Page 46 of Ruthless Secrets
I go to lift my head to see what’s going on, but Marco forces it down.
“I’ve got you, Clara. Just stay down.”
It sure as hell doesn’t seem like it, but I keep my head down anyway.
Marco assures me that his brother’s place has plenty of security, so all we need to do is get there. But they have guns. They are shooting at us! And Zoe is there.
Oh, god!
I bolt upright in my seat. “Turn the car around!”
“What?”
We’re speeding down the highway at least at double the limit, but I can still hear the sound of the gunshots firing behind us. All it would take is for one of them to hit a wheel and it would all be over.
“We’re leading them to Zoe! Turn the car around!”
“They’re not getting anywhere near our daughter, you hear me?”
“Marco—”
“Listen to me. Zoe is safe. As soon as we get there, they have no chance in hell of even getting within a mile of her.”
“But…”
“I’ve got this. Now getdownand let me do my thing.”
I look at him and he seems so in control. Like it’s just another car ride and we are sightseeing. Except we are speeding and swerving.
There’s nothing I can do. I am completely helpless, and I have no choice but to put all of my trust in Marco. I just have to hope that he means what he says about wanting to keep Zoe safe.
I put my head between my knees and cover it with my arms. All I can do is pray that tonight will end with me holding my baby and not with me in a morgue.
At some point, the gunfire stops, but Marco doesn’t ease his foot off the gas.
My ears are ringing, and my stomach feels so nauseous from all the violent twists and turns that Marco took to dodge our attackers that if I hadn’t already thrown up my dinner, I would be doing so currently all over the leather interior.
Even when the car eventually stops and Marco cuts the engine, I don’t lift my head in case the movement makes my nausea worse.
For a moment, the only sound is that of our heavy breathing.
“Are you okay?” Marco’s hand is on my back.
I want to shake him off, but I can’t move. I’m completely paralyzed with fear, and my body is violently trembling, even more so than it was when I found Zoe’s crib empty.
“Clara, you’re safe now.”
Am I? Because ever since Marco De Luca re-entered my life, it seems as if I’ve been living inside a nightmare. One that looks like it isn’t going to end any time soon.
Chapter Eleven
MARCO
I knewI was right to leave Zoe at home while I went to pick up Clara. What I wasn’t right in doing was not taking backup with me. Of course, Alfonzo had eyes on Clara’s apartment, but I thought I could handle them on my own.
I might have gotten us away, but it was fucking close. The moment they opened fire and shattered my bulletproof glass, I should have gotten Andre on the phone.
If I hadn’t been able to lose them…
