Page 10 of Her Outlaw Prisoner (Vanishing With the Rebel #1)

Ronan

Eleanor should be here by now.

I pace the narrow space of the prison infirmary, my eyes darting to the clock every few minutes like the damn thing’s going to give me answers. She’s never late. Not without a reason. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned in this place—it’s to trust my gut.

Something’s wrong. Definitely.

I knew it the moment I walked into the infirmary and she wasn’t here. Now, the morning rounds have ended and she still isn’t here. My heart is slamming against my chest like a warning bell I can’t silence.

I shove my hands into my pockets, trying to hold back the rage simmering just beneath my skin.

Five years in this hellhole. Five fucking years of pretending to play the game, biding my time, making deals in the dark.

I’ve stayed low, played by their rules, cleaned my slate with blood and silence.

And for what? So I could maybe walk out of here a decade earlier?

So I could salvage some version of a life?

None of that means shit anymore.

Not if Eleanor’s in danger.

I’ve finally found the one good thing in this damn world after my sister’s death, and I’m not about to lose her.

I pull the burner from beneath the loose tile in the back wall and dial a familiar number.

He picks up on the first ring.

“Boss?” Theo’s voice is casual, but I can hear the edge beneath it. He’s been waiting for this call.

“She’s gone.”

A beat of silence.

“Your girl?”

“Didn’t show up today. She’s never late. Something’s off.”

Another pause, then a rustle of movement on his end. “Alright. I’ll pull her stepbrother’s last known address and get my guys on a sweep.”

I glance down at the thin bandage on my knuckles—the same one she wrapped around my hands with so much care on one of my trips to the infirmary. My heart constricts painfully as her smiling face flashes in my head.

I can’t bear the thought of never seeing her again. I’d lose it for real this time…

“I don’t care about any complications. I’m ready now.”

Theo exhales. “It’s messy timing, but I can get cameras patched for the next thirty. If you’re doing this, you better move now.”

“I’m not leaving her out there alone.”

I hang up and slide the burner back into hiding.

Then I move.

The rest happens in a blur, exactly as I’ve planned for so long. Silent signals. A guard “distracted” at the gate. A hallway cleared at the exact right time. The side panel behind the laundry chute opens just long enough for me to slip through.

Theo is waiting behind the wheel of a matte-black Charger, the engine rumbling low like it’s just as pissed off as I am.

Theo’s face is tense, but he’s determined and alert.

I don’t say a word as I climb in. He tosses me a hoodie and some dark jeans.

I change in the back seat as he barrels down the road, cutting corners like we’ve got hell itself chasing us.

“She’s at the old house,” he says, eyes locked on the road. “Same one she grew up in. Bastard must’ve dragged her back there. It’s a two-hour drive.”

I clench my fists. This man is the reason Eleanor flinches at sudden movement. The reason she’s always looking over her shoulder. He’s a monster who made her believe she wasn’t worth fighting for.

And he’s about to learn the hard way what happens to people who fuck with something that’s mine.

We finally pull up to an old Victorian at the edge of the woods, its roof sagging like a tired sigh. The yard is dead, overgrown. Windows dark.

I’m out before the engine dies.

Theo steps out behind me, checking the piece holstered at his hip. “Want me inside?”

“Not yet. Keep the car running. Be ready.”

He nods once, and I head for the side door.

It’s unlocked.

Of course it is. The kind of man Daryl is? He doesn’t think anyone’s ever coming for her. Doesn’t think anyone would burn the world down for her.

He’s wrong.

I slip inside, keeping my footsteps slow and silent. The floorboards groan under my weight. Though homey, the house smells like mold and stale air, like a place that hasn’t been lived in for a while.

Then I hear it.

Soft movement. A whimper.

I move toward the sound, my heart pounding hard in my chest. When I push open the door, I see her.

Eleanor.

She’s tied to the bed, wrists red and raw, her hair a tangled mess around her face. There’s a bruise on her temple, a cut on her lip. Her eyes are wild when they land on me.

“Ronan?” she breathes, barely above a whisper.

Something in me cracks wide open.

In two long strides, I’m at her side, yanking at the ropes with shaking hands. “It’s me. I’ve got you, angel. I’m here.”

She blinks hard, tears slipping down her cheeks. “He—he just came out of nowhere. And then he hit me and—and…”

“Shh.” I cradle her cheek, pressing my forehead to hers. “You don’t have to say anything, baby. We’re leaving. Right fucking now.”

I pull a blade from my boot and slice through the last tie. Just as I’m pulling her into my arms, I hear the creak of a floorboard behind me.

I turn.

Too late.

Daryl comes out of nowhere, swinging a metal pipe. It slams into my shoulder with a sickening thud, sending pain shooting through my arm.

I stumble but stay on my feet.

Motherfucker.

I launch at him with a roar, tackling him into the dresser. The whole thing collapses under our weight. We’re a flurry of fists and fury. He punches wild, sloppy. I hit with the aim to break bones.

Hard.

His nose shatters under my knuckles. He screams. I don’t stop.

He swings the pipe again, but I duck, grab his wrist, and twist until it snaps. He howls, crumpling to the floor.

I stand over him, chest heaving.

“You put your hands on her again,” I growl, meeting his eyes, “and I’ll make sure you never use them again.”

He looks like he wants to keep fighting, but after a moment, he looks away, unable to hold my gaze. Satisfied that he’s been sufficiently cowed, I punch his head into the floor until he loses consciousness. He won’t be awake to follow us for a few hours at least.

I rush back to Eleanor, who’s sitting on the floor, shaking. I kneel and cup her face.

“You okay?” I whisper.

She nods quickly, breath hitching. “I knew you’d come. I told myself…you’d find me.”

“Always,” I say, pulling her into my arms. “I’d rip down every wall in this world for you.”

Her fingers grip my shirt tight. “I was so scared.”

“Not anymore.” I press my lips to her forehead. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”

I lift her into my arms and carry her out of that house like she’s the only thing that matters.

Because she is.

And I’m not losing her again.

She clings to me as I carry her through the overgrown yard, her fingers curled tightly into my shirt like she’s never letting go.

I hope she doesn’t.

I don’t say anything as we step into the woods where Theo is waiting by the Charger, engine rumbling low. He opens the back door without a word, eyes scanning Eleanor’s bruised face.

“She okay?” he asks.

“She will be,” I reply, settling her gently into the back seat. I climb in after her, wrapping my arms around her as Theo pulls off down the narrow road.

We’re quiet for a long moment, just the soft hum of the engine and Eleanor’s uneven breathing filling the space. She shifts in my arms, looks up at me with glassy eyes.

“Ronan…” Her voice is small, hoarse. “How did you get out? How did you find me?”

I brush a strand of hair from her face, my thumb tracing gently across her temple where the bruise is already starting to purple.

“I knew something was wrong when you didn’t show up this morning.

I could feel it in my bones. I’d already started laying the groundwork to break out…

but when you didn’t come, I didn’t care if the plan was ready or not.

I would’ve crawled through fire to get to you. ”

Her lip trembles. “You broke out of prison for me?”

“I’d break out of hell for you.”

She stares at me, eyes wide, breath caught somewhere between a sob and a laugh. “That’s…insane.”

“Yeah,” I murmur, a small smirk tugging at my mouth. “So is falling in love with your prison nurse.”

She laughs, a shaky, broken thing—but it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.

I rest my forehead against hers. “I meant what I said. I love you. I’m not letting anything take you away from me again.”

“I love you too,” she whispers.

And that’s it. That’s the moment everything else falls away. The bruises, the blood, the past. All I see is her.

I pull away just enough to meet her gaze. “Run away with me, Eleanor.”

Her eyes widen. “Really?”

“I’m serious. I’ve got everything set up. Fake passports. New identities. Offshore accounts with enough money to last a lifetime. A house in a country where no one knows our names. No Daryl. No prisons. No more hiding.”

She blinks at me, lips parted, stunned into silence.

“I know it’s fast,” I say, my hand finding hers. “But this world…it’s not kind. Not to people like us. And I’m done waiting for the world to hand me a second chance. I want to take it. With you.”

She looks down at our joined hands, then back up at me. “You want me to disappear with you?”

“I want to build a life with you. One where you’re not afraid to leave your apartment. One where no one ever lays a hand on you again. I want to give you everything you’ve never had, baby. Safety. Peace. Freedom.”

Tears spill down her cheeks, silent and unrelenting. “You’d really do all that…for me?”

I grip her chin gently and tilt her face up toward mine. “I already did.”

She closes her eyes for a moment, breathing deep, then nods…slowly at first, then faster, an excited chuckle bursting from her lips. “Yes. Yes, I’ll go with you.”

Relief crashes through me, and I press a kiss to her forehead, then her temple, then her lips. She tastes like tears and courage.

“Thank you,” I whisper, caressing her cheeks. “You won’t regret it. I promise.”

Her hand cups the side of my neck. “Until you, I didn’t think I’d ever feel like this. Like I matter. Like someone actually sees me. I’ve never had this kind of connection with anyone, Ronan. I’ve never been loved like this.”

“And I’ve never loved like this.” My voice is raw, fierce. “You changed me, Eleanor. You gave me something to fight for. You gave me a reason.”

She leans into me, curling into my chest as we speed toward the edge of everything we’ve ever known.

And I hold her tighter, already planning our escape, already dreaming of the future we’re about to steal back from the world that tried to break us.

This time, we get to write our own ending.