My body shut down, already killing off sensitivity and accepting fate. Thoughts of beating him up and running filled my mind. It didn’t have to end this way. But if I left Hawksridge, I would still have to live with the nightmare I’d been born with. And after falling for Nila, my reserves were empty. I wanted a rest.
I was fucking tired of everything.
Cut stood aside, waving at the door. “After you.”
“No, after you. I’ll follow. I gave you my word.”
Cut scowled but finally nodded. Wordlessly, he made his way to the door and looked over his shoulder to ensure I obeyed.
This was it, then.
On the cusp of winning, I’d lost everything.
So be it.
I followed.
Chapter Three
Nila
“STOP THE CAR. Please, stop the car.”
The policeman shook his head, gripping the wheel and taking me further away from Jethro. “Sorry, Ms. Weaver. The next place we’ll stop is London.”
The sway of the vehicle sent goosebumps over my skin. Every spin of the tyres thickened my blood with dread.
What will Cut do to him?
How could I leave?
Straining in my seat, I winced. The bruises on my ribcage from CPR, the flaring heat in my throat from drowning, and the headache from confusion all competed with the fisting sensation around my heart.
I tapped the policeman on his shoulder. “Please, this is all a big misunderstanding. Take me back. Iwantto go back.”
Now. Immediately. Before it’s too late.
“Don’t worry. Just relax. Everything is as it should be,” the officer said.
I just walked away! How could Idothat?
“No, it’s not. I don’t have time to explain, but I need you to take me back.” Debts and death and diabolical Hawks didn’t scare me anymore.
Only the thought of what Jethro would face scared me.
I wouldn’t let him suffer alone.
What can you possibly do to help?
I ignored that thought and the panic it brought. I was useless, but I had to try. It was the least I could do. He cared for me. He sent me away and put himself in my place.
Damn him for sending me away!
The officer lost his cordial nature, turning stiff with annoyance. “Miss, I understand that you’ve lived through a great deal, but the Hawks are not a family to be trifled with. We’ve acted on the wishes of the media and your family, so don’t say you did not wish to be rescued when the world knows what you’re tangled in.”
My eyes bugged. “The world knows what?” When he didn’t answer, I pried, “How did my father get you to come?”
The policeman glared at me in the mirror. “Your father and brother didn’tmakeus do anything.Wewent to them—we had to do something. Your sibling was out of control.”
