fine.” My words came out much stronger than I felt inside. “I just got lost on the way to the store.”
“Ah. Can you roll down the window so I don't have to yell at you?”
“No.” It came out a little shrill. “I mean, no. It's okay. My phone is loading up the GPS.”
“Where is it?”
I looked around. Shit. “It must have fallen on the floor,” I lied. I leaned forward in an attempt to make him believe I was telling the truth and looking for my phone. I wouldn't find it, of course, but my lungs constricted in fear as I blindly fumbled around on the dark floor. “Maybe I put it back in my—”
I stilled as the hazy orange glow from his headlights behind me illuminated the gun he had pressed against the window. I swallowed hard, but my mouth was dry, so all I did was make myself cough.
“You know what'll happen if I pull this trigger, Adriana?” Isaiah shouted through the window, his tone deathly threatening. “This window will shatter into a million pieces. If the first bullet I put into your head doesn't kill you, the second one will.”
I cleared my throat. “That seems a little—little drastic.”
“Get out of the car.”
“I'm gonna say no...”
“Get. Out.”
“Sorry. Can't.” With that, I brushed off the immediate fear, turned the key, and slammed my foot onto the accelerator. The tires squealed against the road, and I barely switched on my lights before the sound of a gunshot shattering my back window rang through the air.
A scream ripped from my throat, and instinctively, I swerved. Branches rattled against the side of the car, and I winced as they felt dangerously close to my face, despite the glass in the way. I managed to get back onto the road, but only as a second, and then a third, shot hit the car.
This time, it was the tires.
I felt the back two burst, and I pulled my foot off the accelerator. I forced myself to touch the break as I desperately tried to steer the car into bushes opposed to the thick, brick wall I could now see on the other side of the road. It felt as thought the car spun several times, taking my stomach and my sanity on the merry-go-round with it, until it finally careened into the bushes and came to a stop with a jarring hit.
My neck cricked as the impact came, and I ground my teeth together. I knew it would hurt tomorrow morning... if I was even still alive.
I reached back and gently massaged my neck. Ouch. Fuck.
“Get out!” Isaiah kicked the drivers' side door.
I jumped at the loud bang it made. I didn't want to. I wanted to stay here, even if it meant dying.
No. That's stupid. Hunter will kill me if I die.
Hunter. Like it mattered. This was all his fault anyway.
God, I hated him. I hated him so fucking much I couldn't stand it.
“Don't make me shoot this window out. You're no good dead to me, Princess.”
The nickname flipped.
I hated Hunter, but he was the only person allowed to use that name.
I unlocked the car and slammed the door open. It hit Isaiah's knee, and I saw the rage ripple over his features in the shadows. “I'm not your fucking princess, you thick bastard.”
Probably not my best decision.
And judging by the way his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, it definitely wasn't my best decision.
I made a split-second decision, and ran into the darkness. Footsteps slapped against the road behind me, and Isaiah's angry yell spurred me on. I had no idea where I was running, just that I needed to run and try to escape him.
I had the worst feeling that I was running along a road of nothing, and that my energy would deplete before the darkness did, but I kept going. I kept pushing, even when my lungs burned so fiercely I thought they'd rip themselves from my chest. Even when I couldn't breathe and my legs wanted to fall to pieces, I kept going.
And I slammed right into the hard body of Angelo Pontarelli.
I screamed.
“Stop!” he hissed when he grabbed me. He slapped his hand over my mouth and pulled me closer to him.
My eyes widened as a fresh wave of fear ran through my body. Angelo, too? Was everything I'd believed a lie? Was I being double-crossed by everyone?
“Trust me,” he whispered, his dark eyes finding mine. “Okay? No, don't speak. At all. Just nod.”
I jerked my head