She'd run. From me. From us. She'd chosen running over trusting me to handle this.
"Get a car. We're going after her."
"Maybe we should let her cool off. Give her some space—"
"She's walking alone on dark roads in the middle of the night with enemies of this family everywhere. We're going after her. Now."
Ten minutes later, we were in separate cars covering different routes. Marco took the main road. I took the back roads that led toward the city.
My hands gripped the steering wheel hard enough to hurt. My mind spinning through every terrible possibility.
What if she flagged down the wrong car? What if someone recognized her? What if she got hurt before I could find her?
What if I lost her before I'd even really had her?
The thought made my chest ache. Made breathing difficult.
I'd been an idiot. A complete fucking idiot. The monitoringdidn't matter. The fight didn't matter. Nothing mattered except finding her and making sure she was safe.
Then I'd lock her in my room and never let her out again. Or maybe just hold her until she understood that running from me wasn't an option.
Headlights appeared ahead. A figure walking along the shoulder of the road. Small. Female. Carrying a bag.
Aria.
Relief hit so hard I nearly swerved off the road. I pulled up beside her, killed the engine, got out.
She saw me. Her eyes went wide. She dropped the bag and ran.
Ran away from me. Actually ran like I was the threat instead of her salvation.
That hurt more than it should have.
I caught her in about ten strides. She was fast, but I was faster. Stronger. And absolutely not letting her get away.
I grabbed her arm, spun her around, backed her against my car. Used my body to cage her in so she couldn't bolt again.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
She struggled, trying to push me away. Her hands hit my chest, my shoulders, anywhere she could reach.
"Let me go! I'm leaving. I can't do this anymore. Can't marry Salvatore, can't keep sneaking around with you, can't live in that prison pretending everything is fine when it's all falling apart!"
"You're not leaving." I grabbed her wrists, pinned them against the car above her head. "You think you're escaping my father? You're escaping me. Is that what you want? To run from me?"
"Yes! No! I don't know!" Tears streamed down her face, catching the moonlight. "I just need out. I need to breathe. I need..."
Her voice broke. Sobs shook her entire body.
And just like that, my anger evaporated. Replaced by something softer. Something that made my chest ache.
I released her wrists. Cupped her face instead. Made her look at me.
"You don't get to run. You understand me? You're mine. We're inthis together. If you run, you're not just leaving the situation. You're breaking us. Breaking me. Is that what you want?"
"I don't want to break anything." Her voice was small. Broken. "I'm just so scared. Salvatore comes back tomorrow and everything changes. We're out of time and I don't know how to handle that."
I pulled her against my chest. Wrapped my arms around her. Held her while she cried.
