cheeks, but I was kind of numb to it. So many had fallen in such a short space of time that it didn't feel out of place anymore.
“You can't leave, Adriana! Jesus. It's not safe—”
“Because someone might kill me, yeah? Because I can't survive without you, right?” I spun on the balls of my feet and met his gorgeous, pained, silver eyes. “Because here's the thing, Carlo: I was doing just fine until you showed up. I wasn't in danger, no one was trying to kill me, and I was surviving perfectly okay. Until you. You.”
He froze at my words. They hung in the air like a thick storm cloud, and the tension that clung to them was the thunder and lightning, ready to break free from behind it.
Carlo stared at me like they were the last words he’d ever expected me to say. I saw the exact moment they hit home, because his soul, his black, dark, twisted, fucked up soul shone in his eyes. Just for a tiny moment, there was something other than the guilt and regret he carried like a cloak.
There was a flicker of white hot pain.
I wanted it to burn.
Consume him.
Destroy him.
There was no doubt in my mind that his lie had destroyed me.
I pushed past him toward the door, and he grabbed me. He was quicker than me, and stronger, even when I beat at his chest with my fists.
I needed him away from me.
I didn’t want him touching me.
His touch burned my skin.
It hurt.
A scratchy yell ripped from my throat, and strength I didn’t know I had made me propel him away from me. He staggered back several steps, putting a few feet between us, and I took my chance.
I grabbed the door handle and tugged it open. I slammed it behind me as I ran out of the room. The need to be away from him was greater than my need for safety, because in my head, he was danger. He’d brought this.
I was scared. I was hurting.
No.
I was terrified. I was heartbroken.
And I didn’t know which pain went up and which fear went down. Or whatever was happening. I just knew my stomach clenched in agony and my heart ached so hard that each beat it forced itself through was a tiring slog.
The sound of the door echoed, even as my feet rattled against the metal steps that suddenly felt all too loose beneath my feet. I gripped the handrail tightly as I ran down to the bottom floor, the keys securely in my bag.
I knew because I’d seen him tuck them in there earlier when he dumped everything.
I fumbled in the front pocket of the rucksack and pulled them out. They clinked as I struggled to grab the key fob and hit the button, but thankfully, I did it. The headlights on the car flashed as it unlocked, glaring brightly at me, and I ran across the lot to where he’d parked it.
I yanked open the door, my heart pounding painfully in my chest, and threw the bag on the passenger seat. A handful of things spilled out onto the floor as it fell over, but I ignored them as I slammed the door behind me and put the vehicle into drive.
That was what I needed to do.
Drive.
I didn’t care where. I didn’t care how long it took. I just needed to go, leave, get the hell away from this fucking stupid motel with that stupid fucking guy who’d just broken my heart in so many ways I didn’t know how it could ever be whole again.
Tears blurred my vision as I reversed out of the parking spot and looked around for my escape. Left. It was left. That was the way out.
I turned the steering wheel and drove left. The lights in this place were bad, and my blurry sight didn’t help me as I attempted to navigate my way out of the lot. I was so emotional I felt more than a little out of sorts—I almost felt drunk. Adrenaline and sadness and pure shock filtered through my body over and over until nothing I saw made sense.
Darien was dead. Hunter had lied.
Nothing made sense.
Everything was falling apart.
The wounds from Mamma’s death were still so raw, but with Gaige’s words tonight, they’d been ripped right back open. They were bleeding… I could feel them. Bleeding all over me.
I pulled over at the side of the road. It was dark, completely unlit, and I had no idea where