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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

GIA

This is never going to work.

That’s the thought that’s playing over and over again in my mind as I pack Bianca’s clothing into the little pink suitcase Royce bought for her just a week ago. He thought that it would be good for her to have her own suitcase to pack whenever we had to run.

And it turns out he was right.

I didn’t think we would get two weeks in Canada, and maybe I should be grateful about that, but the thought of driving to Vermont without Bianca is making me feel sick.

Royce presses a hand to my lower back, picking up the folded playpen. “Come on. The sun is starting to come up and we have to get going. I think there’s someone out there watching us.”

I glance at the empty car seat as he drapes a blanket over it. “I don’t like this at all.”

“I know you don’t, but it’s going to be over before you know it. The drive to the safe house is going to take less than a day, and then we’re going to be back with Bianca.”

“It’s not just that I don’t like it. Things are too quiet.”

He gives me a grim smile as he grabs the car seat and heads for the door. “I don’t like this any more than you do, but right now we need to pretend that this is just another day and we’re all going out.”

I force a serene look onto my face as I follow him out of the room, dragging the suitcases down the stairs and through the house.

We step outside and the chill in the air nearly takes my breath away. There’s a fresh blanket of snow on the ground, hiding the places in the yard where Skyla nearly bled out and where Matt was killed.

The snow glitters beneath the early morning sun as it starts to creep over the horizon. Wispy fingers of pink and orange turn to blue over the tops of trees.

I take a deep breath before blowing it out, my breath coming out in a white puff.

Royce looks over at me. “You need to look as natural as possible, Gia.”

I roll my eyes and sneer at him, and he starts laughing while turning to buckle the car seat into the car. “Was that good enough for you?”

“Anyone whose ever met you is going to believe that you’re pissed off with me, so probably.”

“Well, maybe you are annoying me. You weren’t an optimist when we first met.” I open the trunk of the car, stuffing the first suitcase in. “I want the Royce who hated the world to be back here with me.”

He slides the playpen in front of the back seat on the floor. “He left the day he found out he had a daughter and a woman who is worth surviving for.”

The corner of my mouth twitches. “And now you’re a romantic?”

“Baby, I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”

Snorting, I shove the last suitcase into the trunk before slamming it shut and walking over to him. “That had to be the cheesiest thing you’ve ever said to me, and I don’t think I’ll survive if you ever say anything like that again.”

“You’re going to die from the cheese?”

“A brutal and horrible death.”

He smirks and loops his arms around my waist, pulling me close, his lips ghosting over mine. “I’ll get something nice engraved on your headstone.”

“No. You’re going to have my ashes put in a little box that you’re going to carry around with you every single day, and if you ever think of moving on from me, I’m going to come back and haunt your ass.”

“Sounds perfect to me.” His breath is warm against my ear as he hugs me closer. “There weren’t any cars watching us last night, and Skylar has made it to the safe house, but I think there’s a car watching us now.”

I pull away to look at him, heart seizing in my chest. “Well then, I guess we should get going before the others arrive.”

He nods and walks me around to the passenger side of the car, holding open the door and waiting for me to get in. “We’re going to lead them north a little bit before we lose them and turn back. I want them to think that we’re heading deeper into Canada.”

“Sounds good.”

Royce closes the door and rounds the front of the car, getting in beside me and starting the engine.

I crank the heat and put on some music, hoping it’s enough to drown out the worry that keeps coursing through my veins.

Though I doubt it will be, it’s better than nothing.

Royce reaches over and takes my hand in his as the car backs down the driveway and out onto the road. “Pretend to check on Bianca. There’s a gun I hid for you in the car seat.”

I unbuckle myself and get to my knees on the passenger seat, leaning between the two and reaching beneath the blanket.

Taking the gun and the magazine, I check them both over, keeping it hidden from sight as a sleek black car pulls onto the road behind us.

After inserting the magazine into the gun, I turn back around, buckling up once more. “Do you think we’re going to need it?”

“I would be surprised if we didn’t.”

My mouth is as dry as the desert as I nod and unzip my jacket while flakes of snow start to fall. “How long do you think until they try to get close?”

The car rumbles as he speeds up, glancing to the mirror. “They’re going faster too. It looks like they’re only going to match pace with us for now, instead of trying to catch up.”

“Noah wants to see where we’re going first, then.” I bite the inside of my cheek, stomach tying itself into a tight knot, the rest of my body tensing.

“I think you should get comfortable. If they’re just going to be following us, it’s going to be awhile until I can lose them. I have to wait until we get to a town.”

“You could just drive faster.”

“And they would only need to follow the road. According to the map I was looking at this morning, it’s nearly half an hour to the next exit.”

Groaning, I tuck the gun into the glove compartment before reaching into my purse and pulling out my tablet. “Well then, I may as well work on another sketch for a forgery. Someone needs to keep my career going if we survive this.”

Royce lets out a dark chuckle, glancing over at me. “We’re going to survive this.”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.”

As much as I miss Bianca, I’m glad that she’s with Skyla.

She won’t have to watch her parents die.

* * *

“You need to put that away,” Royce says, his tone low and dangerous as the car starts to speed up.

“Why? What’s happening?” I slip the tablet into the back seat.

He glances at the mirror, and I do the same, seeing the black car crossing the double yellow line in the middle of the road and speeding up.

“Are they gaining on us?” I ask, voice wavering a little as I reach for the gun and pull it out.

“Yeah. It looks like Noah is finally ready to finish this.” Royce reaches out and takes my hand, bringing it to his mouth and kissing the back of it. “I don’t know if we’re going to be able to outrun them.”

“What about the next exit?”

“We passed the first and second one. It’s an hour until the third, and even that only leads to a small town. I’m not going to be able to lose them before they catch up to us.”

I nod, taking a deep breath and leaning over to kiss his cheek. “We’re going to get through this together, even if we do die.”

He barks out a sharp laugh, eyes rolling. “I might die, but if this car stops, you’re going to get out and you’re going to run through those woods, and you’re not going to look back. Understood?”

“I’m not leaving you.” My voice breaks as I look at him, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. “You’re not going to die for me, Royce.”

“I am if I have to, because I love you, and I love our daughter, and I’m going to give you the best shot at life I can,” he says, his words wavering as he looks over at me.

For the first time since the day I met him, his eyes are glassy and he looks like he’s barely keeping it together. He kisses the back of my hand again, his smile small as he reaches out to wipe one of my tears.

“I love you too.” The words are choked, but I force them out. “And I’ll be damned if you think that I would actually leave you alone to fight.”

“You’re going to. Bianca needs one of us around and you were right to not tell her about me. You’re the best mother there is and you’ve never needed me around. You’re going to be just fine without me.”

“Stop talking like you’re going to die.” I glance in the mirror, watching as the car behind us closes the distance more, even as Royce speeds up. “We’re going to get through this together. Isn’t that what you’ve been saying since we started this wild shit?”

He puts both hands on the wheel, foot pressing the accelerator to the ground. “You have to be the one to get back to her.”

“You have to get back to Bia too. I’m not going to spend the rest of my life telling her that her father died because he was an idiot who thought he had to sacrifice himself.”

“I’ve never done anything else that’s worth anything in my life beyond loving both of you.”

“You’re not going to talk like your plan is to leave me, do you understand? I’m not going to have it.”

He puts his hand on my leg for a moment, giving it a quick squeeze. “I don’t think I’m going to have much of a choice. Noah isn’t going to leave me alive after everything that’s happened, but you have a chance. I can keep him and his men busy, and you can get away, back to our daughter.”

“You’re insane.”

The car skids hard around a sharp curve in the road, spinning once before Royce manages to straighten it out and takes off flying once again.

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.