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“I think I fell in love with you when you asked me to tell you about the book I was reading, and you actually seemed interested.” I laugh softly. “You listened to the whole synopsis I gave you, even though it was some young adult novel that I don’t think you’d ever have read on your own. But I knew I loved you—” I press my lips together. “I couldn’t admit it to myself until I saw my father taking you away. And then I thought it would be too late to tell you.”

I turn in his arms, facing him, our bodies pressed together under the warm weight of the duvet. “I love you, Sebastian Sinclair,” I whisper in the darkness, my fingers brushing against his face. “I love you, and I always will.”

“I love you too, Estella,” he murmurs, brushing his lips against mine. “And no matter what, I’ll love you until the day I die.”

—

We fall asleep like that, together, until Sebastian’s alarm wakes us up, a shrill sound coming from the burner phone he left on the nightstand. He wakes up instantly, but I’m slower to come awake, groaning groggily as I feel him moving behind me. He leans over, kissing me on the cheek, and I feel the hard line of his cock pressing against the curve of my ass.

I moan softly, arching back against him, and Sebastian laughs regretfully.

“I hope there’ll be a day when I can take advantage of how eager you are to satisfy me in the morning, princess,” he murmurs, kissing me again. “But right now, we have to go.”

He flicks on a light rather than opening the curtain, getting dressed quickly. I slip on the sweatpants and shoes I grabbed the night before, and Sebastian glances at me.

“We’ll get you some clothes that fit as soon as we can safely make a stop. But we need to put some miles between us and them, first.”

I nod. “I know. Where are we going?”

Sebastian hesitates. “I think California, for now,” he says slowly. “Unless you object. From there, we might head to Mexico or Costa Rica, maybe. Somewhere that your father and Vito will have less sway. We’ll have to leave the States for that.” He looks at me warily, and I can tell that he’s waiting for me to dig my heels in, to say that it’s too much. That I can’t run so far away from home.

“And then what?” I ask softly, knowing that it’s going to be hard for him to give me a real answer. One that has any weight to it, anyway.

Sebastian smiles tightly. “Maybe we can stop running, if we get far enough away. Maybe we can settle down in a beach housesomewhere, and start building a life together. It’s a small chance, dove,” he adds quietly. “But we have a chance.”

“That’s all we need,” I tell him firmly. “Just a chance.”

“And to have that chance, we need to go.”

Sebastian checks the duffel bag, taking his gun and a second, smaller revolver out. He holds out the revolver to me, and my eyes widen.

“You need to be able to protect yourself,” he says firmly. “Don’t shoot it unless you have to, I know you haven’t had any practice. But if you need to, then point and shoot. Don’t hesitate if you know you’re in danger and I can’t get to you.”

I bite my lip, nodding as I take the gun. It feels strange in my hand. I’ve never even considered shooting another person. But I know it might come to that, and I need to be ready.

I made this choice, too. Now I need to do what’s necessary to live with it.

I hold onto the gun, careful with it as we head to the door. Sebastian motions for me to stay behind him as he opens it slowly, looking up and down the motel walkway and out to the parking lot before he deems it safe.

“Follow me. Let’s get to the car quickly.” He moves out, walking toward the car as I follow him. He tosses the duffel into the backseat, and I slide the gun down between the seat and the console after I get in on the passenger’s side.

We drive in relative silence for a long time, the radio playing softly. We stop for a drive-through breakfast, a horribly greasy concoction of biscuit and egg, and sausage that I love more than I probably should. Sebastian keeps a watch on the road as he drives, constantly checking the rearview mirror, and I watch the empty highway unfurl in front of us, feeling an odd sense of peace despite the danger that we’re in. I’ve never been anywhere like this before, just me and Sebastian and the open road, and I want to savor every moment of it.

The sun rises fully as we drive, casting golden light across the landscape. I watch as we pass through small towns, places I've never seen before. Places where no one knows my name, or my father's. Places where I'm not Estella Gallo, daughter of one of the most feared men in the Northeast. I'm just a girl in a car with a beautiful man, heading west.

"What are you thinking about?" Sebastian asks, glancing over at me. His dark hair is tousled from sleep, and the stubble on his jaw is thicker now, making me want to reach out and run my fingers over it. He looks different out here, away from my father's mansion. Less like a professional, wary bodyguard, and more like the man I fell in love with in secret. The one I’ve seen in glimpses, as we became better friends, in the moments where no one was looking. The one I want to get to love forever.

"How strange it is," I say, looking back out at the road. "I've never been this far from home before. I've never been allowed to just… go."

Sebastian's hand finds mine, squeezing gently. "Your father kept you in a gilded cage, dove. But you're free now."

"Am I?" I ask, turning back to him. "Or am I just going to be dragged back and put in a cage with a more secure lock?"

His jaw tightens. "I won't let anyone put you in a cage again. Not your father, not Vito, not anyone."

I think about the night before, about the way we fled from the gardens. The look on Vito’s face when he found us, when he got up from the stone path where Sebastian had knocked him out. The blood running from his nose and lip, the fury in his eyes.

He’s not going to stop looking for me, I know that. Not unless we can get so far away that he can’t find me, no matter what.