“If he loved me, he’d have found a way.” That’s another way I know he’s full of shit. He told me just before everything went down that what we shared was real, but if that was true, he’d have done absolutely everything to get me out of there.
But he did nothing.
“It’s not that simple,” Rick supplies, as we speed ahead on the highway.
“It doesn’t matter, anyway. I hate him.”
“We had to lock him up to stop him from going after you,” Harley says, staring at me with earnest eyes. “He seriously wants to kill us for blocking him.”
“Har.” Rick cautions him with a warning look. “She needs to hear it from Kai.”
“Right.” Joaquin snorts, leveling his older brother with a suspicious side eye. “If you think that gets you off the hook, you—”
“Shut up.” Rick glares at him. “We’re not discussing this now.”
Joaquin flips him the bird. “She’s gonna go postal on both your asses, and this time, I’m not holding her back.”
“You’ve changed your tune,” Rick says, blowing the horn at a car who cuts across the lane in front of us, letting a string of expletives loose.
“If you want to remain inconspicuous, rein in the road rage. Unless you want my father to catch us.”
“Hunt has us covered,” Joaquin confirms, looking over his shoulder at me. “We’re good.” He wets his lips, dragging a hand nervously through his dark hair. “And, eh, sorry for biting you back there.”
“Youbither?” Harley shouts, shock splaying across his face.
I look at the raised, angry mark on my shoulder. “You broke my skin, but I’ve endured worse.” I shrug.
Harley throws back his head, laughing hysterically as he points at Joaquin. “Oh, my fucking God. This is priceless!” He snickers. “He will go apeshit on your ass.”
Joaquin stiffens a little before puffing out his chest and flexing his considerable biceps. “I can take him.”
Harley cracks up laughing again. “Didn’t you see what he did to Rick?” He holds his stomach, convulsing with laughter. “Sucks to be you, dude!”
“What did he do to you?” I ask, fixing my eyes on Rick through the mirror.
“He beat the fucking shit out of him,” Harley says, his laughter disappearing. “And he deserved it too.”
My eyes meet Rick’s in the mirror, and his face conveys so much emotion. I grind my teeth to the molars, not asking the obvious question, because the answer is written all over his face.
Rick is the reason I got pregnant.
Now, all that’s left to discover is if Kai was in on the plan.
CHAPTER SIX
“Make yourself comfortable, Abby,” Rick says, ushering me into the motel room. We’ve stopped here for the night because it’s almost ten p.m., and it’s pitch black outside with little visibility on this remote stretch of road. Rick seemed keen to keep going, but Joaquin demanded it, insisting on sleeping in a proper bed. “The boys can take the other room and I’ll stay in here with you,” he adds, as Joaquin and Harley disappear into the interconnecting room to dump their bags.
“I have nothing to sleep in,” I say, because they left all my stuff in the rental.
“I’ll grab you some stuff.” He hands me his cell. “Jot down what you need, and I’ll get it. I need to go out for food, supplies, and run a few errands.”
What errands can he be making at this hour of the night?I think it, but I don’t verbalize it, because it suits me if Rick disappears for a while. I kick off my sneakers and sit down on one of the single beds. Resting my back against the headrest, I pull my knees into my chest as I type out a few items. “How long will we be on the road?”
“We should reach our destination Tuesday evening.”
“Why won’t you tell me where we’re headed?” I asked this question on more than one occasion in the car, but all three remained tight-lipped.
“It’s safer if you don’t know.”
