That “friend” appears to the side of us, speaking rapid, urgent Italian, then disappearing again. “Fuck,” Kayden murmurs, before announcing to me, “Gallo is headed back in this direction. Hide behind a car.” He stands and walks around the wall while I crawl to the back of the bumper I hid behind before, listening as three sets of voices sound this time.
Lowering my head to my hands, I try to see those men following me, but my mind proves to be a brutal bitch that gives me nothing when I truly want and need information. Feeling sick, I press my hand to my stomach. Kayden was not following me. He wasn’t. Every instinct I own says I can trust him. He saved me. Didn’t he? Unless . . . Could someone have spotted him, leaving him forced to call for help? Cotton forms in my throat, and I go back to the cold, hard conclusion I faced in that bathroom and forgot too soon. I don’t know what happened to me or who I am, and I cannot trust anyone until I do. I have to leave, right now, and alone.
I push off my knees and go to a squat, hesitating a split second before I start moving down the line of cars, hoping I’m headed toward the exit. Ten cars later, I find a short stairwell, and I take off down it. A few seconds later, I seem to be at the side of the hospital overlooking another parking lot. It’s pitch dark, and thunder is rumbling overhead, with the scent of rain lacing the air. I run left, away from the main entrance of the building from what I can tell, a gust of wind lifting my hair and blasting me with bitterly cold air, but I do not allow it to stop me. Forever it seems I push forward, until I’m at the street separating the hospital from a neighborhood. I turn and look behind me, relieved that no one follows.
Adrenaline and hope mix together, energizing me. I cross the road, running even faster now, and I am rewarded with the sight of a giant church, certain they will shelter and protect me. But it’s not as close as I thought, and I find myself winding through the streets, trying to find the fastest way out of the cold. The first drop of rain hits me as I cut down the cobblestone road, my mind flickering back to another cobblestone road, and the night of the attack.
Run. Keep running. Faster. Don’t stop. Don’t look back. I can’t be caught. They can’t take me back to him. They can’t. I won’t let them.
I’m jolted out of the past when a downpour of icy rain rushes over me, and the church appears farther away than seconds before. My entire body hurts and I think I’m crying. I know I’m scared. I don’t want to be scared. I want to be brave. I have to be brave and I’m not going to quit.
The rain keeps falling, though, brutal, cold, punishing droplets pelting me, while thunder rumbles above with the fierceness of a beast gone as mad as I feel. I’m numb when I finally reach the edge of the massive church parking lot. I’m discouraged to find no cars, no signs that anyone is present, but I press onward, hoping for any form of shelter. I’m within reachable distance of the massive steps leading to the door when a roar sounds in the distance. My heart skips a beat and I drag my aching body forward. Don’t stop running. Don’t stop! The roar gets closer. Louder. Don’t stop! I close in on the steps and spot another set leading downward that puts me closer to a door. I cut right toward them, but the roar of the engine is on top of me, and I’m so bitterly cold I can barely feel my toes. Still, though, I push myself, and push some more. Only a few more feet. A few more feet!
Suddenly, a motorcycle is in front of me, skidding to a stop and blocking my path. Stunned, I am forced to stop dead in my tracks, and even with a helmet on, I can feel Kayden’s energy, his dominance, and I do not wait for his dismount. I dart to my right, determined to reach a door, where I can try to get help. The bike goes silent, and I know it’s a matter of seconds before Kayden catches up to me, but I am so close to those downward steps. So close, but I don’t make it. Kayden’s strong hand grasps my arm, while I try to jerk in the other direction. “Ella! Stop! It’s me!”
“Let go!” I shout, only to be pulled around to face him, his helmet now gone, and already his hair is plastered to his face. “Let go of me, Kayden, or I’ll start screaming.”
He shackles my wrist and drags me to him, holding me hard against his body. “I told you. I’m not going to let go of you. I took care of Gallo.”
“I don’t care about Gallo,” I hiss, tugging away from him, water running into my mouth. “I don’t care about Gallo! You lied to me!”
“What are you talking about?”
“I saw you with that man at the hospital. I know he was there the night I was attacked.”
A car pulls up beside us and the driver’s door pops open. Kayden curses, releasing one of my wrists to hold up his hand, silently telling our visitor to stay back. I tug against him again and take one look at the man who’s standing by the black sedan, and even in the rain, I know he’s the “friend” from the night of my attack. Certain I will have no chance if they double-team me, a rush of adrenaline overcomes me, and I jerk hard, the water working in my favor and loosening Kayden’s grip.
The instant I’m free, I turn and start running for the stairwell, torn about screaming, both desperate for the police to help and fearful they will expose me to Niccolo. I’m not even sure that Kayden isn’t Niccolo, or at least working for him. I wanted him to be a good man. I wanted to trust him, and even when he grabbed me just now, some part of me still did. Some part of me does, and it’s terrifying.
I hit the stairwell and a sensor triggers a lantern, a glow of light illuminating what is an alcove in front of the door, and now I scream. “Help! Help!” I stumble into the door and start pounding. Kayden is there then, turning me and pressing me into a corner.
“What is wrong with you?” he demands, water pouring off him and onto me.
My hand hits a holster under his jacket and my gaze drops to a gun he didn’t have before. I gasp, my gaze rocketing to his. “Is this where you kill me? At a church? Or are you going to take me somewhere else to do it?”
“The gun is to protect us. I saved you. I’m not here to kill you.”
“Maybe you saved me because you had to. Maybe someone saw you that night and you had no choice. Maybe you had to call an ambulance.”
His hands come down on my face. “There are a lot of things I want to do to you, Ella, but I promise you, killing you isn’t one of them.” His mouth slants over mine, his tongue delving deep, and I want to resist. I do. I try. But his lips are warm when mine are cold, and the taste of him, passion and fire, and yes, demand, burns through me, tempting me, taking me. And for just a moment, I can’t seem to help myself. I want to be possessed by this man. I want to be consumed, so I kiss him back. I kiss him like it’s my last kiss, because maybe it is.
I lean into him, wanting another second, another taste, but he tears his mouth from mine, and my hands are pressed to his chest, his heart racing as fast as mine, as he declares, “I’m a lot of things you won’t like, Ella, including the bastard who has wanted to fuck you since you opened your eyes and called me beautiful despite being in a hospital bed. But I will say it again. I’m not your enemy.”
I’m trembling, not from the cold, but the impact of his kiss. While I was lost in the moment, I have not lost touch with why I ran. “I want to believe you. But words and a kiss, no matter how beautiful you might be, aren’t enough when I’m fighting for survival.”
“As am I. We’re linked, Ella. I’m right here with you.”
Unbidden, the detective’s words play in my head—Kayden Wilkens does nothing, including you, without an agenda—and with them a bad thought hits me. “What’s to keep you from handing me over to Niccolo?”
“Me. I’m stopping me, and that’s the only answer I can give you.”