Second Chance SEAL(25)

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “You’re with me now.”

She nodded and followed me out the door.

I wasn’t sure where we were going. But I knew that we couldn’t stay at my apartment anymore. Greg and Lauren were in danger, which was my next concern.

But for now, I needed to get the two of us far, far away as fast as I could.





Chapter 13





Piper





I was shaking for the first hour of the drive. I couldn’t stop seeing those men pressing me down against the floor so easily and callously tying me up. No matter how hard I struggled, they simply held me down harder and kept going.

I couldn’t believe this was really happening. But it all sank in when Gates came back and stopped those two sick fucks. I wasn’t sure if he killed them or not, but I found myself not really caring one way or the other.

That thought alone terrified me. I should care if men were dead or not, but I really didn’t. They were sick fucks that wanted to hurt me, and that was really all that mattered in my mind. Still, I didn’t want to become a person that didn’t care about human lives.

Maybe that was what I needed to be if I was going to survive.

After an hour of driving, we were clear of the city. We were on a highway heading southwest, doing at least seventy the whole time. We barely spoke, and I could tell that Gates was upset, though I didn’t know why.

He saved my life again. He saved it once when he picked me up, and again when he stopped those men from taking me. It wasn’t his fault that Tony was an insane creep and knew how to track my cellphone. Tony probably planted a bug inside of it or something the second we started dating.

Gates still managed to get back and save me. We didn’t talk about what happened at the meeting, and I knew it wasn’t a good idea to press. Still, the silence had lasted long enough.

“Where are we going?” I asked him.

He glanced at me like he was coming out of a trance. “Michigan,” he said.

“Why Michigan?”

“I know a place there we can lay low.”

“What place?”

“My father left me a cabin. Well, he left it to my grandmother, but she said he wanted me to gave it. It’s not much and probably in bad shape now, but we can stay there for as long as we want.”

“Is it safe?”

He shrugged. “I really don’t know. For a few days, at least.”

“A few days,” I said softly.

“I don’t know if Tony is going to back down,” he answered. “I met him, at the restaurant. I saw what kind of man he is, and I don’t think he’ll let us go no matter what.”

“He seemed so nice,” I said numbly.

“That’s not a shock. He clearly can hide who he really is very, very well. You’re probably not the first woman he’s lied to this way.”

“Think I’m the first he’s tried to kill?”

“No,” he said simply. “I doubt you are.”

“What are we going to do then? We can’t run forever.”

“No, we can’t. But Tony works for someone, I’m sure of that. We need to contact those people and offer them something in exchange for our lives.”

“Our lives?”

“I’m in this, Piper. No matter what happens.”

“You don’t have to do this,” I said. “You can just drop me off somewhere and disappear. This is my problem.”

He sighed. “Stop saying that.”

“It’s the truth.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

I nodded, marveling at him. I couldn’t imagine how I could be so damn unlucky and lucky all at the same time. On the one hand, my ex-boyfriend wanted to murder me, but on the other, I had this incredible strong man to keep me safe. It was a horror and a blessing.

We drove for another half hour and I let myself get lost in my thoughts. My mind ran through the whole spectrum of time, trying to figure out where everything went wrong.

Maybe it was back when I first met Gates. Maybe even before that, on the airplane. Or maybe it was more obvious, maybe it was when I met Tony and decided to go out with him. I should have been smarter, should have asked questions.

But that just wasn’t worth the time and effort. I could obsess about it all I wanted, really beat myself up over it, but none of that mattered. I was in this situation, driving across the country with Gates, and nothing was going to change that.

He already fought for me. Probably killed for me. I had no clue what else Gates was going to do, but there was a strange excitement in my core. This was a man willing to do whatever it took to keep me safe. There was no stopping him.

He suddenly put on his turn signal and got off at a rest stop exit. We were in Pennsylvania, heading down I-76. “Where are we going?” I asked him.