Her Secret Santa - Miley Maine Page 0,32

didn’t have a choice. My family did the same thing, moving close by me. And for a few years, everything was fine. I’d moved on with my life. But now… now he’d found me. I knew I would have to keep running for a while.

How did he find me? How? I wish I knew. It might have been an accident.

I wanted to call Tony and tell him everything. But I couldn’t. I was afraid I might put him in danger somehow. But then again, being a billionaire did afford to offer someone a level of protection. I was more worried about what Tony might do to Saul if I told him. Tony would probably find him and kick him until every bone in his body was mush.

I felt so safe with Tony. I’d never had that with a man before. It was so wonderful to actually be with a real man. A real good man who loved me. And now I had thrown it away. I should have talked to him, told him what was going on. But I didn’t want him mixed up in all of this. It wasn’t fair to him.

No. I would figure this out on my own. Maybe in a few weeks I would tell Tony about things. Or not. I wasn’t sure.

I picked up my phone and called Lizzy. “Hey, what’s up? You aren’t returning text messages?”

“No,” I said.

“Ok, are you too good for us now since you got that rich billionaire boyfriend? I see how it is.”

“No, it’s not like that, but I do have to tell you something. It’s serious.”

“Does he snore? Does his feet smell? Is there something about him that is not perfect?”

“It’s about my ex-husband,” I said.

“What? Your what now?” Lizzy asked. She was already freaking out. I’d told her and Nellie nothing about Saul. When I finished telling her everything, she was in tears. “Sweetie, I’m so sorry. Are you ok? Is there anything I can do for you?”

“No. I’m fine. I just hope I can see you soon. I’m not sure how long I’ll have to run this time. I just wish there was a way to make Saul go away forever.”

“You could have him whacked. Just make it look like one of his gangster friends did it. That stuff happens all the time, right?”

“Yeah, I guess. But no. I’m not having him whacked. That would make me too much like him. I will never let myself get that way. I’m afraid I won’t be able to come back to being me, you know?”

“I can see that. But desperate times, right?”

“Right,” I replied. She did have a point. And I’d thought of it. Oh, I thought a lot about it. But it wasn’t me. I simply couldn’t bring myself to do something that horrible to anybody. I wondered how many people Saul had killed either directly or indirectly. The man was a predator. He was evil and should have been put down.

“How do you know he is looking for you, again?” Lizzy asked.

“The other morning. I stopped at my apartment on the way to work to change my clothes and pick up a few things. The landlady mentioned as I passed her in the hall that some guy came by looking for me. I knew that it was him. Just by the way she described him. I put the wheels in motion to get out of the apartment with my stuff, get a new place setup here, and to take the money out of my account. Then I packed my car and I split. I wish I could tell you where I am.”

“I don’t want to know. If I don’t know then I can never tell anyone.”

“That’s right,” I said. “That’s the way it should be.”

I finished the phone call and told my friend how much I loved her, and I would miss her. I would see her again sometime, though. I’d work that out. I wasn’t sure how yet. But I would make sure of it.

I pulled out a paperback romance and read for a while. It was fun to read stories that took you away from the complexities and fears of real life sometimes. I read for about two hours until I was tired enough to go to bed.

When I laid down on my bed alone in the new surroundings, I realized I felt very uneasy. I was not settled into this new world yet. I was not near anyone I cared about. And I might