the yellow traffic light that would’ve left them a sitting duck in front of the rear lobby entrance facing the Atlantic.
Their rapid exit and the men chasing after them drew attention from everyone nearby, including some reporters camped out there as well as tourists and locals waiting behind barricades just to glimpse the goings-on. Phones and cameras turned in their direction.
He ignored his passenger hyperventilating on the seat next to him and focused on driving to make sure he didn’t take out a bystander during their escape. He’d be in enough hot water when his brothers heard about this. The last thing he wanted to do was add to the mess by hitting someone.
He’d heard Cole and his fiancée, Ana, talking about the wedding of Ana’s best friend in passing numerous times, but he’d paid the conversations little attention.
“Thank you,” she said, panting as she twisted in the seat to fasten her belt, moving in such a way it appeared she wore a full-body cast and was unable to bend.
The twists and shifts left her panting harder and red-faced, growling out a noise that made him think of other things before he clamped down that thought immediately.
Her squirming left her leaning sideways on the bench seat toward him, and her tight wedding dress boosted her chest upward in admirable ways he tried and failed not to notice.
His hands tightened on the steering wheel, tension riding his shoulder blades until the base of his neck ached. “Any chance your intended’s security went back to get a car to chase us?”
“Maybe? I…probably? But maybe if we’re far enough away…” She bit into her full lower lip and slid a glance toward him from across the front of the limo before trying to twist around again to look behind them. A muffled shriek emerged. “ What was I thinking? I can’t see anything, but then I can’t really get a good look. Is someone back there?”
“I don’t see anyone yet. Just wondering what I’ve gotten myself into.” He took a quick glance at her and saw her lean heavily against the seat and scrunch up her face, her arms twisted behind her like a pretzel as she squirmed one way and then the other on the seat. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to—undo… I can’t breathe. I can’t… I can’t breathe ,” she said again, her expression looking more than a little woozy, white-lipped and panicked.
“Hey, no panic attacks. Just take a slow deep breath.”
“What part of not…not being able to breathe…do you not understand,” she gasped out. “I never should’ve listened to the mothers. They said it was the perfect dress, but it’s not . It’s a lung-squeezing torture device of death that won’t let me breathe .”
“Maybe if you stop talking for a second and try to relax, you can. Take a second, then tell me where we’re going. Where can I drop you off?”
She stayed silent for several panting breaths before she shook her head and shot him another wide-eyed and panicked stare.
“I don’t know. I didn’t exactly plan this!”
“Where’s home?”
She blinked at him, and he watched as the panic grew.
“I don’t have a home. I gave up my apartment a month or so ago to move in with Rhys because my lease— No, no, no. What did I do ? Why did I do that? But he was never home, and I thought it wasn’t a big deal since we were getting married anyway, but now I’m… I’m homeless .”
She chugged air in and out of her lungs. He tensed, waiting for her to pass out. “It’s easy enough to find a new apartment. Not a big deal,” he said before she could take a deeper dive down that panic-ridden yellow-brick road. “I’ll take you to Ana’s house. Problem solved.”
“No, no not solved. I can’t go to Ana’s,” she cried with a firm shake of her head. “The note I left was for Ana, asking her to return the ring to Rhys for me.”
That was demanding a lot of a friend, he mused silently. Even a best friend. “Okay then, how about your parents? Where do they live? I’ll take you there.”
“I can’t go there, either! Right now, my dad is probably shouting the roof off the hotel, and my mom— My mom is somewhere crying with a chardonnay in her hand, searching for her Xanax to deal with him.”
“I have to take you somewhere,” he said, careful to keep his impatience under control. Obviously there was some family dysfunction there, but that wasn’t his problem.
“Where— Where were you going? Before I jumped in?”
“I was heading back to the rental building to drop off the limo and pick up my truck. Gage is scheduled to drive the VIPs home after your reception.”
“Why couldn’t you drive them home?”
He ran his fist over his mouth and chin, hearing his doctor’s voice in his head about his stress levels. Apparently he’d never make a good getaway car driver. “Because I’m going out of town for some R and R. I just pitched in today so Cole could be at the wedding with Ana, and Gage wouldn’t have to shut down the rental building on a weekend during peak hours.”
“That was nice of you to help out. Ana loves Cole so much. I’m sure it meant a lot that they could go together. Even though it’s kind of their fault I’m…here right now.”
“Their fault?” He watched as she grimaced.
“I was fine. Perfectly fine until they got together, and then… Then I really saw all the things wrong with us. Me and Rhys.”
“And you couldn’t just tell the guy you wanted out? Before today?” He took another glance at her and saw her expression tighten.
“It’s complicated. I didn’t plan this, okay? I was fine ,” she said again, as though repeating the words somehow made her jilting the groom at the altar better than it was. “I’d accepted the fact that no relationship has everything. I thought I could do it, go through with it.”
“Yeah, got it,” he muttered, shooting her another admittedly judgmental stare across the expanse of the interior. He couldn’t help it. He was a guy, so he put himself in her fiancé’s shoes and right now? He was team dumped male.
Elias couldn’t imagine the upset and chaos her intended groom experienced at the moment. Assuming the guy had proposed because he loved her, because let’s face it, billionaire heirs didn’t have to do anything.
And those variables? They were yet more examples of why he had no intentions of ever getting married. Not when there were too many uncontrollable factors to take into consideration, like being left at the altar and made to look the fool. “Tell me where to drop you. I’d like to get on the road and away from…this.”
Silence followed his words, and he glanced over at her to find her staring dazedly into space.
He frowned. For someone who hadn’t stayed still since she’d jumped inside the vehicle, Quinley suddenly looked like a statue, frozen in time.
Was she breathing? Maybe she’d gone into shock? He supposed it was possible. “Quinley,” he said sharply. “Come on, surely there’s somewhere for you to go where you’ll feel comfortable. Don’t you have other friends who’ll take you in?”
“Everyone’s at the wedding. And I don’t want to put any of them in the middle of the drama. I wouldn’t have jumped into this limo with you had I known you were… you . I need air. I feel sick.”
“Head out the window.”
“I’m not a dog.”
No, because dogs are loyal, he mused, very aware of the fact he couldn’t say that out loud. He cranked the AC instead and pointed the vents toward her.
“I ran away from my wedding,” she breathed softly, as though sounding it out for the first time. “I…I actually did it. Do you think Rhys was already at the altar when he…found out?”
“I don’t know, but I can take you back so you can talk to him. It’s not a big deal.”
“No, I can’t go back,” she said with a firm shake of her head elegant head. “I just don’t know what to do. He’s a good guy, you know? A great guy.”
“If he’s so great, I’m sure he’d understand you need more time,” he said, even though he didn’t think it was possible given how long she’d waited to show the dude how she really felt. The expense probably wasn’t an issue for a guy like him, but the fact she’d ran? Getting left at the altar would be a hard pill for any guy to swallow, much less one so in the public eye that half the world watched because the family name was basically American royalty.
Yeah, bachelorhood looked better and better.
Why would any man allow someone to do them that way? After accepting his ring and planning a wedding, going through the motions and pretending to love him, only to run away at the last second?
Hard pass. He’d stay married to his business ventures and call it a day.
“Everyone knows what I’ve done by now. All those people and cameras outside the building. They know. The entire world is watching because it’s Rhys Lachlan, billionaire heir,” she muttered in a groaning tone. “Not that he hasn’t done well for himself on his own. He has. He hates that everyone thinks he’s just riding his family’s coattails. But the press and paparazzi are going to go crazy. At least this stupid dress is so tight; I probably didn’t flash anyone if there are any pictures of me climbing over the penthouse balcony.”
Elias jerked the wheel slightly when her words registered. “You climbed over — Are you insane?”
As much as he didn’t like the situation she’d put him in, he definitely didn’t like the fact she’d put herself in danger like that. A penthouse balcony? What kind of stunt was that?
A desperate one.
A throaty peal of self-deprecating laughter emerged from her chest, drawing his attention yet again before he forced himself to look away and focus on the traffic.
“ Obviously ,” she said with a twist of her full lips. “But my personal security team was stationed outside the door, and I already know how hard they are to ditch because I’ve tried, so…when I saw a maid cleaning the next room, I just… It was the only way out.”
He ran a hand over his mouth to muffle a curse at the thought of her falling, dying , to escape her wedding day. “Don’t ever do something like that again. I don’t care how desperate you were to get out of there, you shouldn’t have risked yourself like that. If you’re not concerned for yourself, think of Ana and Ben.”
She seemed to melt into the seat at his words and nodded, her expression one of regret. “I know . I fully admit I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly.”
They made it another block, and when he checked the rearview mirror for the millionth time, he spotted a couple of black SUVs pretty far back, weaving in and out of traffic.
Were those Lachlan’s goons? What would he do if they caught up with them? Maybe he should drive to the police department and let the boys in blue protect her and get her wherever she wanted to go now. He knew a few of them personally. They wouldn’t allow her to be taken if she didn’t want to be.
The radio erupted with the sound of the DJ chuckling obnoxiously into the microphone.
“Oh, this day just got interesting, folks. For all those ladies and gents upset over losing your chance at marrying the World’s Most Eligible Bachelor number three, Rhys Lachlan, you’re gonna get another go at it. Why? The billionaire heir to the Lachlan fortune has apparently been left at the altar by his fiancée. The bride is currently MIA and was last seen running from the massive new Lachlan Hotel in Carolina Cove, North Carolina, in her wedding dress and hopping into a limo. No word yet on if she was coerced or just desperate to escape, but that just proves you can be one of the richest guys in the world, and women will still leave you hanging. To celebrate their big day, here’s some Billy Joel, ‘Where Were You.’” The DJ laughed again. “Man, somebody buy that poor sucker a drink. Here’s to you, Rhys! Though I’m pretty sure the billionaire heir will have a long list of ladies waiting to comfort him. Am I right?”
The song started playing, mocking and making fun of the day’s events, before Elias stretched out a hand and punched the button to turn it off. “We’ve got company behind us, I think. They’re still pretty far back, but it’s decision time. What’s the endgame here?”
Quinley sat there in the seat with her lips trembling as she blinked hard. But she didn’t speak. Or even look behind to try to see the SUVs he referenced. His body squeezed a bit at her look of…resignation? “If you’re not wanting to stay in town, I’ve heard some people take honeymoons alone after this sort of thing.”
He’d always thought it would be weird to do that when the point was to take the trip together, but to each their own. He supposed knocking a few back alone on a beach somewhere was better than sitting at home dwelling on the heartbreak. Not that she apparently had any?
He made a few turns, getting off the main road with weekend bumper-to-bumper traffic and taking the side streets, rolling through a few stop signs along the way once he knew they were clear.
“I can’t do that. We were going to take one of the jets to Lachlan hotels and homes in the Caribbean. I’m pretty sure that’s bad taste to go there now.”
Little bit , he mused silently.
“What was I thinking? Why did I wait so long? Why did I leave everything behind? I knew his security team would track my phone, but I didn’t even grab a change of clothes so I can get out of this stupid dress. I don’t know where to go. What I’m going to do . I don’t have my purse or money or anything.”
The panic was back, and the image of her throwing herself over a penthouse balcony in her too-tight dress came to mind yet again. His hands tightened on the steering wheel.
He had a kid sister. He had female friends, his sisters-in-law, and a gym where the safety of all his customers, especially women, were top priority. He couldn’t help but feel protective regardless of what she’d done.
Quinley could’ve fallen so easily, and if she had, she wouldn’t be sitting there beside him right now. If nothing else, that thought and the fact she was Ana’s best friend made him want to help her. “Quinley, are you sure you don’t want me to drop you off at Ana’s? Really sure? I’ll call Cole and tell him what’s going on, make sure he knows to keep your whereabouts quiet. Ana’s your friend, and I think you need her.”
“I can’t. I can’t face Ana right now. Not after this. She’s been after me for months to talk to her because she sensed something was wrong, and I kept telling her everything was fine but— She was right. She was totally right. Obviously it wasn’t fine, or else I’d be getting married right now.”
“I’m sure Ana would understand.”
“No, she won’t . I’ve put her in an impossible situation. Her boutique is located inside the lobby of Rhys’s hotel. I mean, I don’t think Rhys would pull anything unethical, but it’s going to be absurdly uncomfortable for Ana now. No,” she said with another toss of her beautiful head, her features pinched and tight. “I can’t make it worse for her. Ana’s so good with boundaries. She’s had to be. She wouldn’t have let things get this far. Not like I did.”
He glanced at her to find her staring out the dash, looking paler than ever despite her makeup as she shifted side to side in her seat. “I get it. But you need to leave the regrets for later and focus on what’s happening right now. As a guy, I might not like your sense of timing, but I think it’s brave to stand up for yourself, no matter when you do it.”
She made a frustrated sound. “Seriously, why did I agree to this suffocating dress! I swear it gets tighter every time I move.”
“So stop squirming and focus on calming down so you can think straight.”
“Do men really believe telling a woman to calm down actually works? Because let me set the record straight— It doesn’t.”
He bit back a rare curse, not liking that she unnerved him enough to break his composure. He’d only cursed a few times before his mother had heard him, quickly sat him down, and gently made clear the fact that men cursed when they lacked language skills.
He didn’t believe that to be true in the slightest, but in honor of his mother, especially after her death, he tried his best to keep the foul language under wraps. “Quinley, come on. You need a plan. Focus and figure out your next move.”
A low peal of laughter emerged from her, the sound carrying more than a hint of hysteria. He shot a frowning glance at her.
The expression she wore, the pain in her voice, called to a level of empathy he wasn’t sure he still possessed until that moment. “Look, we’re almost to the rentals building. The plan was for me to drive the limo back to the building to swap vehicles so I can get on the road. Gage is driving the VIPs home once he gets their call. Since there isn’t going to be a wedding, I’m guessing the protocol would be to go ahead and let the guests eat the reception dinner?”
“I suppose so,” she murmured.
“Well, let’s say that’s happening right now. Everyone is getting settled for the food and cake. The VIPs will probably stay to eat and get the gossip on what’s happened because they’re human and nosy. So we’ll leave the limo for Gage, grab my truck to throw off whoever’s behind us, and maybe by then you’ll have a better idea of where you want me to drop you off on my way out of town.”
The sun sank fast with a blazing array of colors, and thankfully the sky had completely darkened by the time he wove them through one of the larger beach communities on the island.
His phone began to buzz in his pocket, and he dug it out, only then realizing he’d missed a number of calls from Cole and Ana.
He held the phone so Quinley could see Cole’s name on the screen. “What do I tell him?”
“Nothing. I don’t want to talk to Ana,” she added quickly though quietly.
Too quietly in his opinion. As animated as she’d been since hopping into the limo, he really did think she was going into shock.
“Maybe… Maybe he won’t know you are the getaway guy who drove off with me.”
Considering the number of calls he’d somehow missed, Elias figured that was highly unlikely. Especially when he thought of the security team, witnesses, and cameras around the hotel. He pressed the button and put it on speaker.
“What were you thinking ?” Cole growled out the moment the call connected. “Do you have any idea of the mess you’ve put us in? Bring her back, Elias.”
Quinley shook her head in an emphatic response, her eyes filling with tears she didn’t shed as she silently begged him not to follow Cole’s order. Not that he would. “Yeah, I’m not into kidnapping. Unlike the dudes who were chasing after her when she left the hotel.”
“They were her personal security, not kidnappers.”
“I guess the point is that they would’ve stopped her when she wanted to leave. She jumped into the limo with me, Cole. I didn’t make her.” He reluctantly left the quiet, darkened side streets and ventured onto the road running alongside the gas station located near the pier.
Cole’s exhale sounded loud and long over the speaker. “Where are you? Ana and I will come meet you and get Quinley.”
Quinley narrowed her gaze and shook her head firmly again.
“I don’t think she’s agreeable.”
“Elias, this is spiraling fast. Security left minutes after you did. You’re both being hunted.”
“I figured as much.” He made a right to pull onto the lot behind the convenience store and then rolled along the side of the rental building to stop beside his Gladiator.
“People are talking, and the media has gone into a frenzy. I’ve heard everything from her being a runaway bride, to her having an affair with her limo driver, to her being coercively kidnapped and held for ransom.”
“I only met her today, Cole.”
“The truth won’t matter if other stories are more profitable. This is going to come back to bite all of us if it’s not stopped. She needs to make a statement about her safety if nothing else.”
Elias looked at her but found Quinley staring at him and hyperventilating once more in her too-tight dress. “As soon as she’s safe, she’ll do that.”
“Elias, unless you want to wind up as a suspect in a kidnapping, that statement needs to happen yesterday.”
“I got it. I hear you. It’ll get done.”
“Quinley, if you’re listening and you really don’t want to come back, hide well,” Cole said, his voice lowering. “His family wants to get to you and control the fallout before the press finds you.”
“We get it, Cole. She hears you,” Elias said on Quinley’s behalf, his heart squeezing in response to Quinley’s flinch and sickly expression. Just when he thought she couldn’t get any paler, she had. “We have to go. We need to change vehicles.”
“Just…don’t let this land you in jail,” Cole said. “They’re working on identifying you and the car service now. Needless to say, neither Ana nor I have offered up any hints.”
“How did you know she was with me?”
“The timing and a gut feeling. Plus, after Ben’s stunt the night of the gala, Gage and I thought it best to put a tracker on the vehicle, just in case another kid tried to take it for a joyride. The dash cam feed is on both our phones.”
His brother had pulled up the video and watched her jump in then. “Key’ll be on the seat. Let Gage know.”
“Be careful. Call me when you get on the road for an update.”
Elias ended the call and shot her a look. “Let’s do this fast. The less people who see you, the better.”
Cole and Gage hadn’t installed the planned security lights to this side of the building yet, but he was grateful for their procrastination since the darkness helped hide them. Quinley opened the door to the limo as he rounded the back, and Elias had to pull her out of the seat because of the tight dress.
Thankfully the open door of the limo blocked most of her from view. No one seemed to be paying them any attention, but how long that would last as the news and photos broke remained to be seen.
A swipe of his hand unlocked the truck thanks to the key fob in his pocket. He opened the door, reaching down to grasp her waist with both hands to lift her onto the passenger seat. No way could she make the climb inside since it required being able to use the step bar, and in that dress…
He tossed the key inside the limo and shut the door, hurrying around the front of the truck to get behind the wheel. A gut hunch told him to leave via the rear lot where Brooks typically parked his tow truck, and Elias followed his instincts, all the while stretching an arm into the backseat to grab a duffle bag and shove it at her. “Help yourself to a shirt out of there to hide your dress. And maybe take down your hair so it isn’t so fancy.”
Quinley hurried to unzip the duffle and dug inside, pulling out one of his favorite shirts from the top to disguise her dress before she set to work yanking out the pins with painful-looking speed. A tiny mountain of them formed on her lap as he took a left out of the lot onto Dow. Seconds later via the rearview mirror, he saw three black SUVs blow through the intersection. They’d made it with seconds to spare. But they weren’t off the island yet. Would her ex demand they shut down the bridge? Have roadblocks in place to search for her? “Ana’s house is on the way.”
“I said no. Keep driving,” she said softly.
The broken determination of her voice left him glaring out the dash as he drove them down the dark backroad. “You’ve got time to think on the way out of Wilmington. You can decide before we get there. Or…you can ride with me for a while. There are a lot of towns between here and the mountains.”
“The mountains,” she said softly, her voice quivering a bit from her nerves and anxiety, barely audible. “I want to go to the mountains with you. I’ll pay you for the hassle of taking me. My parents have a house in Asheville. It sits empty more often than not, but I know the codes and where the cameras are at the main house. I think I can stay in the pool house without being seen. Please, Elias, I know you want me out of your hair as soon as possible but… Please. Will you please take me there? Get me away from here?”
He released a lung-thrashing breath. She was right. He’d be better off to end this now. To drop her off at Ana’s whether she agreed to it or not.
But if he did, he’d be no better than the goons chasing after her, forcing her to do something she didn’t want to do. “The place I’m heading to isn’t far from Asheville. If we make it off the island and out of Wilmington without being stopped, we should be okay.”
“You’ll do it? You’ll drive me?” Relief flooded her tone.
“Yeah,” he said, feeling as though he were signing off on the deed in blood. “Looks like we’re going on a road trip.”