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LIA

Leo opened the door of a black SUV for me. I shot him a small smile I didn’t exactly feel and climbed into the passenger seat of the car.

I let out a small, tired yawn as Leo came around to the driver’s side.

He glanced over at me sideways. “Didn’t sleep well?”

“Not really,” I answered, putting on my seatbelt, and looked out the side window. I didn’t explain any further. It wasn’t like I could tell him I missed my stalker.

He made a slight sound that didn’t tell me what he was thinking or feeling before starting the car and pulling away from the safe house.

“Where are we going?” I asked. Leo had come by this morning and told me to pack my bags, that I was no longer staying at the house.

“To another place. One that’s not associated with my business. This… man, I don’t know how he did it, but he found the locations of my safe houses. I don’t know if he has the locations of them all, but he’s picking them off one by one, searching through them for you, and when he can't find you in it, he starts to burn the entire thing down to ash.”

I blinked. I knew Mael was burning down anything associated with Leo, but to say he already had access to some of the locations of Leo’s safe houses—information that only a few knew about and was heavily guarded, considering it was where Leo put people who hired him to hide them away—said more about Mael’s abilities than anything else.

How could I not know just how capable he was?

“So are we leaving New York?” I asked, my heart speeding up at the thought. I couldn’t leave New York. My life was here.

“No, we’re going up to a cabin that belongs to a… friend of mine. No one can tie this person to me, so his place is the perfect place to hide you.”

“For how long?” I asked, my voice nothing more than a mere whisper.

Not for the first time, I questioned whether or not I had done the right thing by coming to Leo about this… by running away from Mael.

Mael was the bad guy in my story… the villain… wasn’t he?

Why the hell was I questioning it now?

“For as long as it takes,” Leo answered me. I’d almost forgotten what we had been talking about.

I didn’t respond.

We made the rest of the drive, mostly in silence. Leo had stopped by a fast food place for a quick breakfast, but that was the only stop he made.

My mind seemed to be playing on a loop.

I didn’t know what to think. Or do.

Was I really letting Leo bring me to a remote place? A place no one knew about, where no one would be able to find me, to hide me there?

I was still debating that when Leo pulled up to a decent-sized cabin located in the middle of nowhere.

A strange feeling of foreboding took over me as I looked up at the house. I wanted to tell Leo I didn’t want to stay here, but the words would not come.

How could I say it, though? After all the trouble he went through to hide me from Mael, even going as far as calling in a favor with his friend for this cabin. This was what I wanted, wasn’t it?

I no longer knew.

I flinched when Leo opened the car door. “Come on. Let’s get you settled in.”

He was out of the car before I could respond, leaving me to bathe in the silence of the surrounding air.

I took in a deep breath and got out as well, taking in the scenery. There was no one and nothing around.

From a distance, I thought I heard some birds chirping, but that was all.

I jumped when Leo approached my side, my bags in his hand. “Let’s go.”

I watched him walk to the front of the cabin, my eyes focused on his back, before I rushed to catch up.

The tour of the cabin was brief, and I barely listened.

It was one story and was wider than it was tall. It came fully furnished, with all the electricity and plumbing working. It was also fully stocked with enough food to last me the entire week.

On the surface, it was nice. It would have been better had I come here on vacation, not trying to hide from the man I lo?—

I shook away the thought before it had time to form.

“Okay,” Leo said, turning toward me. I blinked up at him. “I have to go back to work. Do you need anything?”

I mutely shook my head. “I’ll come by soon, okay? We’ll catch this sick fucker, and you won’t have to stay here for long. I promise.”

“Right.”

“I’ll try to come by as much as I can. But you can call me if you need anything, okay?”

I briefly glanced down at my phone in my hand. I wasn’t completely isolated. I could call Leo.

Or for a taxi to come pick me up. Or 911.

That made me feel a little better. “Okay.”

He wrapped his arms around me, pressing a kiss on my forehead, and walked out, leaving me alone in the cabin. For a brief moment, I wondered if he was going back to Victoria. I hadn’t heard from my ex-best friend since our blowup at the coffee shop. I didn’t know if she told Leo that I knew, but I didn’t mention it, and neither did he, so perhaps Victoria hadn’t said anything.

And I probably had more pressing things to worry about than the love life of my father’s friend.

I walked over to the couch and sat down, taking in my surroundings.

I was alone in a cabin that only Leo knew about, trying to hide away from Mael.

I was solely dependent on Leo for everything, from my basic needs for survival to my literal survival, and I was supposed to be scared of Mael.

So then, why did it feel like those two things were supposed to be in reverse?

I shook my head. Since when did I doubt Leo?

He was my surrogate uncle. Someone I had known my entire life, and never had he hurt me in any way. Yet, there was this uncomfortable feeling that had settled deep in my gut since that morning when I called Leo for help and ran away from Mael, and I couldn’t explain why that was.

I let out a small sigh and got up to prep for dinner.

It was the only thing I could do now.

* * *

It was late at night, and I was feeling unsettled.

I should be in bed, trying to sleep away the restlessness, but sleeping meant dreaming of Mael, and I didn’t think I could be strong enough to not let that affect me or break me in some way.

I paced up and down the cabin with the TV on, the volume set just low enough to create some white noise in the background. I hadn’t paid attention to what was on, and something about sitting down and trying to watch other people act out their problems while I had a real problem of my own just didn’t feel right.

I shut it off, along with the lights inside, encasing the entire room in darkness, save for the moonlight shining through the small skylight above me. The cabin had two small night-lights: one in the corner that gave me enough light to see where I was going without bumping into the furniture and one in the small kitchen not too far from where I stood, casting off a slight orange glow.

I walked over to the window and looked out into the dark space. There were no city lights around to penetrate through the sky, and I could see the moon and stars out.

I didn’t think I had ever seen so many stars in the sky.

Even when I was working at the coffee shop.

I closed my eyes.

I didn’t even know if I would still have a job there once everything was settled.

It wasn’t like I had given them any notice.

I looked down at my phone. Ten minutes until midnight.

I needed sleep and couldn’t put it off any longer. I was about to head back to the bedroom when movement from across the property line caught my attention.

I froze, wondering if the movements were nothing more than my eyes playing tricks on me.

My eyes strained as I tried to look through the dark.

There was nothing for only a moment. Then more movement, and I could see them better the closer they got to the cabin.

My heart stalled at the sight of two strange men approaching.

I blinked and rubbed my tired eyes.

They were still there.

What the hell was happening?

No one was supposed to know I was here. Did they come here for me? Or was it random—that they just happened to stumble upon this place and decided to check it out?

I watched as they got to the front porch. From the angle of the window, they couldn’t see me, but I could see them. I could tell they were men… huge, rough-looking men who I had never in my life met before. I would have recognized their massive physique.

A flash of silver caught my eyes before I heard the unmistakable sound of a key being inserted into the keyhole.

They had the keys to the cabin and were coming in.

I didn’t wait. I quickly ran to the back of the cabin that housed a small kitchen and pantry, just big enough for me to hide in.

I left the door open with a slight crack.

Heavy footsteps came over the hardwood floor, in tune with my heart beating. My chest hurt from the panic trying to take over my body, and I was hit with a strong wave of helplessness.

The men spoke to each other softly in a language I didn’t recognize. Portuguese or Italian, I didn’t know.

They shuffled around the small cabin, clearly looking for something, but they didn’t turn on the lights.

They had the keys to the place, yet they were sneaking around in the dark? It didn’t make sense.

When they obviously couldn’t find what they were looking for, one of them came into the kitchen. I worked hard to control my breathing as the night-light caught on the man’s face for the first time: dark eyes and a bald head. His skin was covered in tattoos from the side of his scalp, down to his neck, and under the black shirt he wore. He spun in a circle slowly, then spoke in English.

“Where are you, little girl?”

I took in a small inhale. Was he looking for me?

I closed my eyes and prayed. How did they know I was here in the first place? And why were they looking for me?

The other man from the living room called out to the bald man in the kitchen, prompting him to walk out of there. I waited until his footsteps faded before I moved. Pushing the pantry door just enough for me to get out, I crawled to the back door, trying not to make a sound as I twisted the knob to open it.

Things were going well until I actually pushed open the old wooden door, and it squeaked, the sound deafening in the silent house.

I knew they heard it, too.

I didn’t wait.

I got up and ran out of the cabin as shouts erupted behind me. I didn’t turn around to see where they were. I just pushed myself harder and harder. Even when my legs ached, and my lungs burned, I kept going.

The shouts got louder.

Panic began to rise as I blindly ran through the woods, trying to avoid the trees. I ran around in circles, hoping that would throw them off. I couldn’t see further than a few feet in front of me, so hopefully, they couldn’t see me as well.

I didn’t know. I turned sharply to my right, catching my foot on a rock, and my ankle twisted as I fell.

No time to panic or think of the pain.

I pushed myself up and ran again.

Too late.

Too fucking late.

I was tackled to the ground from behind.

I grunted in pain as my wrist was pressed beneath me with the weight of the man on top of me.

I struggled, kicking my foot out and connecting with something hard. A low grunt sounded, but I couldn’t get any satisfaction from that because suddenly, the weight lifted, and I was being hauled up against a big sweaty body.

“No!” I screamed. “Let me go! Help me! Help me!”

I screamed as loud as I could, even when my throat hurt.

A hand slapped me across the face, and I let out a small moan as pain exploded, disorienting me.

“Shut it, bitch. There is no one around to hear you.”

I shook my head and kept screaming. This couldn’t be happening. How could there not be anyone around to hear me?

The bald man threw me over his shoulder and headed back to the cabin.

I struggled harder in his arms, but it was no use. He was stronger than me, and he had help. I was outnumbered and helpless.

I was…

Fucked.