Page 23 of Taking Adalisa (Montgomery Syndicate #2)

ADALISA

A s I slam the door, Matthias places his foot inside at the very last second. I take several steps back as I stare at him wide-eyed. He can’t be here. How did he find me so fast?

“Did you really think you could get away from me?” Matthias opens the door. “Did you really think you were keeping it a secret that you were trying to leave?”

I rush backward. Maybe I can open the window and jump before he can get to me. But as I look at the window and back at Matthias, I know I won’t be able to make it. I don’t know how the window opens, which will waste precious time that I don’t have. What am I going to do?

I should have opened the window before or at least checked it out before I went to bed, but I didn’t. I should have checked it. I should have made sure everything was okay. Why didn’t I?

Because I was exhausted and wanted to rest. I didn’t think he would find me so soon.

“Adalisa,” he growls. “Answer me.”

“N-no,” I stutter, not really remembering the questions he was asking. Hopefully, it is the right answer and I haven’t shot myself in the foot.

“So why did you run, wife?” he asks. “Why did you try to leave me and hide?”

Wife? What is he talking about?

“I see you’ve caught on to what I was saying, wife.” He repeats the word again.

“Are you trying to insinuate what is going to happen next?” My voice is shaky from nerves.

Matthias takes a step toward me. “No.”

My eyebrows pull together. No, he isn’t. So what is he talking about? I know for sure we haven’t gotten married. I haven’t gone to the courthouse, said I do, and signed the paperwork. I would have remembered that.

He takes another step toward me, a smile blossoming across his face. “We’re married now .”

“I think I would remember going to the courthouse,” I tell him, taking another step back.

My eyes dart around the room quickly, trying to see if I can come up with any sort of exit plan. But Matthias is closing in on me, backing me into a corner, and I don’t have anywhere to escape. What am I going to do? How am I going to get out?

Matthias takes another step toward me, cornering me, and the smirk on his face shows me that he knows it as well. Shit. This is not good.

“You don’t remember since you weren’t there,” he replies, still advancing on me.

“But the marriage certificate is real, and a judge was present when we got married. We are legally married, and there is nothing you can do about it. No divorce lawyer will help you, no judge will reverse it. You are legally bound to me like I am legally bound to you.”

I shake my head. “No judge would do that.”

Matthias makes a tsking sound. “ A lot of judges would do it, especially when there is incriminating evidence against them. You’d be surprised how much you can accomplish with evidence.”

He closes the distance between us. My heart sinks as I stare at him. He is telling the truth; I can feel it in my bones, and I don’t know what to do now. How am I going to get out of this?

“Now, you can either come with me the easy way or the hard way. You get to decide, but you are not staying here.” Matthias holds his hand out.

This is when I wish I had a knife in my hand so I could stab him. To feel the satisfaction of hurting him and possibly being able to get away. But sadly, I don’t own one.

“No one in this building is going to help you.” Matthias leans closer to me. “They know not to mess with the Montgomery Syndicate.”

I look at him and then at the doorway. There is no way I will get by him and out the door. He is way too close to me.

“The easy way or the hard way?” Matthias repeats his question, blocking my view of the exit. “Answer now or I’ll pick one for you.”

“Easy way,” I mumble, my shoulders dropping in defeat.

I don’t want to make a scene if no one is going to help me. It would be pointless. I need to be smart about this. Matthias holds his hand out as he looks at me. Right. He probably wants me to hold his hand as we walk out, so I can’t run anywhere.

I take his hand, and he holds on tight as he picks up my bag, slinging it over his shoulder.

“The key,” he demands.

I pick it up from the coffee table as we walk out of the room and toward the lobby. Dread fills me the closer we get. Matthias has found me, and I don’t know where he’s taking me now. What is he going to do to me? Am I going to survive?

I have so many questions and very few answers.

“You’re all right,” he whispers as we walk into the lobby. “Everything is going to be okay now. Give the keys to him.”

With tears in my eyes, I look at the owner and give him the keys.

“I’m sorry, mi hija. I didn’t tell no one. He just knew, and I can’t do anything against the Montgomery Syndicate.” He has so much sorrow on his face. “I would have helped you more if I could. I really would have.”

“It’s okay,” I whisper, my voice breaking.

Before he can say anything else, Matthias tugs on my hand lightly, pulling me out of the building. I suck in a deep breath as we walk out. I was not expecting to be leaving so soon.

Matthias will always find me.

He helps me into his truck, buckling me in before shutting my door and walking around. I try the handle and quickly realize that he has put the child lock on, and I can’t get out. Great. He is always one step ahead.

“Adalisa,” Matthias gently says, catching me off guard.

I thought he would be pissed off and angry when we got into the car. I was not expecting him to sound so soft and calm.

“Look at me,” he commands.

I search his face for any type of anger, but I see none. Is he not mad at me?

“I’m not angry with you,” he says. “Annoyed that you tried to leave? Yes, absolutely, but I’m not mad. I saw it way before you even thought about it. I knew you were going to try and leave, so I put a tail on you. You almost spotted him, but he quickly switched.”

I knew it. I knew he had someone following me. For him to know where I was so quickly. It was either that or him putting a tracking device on me.

“But it is unacceptable for you to come to this part of town and put yourself in danger.” Matthias grips my chin with his fingers.

“One of your rules is to not put yourself in danger, yet you have again. This part of town is known for what they do to pretty women. Yet you decided to come here and stay in a motel.”

I blink several times. it’s news to me that this part of town is known for that.

I’ve never heard of that before. I knew it wasn’t the best part of town, but I wasn’t expecting it to be that bad.

Is that why the owner was asking me all those questions and was concerned for me? Why didn’t he say anything?

“You will not put yourself in danger again,” Matthias states. “I will not allow it. You will not be doing anything without my consent.”

“You can’t do that!” I raise my voice.

He arches an eyebrow. “This is the second time you’ve put yourself in danger, and this time you aren’t wearing the bracelet. Do you know how worried I was when Dahmere called me to say you were in this part of town?”

And now I feel bad for making him worry. I thought he would just forget about me and move on. I didn’t actually think he would worry that something happened and try to find me.

“You can’t control where I go and who I see. I am an adult,” I tell him, brushing off the guilt.

He has claimed me, and now we are married. I shouldn’t feel guilty for making him worry about me.

“I do. From now on, any time you want to go anywhere, there will be someone with you. You will ask permission to go anywhere. If I find out that you left without the guard or without getting the okay from me, your bottom will be hot.” Matthias’ voice drops an octave, and he looks me in the eye. “Do you understand?”

I don’t say anything. I am not going to agree to this. There is no way.

“Adalisa,” he growls. “Do you understand?”

“I understand what you just said, but that doesn’t mean I’m actually going to do it,” I reply.

“You understand. That means you know the consequences if you break those rules,” he releases my chin and starts up the car.

We sit in silence as he drives. Have I made a mistake? Should I have go with everything he asks me to do and think?

No.

I need to not think about that. Everything I did was to keep myself safe. Leaving him was my only option. I didn’t think I would get caught so soon, but this is the only option.

Was the only option.

I have no doubt Matthias is going to be keeping an eye on me from now on and make it so much more difficult to get away.

“We are staying at the compound with Ethan and Margery,” he informs me.

“Margery?” My head whips to face him. “Margery, as in my friend?”