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Snow falls harder down around us, the visibility decreasing as the wind picks up. My heart races and my stomach tosses.

I don’t know how there’s a way in which either of us are going to get through this, but we have to do it.

If the icy road doesn’t take us out, then the men in the car behind us will try to.

“Royce, we’re both going to run away. As soon as we have to stop, we’re going to take off running and we’re both making it back to Bianca. Do you understand me?”

His gaze flickers over to mine, the corner of his mouth twitching. “If I say yes, will you stop looking at me like I’m the first one you’re going to put a bullet in?”

“As long as you’re not lying to me.”

“Then I promise I’m going to try and run with you, but if the choice is between you getting out of here or both of us dying, you know what I’m going to choose.”

I glance in the mirror again as a second car pulls onto the road behind the first, both of them speeding up and rapidly closing the distance between us. The cars become bigger, men appearing in the seats, though I can’t quite make out who they are.

“Royce, you need to go faster.”

“I see them.” He grits his teeth, the muscle in his jaw ticking as he drives faster, but it doesn’t matter.

Not as a third car appears from a side road a few hundred yards up ahead.

I check the gun with shaking hands, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down.

There might be a chance we could still get away. I just have to make sure I can shoot out the tires of the two cars closest to us while hoping the third doesn’t lose the distance while I’m doing that.

And that I don’t get shot in the process.

“Don’t do it,” Royce says as I go to lower the window, unbuckling myself at the same time. “Take a closer look. They have guns. They’re ready to shoot the second you pop out of that window.”

“Why aren’t they shooting now? If they have the guns, they could shoot the tires, and we wouldn’t be able to get away.”

Royce drives faster as the car in front of us parks in the middle of the road, men with guns getting out and taking aim.

“You need to get down. Now.”

I duck and the car lurches to the side. It feels like it goes up on two wheels before slamming down hard. We slide before the car straightens again, the engine getting louder as Royce laughs.

“You can sit up.”

Looking out the back window, I watch as the other two cars swerve around the parked one. “They’re going to hit us.”

“I know. Stay loose. Don’t brace. You’ll only get hurt if you brace.”

“You’re going to let them hit us?” I ask, voice shrill as I yank the seat belt back across my body and buckle up. “Are you insane?”

“It might be the only way to end this,” he says as there’s a loud screech of metal on metal, our car jolting to the side.

I try to stay loose, but it seems impossible to do so as we hit a patch of ice and go spinning.

Please let us survive this.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

ROYCE

“Please don’t be dead.”

My head is spinning and my entire body aches as I dangle from a seat belt, but that’s the only thought going through my mind as I glance over at Gia.