Page 77 of Debt to the Mafia King
But my body was flushed, not with heat, but with the need to flee. At any minute, Viktor would find me. In fact, I was surprised he hadn’t come rushing after me. I’d expected him to. But I didn’t know why.
Viktor had chosen, and he had chosen someone who wasn’t me. Bringing her into our house on Christmas Day was unforgivable. There was no going back from it. No amount of apologies and sweet gestures would ever take away the sting of his betrayal.
Our marriage was over. The contract was over. We were done.
Lights flooded the circling driveway.
Ducking down, I wrapped my arms around myself to make myself as small as possible, but my heart was beating so fast that I was sure someone would hear it, even over the throaty roar of the engine.
But I didn’t take my eyes off the car and the gate when it pulled to a stop in front of it.
Stephen, my usual bodyguard, was driving.. His face was strained. In all the months I had known him, and in that time I had made him angry on numerous occasions, I had never seen him look so furious, and the reason was sitting in thepassenger side.
Manda.
The woman Viktor had chosen over me.
There was a moment of conversation between the two men, and then the guard nodded and the gate began to slide open. That’s when she moved, throwing herself out of the car. She bolted back toward the house, and both men went after her.
I watched for a second before I realized this was my chance. The gate wasn’t open fully, but it was open enough to slide my body through sideways.
Keeping low and running as fast as I could, I slipped through and bolted down the empty road. They didn’t see me, and as long as I found somewhere to hide every time I saw headlights, they never would.
Manda might have ruined my life, but she might have just given me my freedom.
When I couldn’t run anymore, I walked, but somehow, that made it worse because going slow meant my adrenaline was dipping, and suddenly, all I could concentrate on was how cold I was and how much my feet felt like they were cut into ribbons.
But still, I kept walking, head down and hugging the treeline. Every time a car went past, I hid. Using the darkness as a cover.
Three cars went by with drivers I recognized. And then the fourth car approached. It was coming from the direction of the house, but this one was different.
I didn’t know why I thought that, but instinctively I knew it was.
All of Viktor’s men drove similar cars, like vehicles in an army. This one was different. Something older and bigger, and as I peered out from my hiding space. Expensive. Not a sports car or a town car, but was it called a Rolls Royce?
I didn’t know much about cars, but I think that’s what it was called.
There was a moment where I thought it might be Viktor himself coming to get me, but that thought evaporated as the car pulled to a stop right next to me, and the driver opened the door.
“Get in. We will take you somewhere safe.” He didn’t say anything else.
I had a solid second to decide whether getting into astranger’s car was stupid or not, and then I was swinging open the back door and scrambling inside. And it was warm. So warm.
“Thank you.” Slamming the door behind me, I could barely speak through my chattering teeth. “Thank you so much.” Wrapping my arms around myself, I tried to force myself to relax enough to enjoy the car’s toasty interior, but it was hard.
Outside, it had been easier to ignore just how bone-cold I was.
“It’s my pleasure, Leah.” A male’s voice spoke from right next to me. His accent was thick and Russian, but it wasn’t Viktor. “I couldn’t let my beautiful daughter-in-law freeze on the side of the road, could I?”
Viktor’s dad.
I had gotten into a car with Viktor’s dad.
This was bad, so bad. I’d barely spoken to him at the party, but I knew this was a bad thing. I didn’t want to be alone with this man.
Desperately, I reached for the handle, and the locks clicked into place.
“I’m sorry, Leah, but I can’t let you go until we talk. Drive.” The car pulled away, not moving fast enough to draw attention, but fast enough that if I managed to open the door and throw myself out, I would do myself some real damage.
