“You know I haven't actually thought that far ahead, but I keep thinking that taking you back to him is going to be a big mistake. I can't shake it and I don't want to lose you. Why don't we just take off? We can go wherever you want and do whatever you want. I don’t care where we go, Allie, just that we are together.”
Allie looked at him the way that he expected. It was a lot, Justice understood that. He knew what he was asking, but he was still asking. He just couldn't imagine the two of them being separated again, and Justice knew that it would happen so quickly. He really was at his wits end. Couldn't she see that?
“Don't you think that is asking for trouble?”
Justice shrugged. “It very well could be that, but it could be the only option if we want to be together.”
Justice wanted to at least try. All of that time without her made him realize that it couldn’t be that again. Anything but the pretending. He had a feeling that he was likely going to get the truth about how she really felt. Why was that so scary to him?
“I don't know, I am so afraid of something happening to you. You know how my brother is, you know what he's like. I worry about what he would do to you if he found out that you are the father. If we take off together, he is definitely going to know that something is up. We won’t be able to play it off any longer.”
Justice told her that he wasn't worried about himself. He was worried about her husband trying to find her or her brother marrying her off again. Neither one of those things sounded good to Justice. He would take the risk if it meant that it kept her out of the clutches of another man's arms. Justice couldn't even think it through. He couldn't think straight when Allie was looking at him like that. She had that mischievous look on her face, and she finally just shrugged and said that they should do it. She made it sound a little blasé, but Justice was willing to ignore it. All he truly wanted was the two of them to be happy together. He had spent far too long thinking that it was never going to happen. It had literally kept him up at night for the last couple of months. Justice was not going to let her go. He was quite sure that he was willing to do damn near anything to keep her safe.
“So, we're really going to do this?” Allie asked, unsure of herself. Justice agreed, they were going to do it, and he was grateful that she was going to go along with it. He felt a surge of happiness that took over him and he couldn't help but grin. Justice had wondered if something like that would happen, and he had actually brought some of their things and put them in the trunk, just in case. That just in case was actually going to happen and he had never been happier about something in his life. Justice seriously needed to pull himself together. He knew that it was all going to be worth it. Justice was ready to get them as far away from there as he could and back on the road. He wanted to get them out of there now.
The two kissed for several minutes and Justice felt elated when he pulled away. He knew then and there that everything was going to be okay and that made him feel like he was on top of the world. As soon as she said yes, that was all that mattered. He didn't feel so bad all of a sudden, when the two of them were pointed in a new direction. While he didn't quite know where they were going to go, it didn’t matter. As long as they were together, Justice would be happy anywhere.
Chapter 23
Allie
“If you want to ask me something, Justice, it would just be easier if you would just ask me.”
Justice looked at her and shrugged. “You know that I'm just worried about you. Every time I tried to ask you about what happened, you always get this strange look and don't want to talk about it.”
Allie admitted that she didn't want to talk about it. That wasn’t enough of an answer for Justice though. He thought about it too much and he swore that it would be easier if he knew what happened. Then, his mind wouldn’t come up with all these scenarios. It made him feel like all of those horrible things had happened to her. Why wouldn’t she just tell him? “What did he do to you?”
“What he did to me was control me like every other guy tries to control me. He lied, got his way and my brother picked him as my mate, so he then made sure that I couldn't leave. He kept me away from my family, my friends, you. The worst part was that I thought he was my friend or that we could be friends. All that was wrong though. So, you asked what happened, I was duped. That's what happened, Justice. I was an idiot, and he already knew I was pregnant as soon as I walked in. He said that marriage was a solution that would save us. It would have worked too, if he hadn’t changed. I didn't want to talk about it because it's embarrassing. I can't believe that I let him get the best of me. You can understand that, can't you?”
Justice looked like he wished that he hadn’t asked and Allie kind of felt better about that, because she wished that he hadn’t asked either. There were certain parts of her life that she didn't want to relive and her short time with Bishop was one of them. She could feel herself tensing up just speaking his name. Allie really didn't want to talk about him.
“I’m sorry, Allie, I just wondered, and my brain couldn’t let it go.”
Allie waved him off. She didn’t want to be mad at him that day, so she wasn’t going to be. She was trying her best to not let her own words get to her. Thinking about Bishop and that dark time in her life wasn’t the mood she was going for. Allie was feeling good, big and bloated, ready to pop, but she was feeling good and that was just going to have to be enough.
Justice looked at her with adoration, and Allie was sure that she was never going to be able to get over that look that he gave her. Allie fell in love with Justice all over again. When he looked at her like she was the last woman on Earth, it was hard for Allie to breathe.
He moved to kiss her, pulling her close. Allie was shaking with his attention and kissed him back with just as much intensity. Allie was ready for him, she always was and when he deepened the kiss, she was slackly holding onto him. If it wasn’t for him holding onto her, Allie didn’t think that she would be able to stay upright. He made her weak at the knees every time and that time was no different.
They were just about to take that kiss to the next level. They were in the kitchen of the little rental that they had just moved in to. Neither one of them had a clue where they were going to end up, but at the moment they were in Colorado and having the time of their lives. Justice had been right. All they needed was to be together and nothing else mattered.
The hard knock on the door though, had both of them pausing and not moving for several seconds. It was deathly still in that kitchen, their eyes meeting and, of course, the first thing that had to be asked was who was at the door? There was no one that should be there. They had no friends that knew of their whereabouts. That left only one person and Justice told her that she needed to be quiet. He went to the door slowly, preparing himself for a battle. Justice had heard from Jeff, that Ben and Bishop were looking for them. Justice didn’t care about either one of them in certain situations, but in that moment, he could think of nothing and no one else. What was he supposed to do now?
He put his finger to his lips, even though he really didn’t have to. Allie didn’t want them to find her, so she was more than willing to pretend like they weren’t there. The fear in her eyes was obviously from the same thing. Justice went to the door, barely breathing, and Allie was trying hard to slow her heart rate down. She felt like it could wear out and stop at any moment. Allie held her breath and even willed her heart to slow down.
Justice pulled back after a moment and shrugged. “I don’t know who that is. You stay out of sight. I am going to answer.”
Allie nodded and stepped back further from the door. It was such a tense moment and the silence when Justice first opened the door was more than she could bear. It was seconds, but it felt like it was a lot longer than that.
Justice laughed and thanked whoever was on the other side of the door. Allie was confused at what was going on, but it wasn’t long before she found out. He shut the door and brought her some flowers in a vase. It was red roses and Allie was tickled pink. “Did you get me flowers?” Allie asked with a sweet look on her face.
“No, let’s read the card and find out who knows that we are here.”
Allie felt the fear seep in and any sort of enjoyment she had felt moments before was gone. She looked at the door and then waited for Justice to say something. He didn’t for what felt like forever. Allie wanted to know what was going on, but he was quiet for a moment.
“So?”
He shrugged. “It was one of the neighbors that brought it. Do you want to read it, or do you want me to?”
