Minutes ticked by, and sweat dripped down my spine. How long would it take before Angelo went back to the office to “deal with” me? The second he opened the door he would know I’d gone out the window; it was wide open.
I needed to get as far away from Giovanni's as possible. Fast.
Finally, the two guys finished their smoke and headed back inside the restaurant. I barely waited for the door to click shut before bolting out of my hiding spot.
My shoes slapped the pavement as I ran, my breathing coming in jagged gasps as I tried to put as much distance between me and my impending death at the hands of my ex-love. But I had no fucking idea where I was going. I had no home. No friends. No family… and I’d just lost what few possessions I had left.
The police weren’t an option. Angelo’s family held too much power in this city.
A shout came from somewhere behind me, sending a sharp spike of fear through me, and I ran faster. Fuck stopping to look. Fuck risking getting caughtagain. I’d had my whole dose of dumb-bitch clichés for one night, thank you. So I just… ran. Aimlessly.
After a while, though, I realized that I was completely and utterly lost. I’d ended up in an area of Siena that I wasn’t familiar with, and my feet ached. It had to be past midnight—without my phone I was only guessing—and I could hear the thumping bass of a nightclub somewhere nearby. But I was also convinced someone was following me.
When I paused to catch my breath, leaning against a traffic light and trying to work outwhere the fuckI was, I caught sight of my pursuer. Or I confirmed therewassomeone following me and he was getting closer with every second I stood there paralyzed with fear.
One of Angelo’s goons? Or a random creep? Or just my paranoia? I wasn’t hanging around to find out. When the traffic light changed, I took off running again.
This time, the dude sped up, and I could officially cross paranoia off my list.
I ducked around the next corner, heading in the direction of chatter and music. Surely, he wouldn’t attack or shoot me where there were witnesses. Enough witnesses that he couldn’t kill them all, at least.
Relief washed over me when I saw the crowds of people gathered outside a nightclub, and hope flared inside my chest. This looked like a place I could blend in and lose my tail. I had no money, no ID, so I couldn’t go inside, but surely, I could hide between a couple of big dudes?
A deep shiver ran through me, and I hurried forward, brushing past a group of girls, who gave me the stink eye. Fucking hell, I wasn’t cutting in line, I was trying to stay alive.
I paused near a larger group of people, both men and women, talking and smoking cigarettes on the far side of the nightclub entrance. At least no one would make a scene and kick me out of line if I just… lurked. Especially the way I leaned against the wall behind one of the burly bouncers.
Feeling sufficiently hidden, I glanced back the way I’d come. A darkly suited man with an undercut and short ponytail was looking around, a deep scowl on his face and a phone to his ear. As he twisted around, searching, I spotted a gun on his hip. Shit, I was so screwed.
The group I was hiding within had just finished their cigarettes too.
Filled with panic and hardly daring to breathe, I slipped further past them, ducking behind the biggest guys and probably looking like a total crazy person, until I could dart into the next alleyway. So long as my pursuer didn’t see me run in here, I could hide until he gave up and left. In theory. But there wasn’t really a lot of time to debate any other options, so I just went for it.
Inside the alleyway, I spotted a line of dumpsters loaded with trash bags, some taller than me, so I raced over to them. A sound behind me made me flinch and—stupidly—look in the direction I’d come. There was no one there; my stalker hadn’t found me yet. But I wasn’t looking where I was going anymore and ran straight into a wall.
The impact knocked me back onto my ass, which I had no issue with because it meant I could scurry behind the dumpsters and hide better. I could safely say I seriously regretted never taking more than one women’s self-defense class.
“Uh, are you okay?” someone asked, and I gave a yelp of fright.
Holy shit. I hadn’t run into a wall, I’d run into apersonand hadn’t even noticed. I tucked tighter into a ball and blinked up at the human wall. It was a guy, but there was a light behind him, casting his features all in shadow.
But, you know, he wasn’t trying to shoot me, so that had to be a good thing.
“Y-yeah. Sorry. I didn’t see you there.” My voice shook almost as badly as my body now was. “Sorry.”
I had no idea what to do now. Or how to get rid of him quickly. This guy could draw attention to me if my stalker looked inside the alleyway. Crap, was that light on me, too? It’d been a terrible idea to head into a dead-fucking-end. What was I thinking?
“Here, let me help you up,” the guy offered, tossing his cigarette to the ground and stomping it out. Then he extended a hand.
I needed to stay hidden. Badly. But if I just cowered here in a ball, he was likely to call the club’s security or something. Or worse, a mental institution. So I rolled the dice and took his hand.
His palm was warm, his fingers strong as they wrapped around my hand, his wrist flexing as he pulled me up from the ground. I found my feet and immediately positioned myself in a sheltered position behind the tall dumpsters. Sure, this guy could probably be seen, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Right?
“Are you okay?” he asked again, swiping a hand through his hair. It was shaved on the sides, heavily gelled in the middle. Like he’d been rocking one of those douchey fauxhawks. But shit, now that I could see him better, my eyes widened at howhothe was. Piercing green eyes, olive skin, and a damn ring in the side of his lip that drew way too much of my attention. Just my luck, running into a total ten while escaping a fuckingmurderer.
He was still waiting for my response, and I was staring at him like I was starstruck. Cringing, I ducked my eyes away and wrapped my arms around myself.
“Um, yeah. I’m sorry I ran into you. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” I wet my lips and couldn’t resist a quick peek around the dumpster. Half of me expected to see ponytail dickhead standing there with his gun in hand, but the alley was empty.
