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“I’ll always take care of you,” he murmurs, and my face flushes slightly, a ripple of happiness washing through me despite the danger we’re in.

I adjust the baseball cap and follow Sebastian to the men’s section.

Twenty minutes later, Sebastian has gotten a few changes of clothes and underwear for himself, and we’re headed out of the store. We’re almost to the exit that leads out into the main area of the mall when I see them—two men in suits, walking purposefully. They're not looking our way, but there's somethingabout them that makes my blood run cold. The way they move, the way they scan the crowd. They're looking for someone.

I suddenly feel certain that they’re looking for us.

I freeze, my hand tightening on Sebastian's arm. He follows my gaze, his body tensing immediately.

“Keep walking,” he murmurs, turning me away. “Normal pace. Behave like you would if we were just leaving to go to the car. They haven’t seen us yet.”

I can feel sweat beading on the back of my neck as we walk through the mall. The men are moving in our direction, but they're still far enough away that they haven't spotted us. Sebastian leads me into another store, cutting through it quickly and out a side entrance that leads to a different part of the parking lot than where we parked.

"We need to circle around," he says, his voice low and urgent. "Stay close to me."

We walk along the outside of the mall, keeping close to the building. My heart is pounding so hard I'm sure everyone can hear it. When we finally reach our car, Sebastian opens the passenger door for me, then hurries around to the driver's side.

"Were they—" I start to ask as he starts the engine.

"Your father's men? Probably," he says grimly, pulling out of the parking space. "There are plenty of ways they could be tracking us. Traffic cameras, casting a wide enough net that the major routes out of the state are covered, and then checking anywhere we might stop. Your father and Vito will have called in every possible avenue of help that they might have."

I feel sick, the reality of our situation hitting me anew. "We can't outrun them forever."

"We don't need to outrun them forever," Sebastian says, his eyes on the rearview mirror as we exit the mall. "Just long enough to get somewhere they can't follow."

We drive in tense silence for the next hour, taking back roads instead of the highway. I shove everything we bought into the duffel bag that Sebastian has in the back, in case we need to move quickly. Sebastian is constantly checking the mirrors, making unexpected turns, and doubling back occasionally to make sure we're not being followed.

"I think we're clear," he finally says, pulling back onto the highway. "But we need to be more careful. No more stops in populated areas unless absolutely necessary."

I nod, staring out the window. The brief feeling of freedom I had earlier is gone, replaced by the cold reality of our situation. We're fugitives, running from men who will never stop hunting us.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly.

Sebastian glances at me, frowning. "For what?"

"For putting you in this position. You were safe before. My father trusted you. You had a good life."

Sebastian looks over at me sharply. “I wasn’t safe from the moment that I found out that he was going to all but sell you to the highest bidder. I swore to protect you, Estella. Your father’s choices got us here, not you. Even if I hadn’t fallen in love with you, I couldn’t in good conscience have stood by and watched him give you to a man like Vito. A man who would hurt you. Once I knew that I loved you—” He shakes his head. “This isn’t your fault, Estella. And I don’t want you to keep believing that it is?—”

He breaks off suddenly, looking in the rearview. “Shit,” he swears, and my heart leaps with fear as I twist around in my seat, looking behind us.

I see a black SUV gaining on us, moving too fast and too deliberately to be a coincidence.

"Is that—" I start to ask.

"Yes," Sebastian says grimly, pressing down on the accelerator. "Hold on."

The car lurches forward, and I grip the door handle as Sebastian weaves through traffic, trying to put distance between us and our pursuers. But the SUV stays with us, closing the gap with alarming speed.

"They must have been waiting for us to get back on the highway," Sebastian mutters, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. "Damn it. I should have stayed on the back roads, even if it would have taken longer."

"What do we do?" My voice sounds small, even to my own ears.

Sebastian's eyes dart to the rearview mirror again. "We can't outrun them in this car. We need to find somewhere to get off the road."

He takes a sudden exit, tires squealing as we veer down the ramp. The SUV follows, and now I can see another one joining the chase from a side road. My heart pounds behind my ribs, my lungs tightening until I feel like I can’t breathe. It suddenly feels as if there’s no escape. As if there never really was.

Sebastian navigates through a maze of suburban streets, but our pursuers stay with us. I can see the tension in his jaw, the calculation in his eyes as he searches for an escape route.