Page 92 of Mountain Mens' Curvy Obsession

“God, I feel awful,” I groan as I get up and grab my little go-bag from behind one of the armchairs. I left it down here last night, precisely for this moment.

“Yeah, I’m not too proud of myself either,” Breonna admits.

“At least, this way, they won’t be able to blame you for anything.”

“Oh, they’ll be mad either way. But we need to get you out of here. Come on.”

Once I’m ready and fully equipped, I follow Breonna out the back door. Dawn cracks over the mountain as we head in the opposite direction from the Hayes brothers. We take a lesser-known path down to the bottom, where Breonna left her Jeep earlier last night.

“Alright, once we reach the road, we’ll both need to turn our phones off, so Mills can’t ping our GPS,” Breonna says as she gets behind the wheel. “You’ll find an envelope in the glove compartment. Take it. It’s yours.”

I give her a curious look as she turns the key in the ignition. The engine roars to life.

Out of the envelope, I pull cash and instructions to go straight to the tarmac. I take a deep breath. “I cannot thank you enough, Breonna. Really…”

“Thank me later, when you’re safe and sound. Now buckle up. We’re headed to Missoula, hopefully without a frickin’ tail.”

I give the forest one last glance, knowing I’m going to miss this place and the tranquility it offered—at least until Leo found me, anyway. I’m going to miss Nico, Chance, and Booker more.

Maybe we’ll find our place again before the baby comes.

Assuming I survive this.

* * *

“Okay,it looks like we’re in the clear,” Breonna says after about a half hour.

We’re out of Seeley Lake and heading toward Missoula, the road stretches ahead—a dull grey slashing through hills of white. I feel awful about leaving Booker, Chance, and Nico behind like this but everyone in that town will be safer if I get away, if I’m out of the picture, and Leo has no one to chase after.

“At least, this way, they’ll be okay,” I say, tears welling up in my eyes.

Breonna gives me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, honey. I really am.”

“Me, too. I never asked for any of this.”

“Maybe not, but sometimes you have to make some tough decisions in order to protect the people you care about,” she says. “All I can promise is they’ll be fine, and those Russian mobsters will leave us alone. For good.”

“That’s the plan.”

“Do you know what you’ll do next?”

I gaze out the window, watching the blue of the sky melt into the distant white horizon. My heart aches with every mile that I put between my men and me.

“I’ll go and find my grandmother; she might still be alive,” I say. “From there, we’ll reach out to what’s left of my father’s crew and see if we can gather enough men to show up at the next council of families. We just need to show them that the Asimovs are alive and still kicking. It should be enough to deter Leo, at least for a while.”

“And what about your baby?”

I can only offer a shrug. “Single motherhood, I guess. What else can I do?”

“Gosh, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. You’re doing so much for me right now, Breonna. I couldn’t thank you enough.”

As soon as we enter Missoula, the air feels different. Something heavy hangs over my shoulders. Perhaps its fear amplified, or regret. But I have trouble focusing, as my gaze keeps darting around, worried someone might’ve followed us. Breonna assures me the coast is still clear as she drives me to the airport.

With my go-bag on my shoulder and my ticket ready, I give her one last hug. She smiles, but only with her lips. Something about her expression doesn’t sit right with me, but I can’t figure out what it is.

“We made it this far,” Breonna says. “Just text me when you land, okay?”

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