Wait.
Was he going to agree to take her there without an argument?
It was what she wanted, but for some reason, it hurt a little to know that despite his insistence yesterday that he was watching over her himself, whether she liked it or not, all those hours he sat in his car outside her house, now he was prepared to just walk away and wash his hands of her.
Her hurt made no sense because it was what she wanted, for Dragon to go back to his life and leave her alone, yet her eyes stung as she searched for her shoes and shoved her feet into them.
Since Dragon had her bag, all she had to do was grab the stuffed bunny from the bed. It was stupid that, as a twenty-four-year-old woman, she still got so much comfort from the toy, but she clutched it tightly as she walked over to join Dragon by the door.
Again, she expected him to say something, but he merely opened the door, angled his body so it blocked hers, scanned the outside of the motel, and then led her to his SUV. This afternoon, he didn't pause to open her door for her or do up her seatbelt. She missed that tiny concession, a small way for him to take care of her without speaking a word, but there was no way she’d admit that out loud.
Neither of them spoke in the car, and she assumed Dragon knew where her brother lived because he didn't ask for directions, just started driving.
Despite his silence, Cassandra knew that not only did Dragon not like this, but that her rejection had indeed upset him. It would help if he just told her that, opened up just a little bit. It felt like another thing that she had to keep to herself, the knowledge that she could see more of him than he wanted her to.
The weight of all the emotions she held in was becoming too much. How much more could she hold in before the inevitable happened and she broke?
Each day, it felt like she got a little closer to breaking, and each day she pretended that she hadn't.
Lost in thought as she was, Cassandra wasn't prepared for Dragon to suddenly stiffen beside her, his nostrils flaring as he obviously caught a scent he didn't like.
Opening her mouth to ask what was going on, before she could get the words out, the car swerved wildly, veering sideways and slamming into a fence.
Chapter
Eight
January 5th
4:36 P.M.
The second the scent invaded his nostrils, Dragon knew they were in trouble.
It was the unmistakable smell of the brake line fluid. And the only reason he’d be able to smell it the way he could was if someone had messed with the brakes and caused them to start leaking.
With Cassandra in the car with him, he didn't have many options. She noticed when he went stiff beside her, and he felt her eyes on him. Before she could ask what was going on, the steering wheel he was gripping tight enough his knuckles had blanched white began to wobble in his grip.
Great.
They’d messed with the steering as well.
Dragon took his foot off the gas, so at least when they hit whatever they were going to hit, it would be at the lowest speed possible. Cassandra was the most precious cargo he was ever going to carry anywhere, and he only had her for a little whilelonger. Once he dropped her off at her sister and stepbrother’s house, that was it. She’d made it clear she didn't want anything to do with him going forward, and he wasn't going to force himself on her. Neither could he stand to be around her, knowing she would never see him as anything but a monster.
So this was goodbye.
But it was going to be goodbye and not the final goodbye that signaled death.
Unable to control the vehicle in any way now, all Dragon could do was hope for the best as they slammed into a nearby fence. The impact of the crash threw his body forward, and he felt the airbag engage, but he cared only about Cassandra.
Turning sideways, he saw her slumped against her seatbelt. She wasn't moving, but he could smell her scent still strong, she wasn't dead. Still, the metallic scent of blood was also strong, and the reddening patch on her arm told him the jarring crash had reopened the wound.
“Dragon?” She moaned as she stirred.
“Right here, little rabbit. Where do you hurt?” he asked as he internally raked himself over the coals for not checking the vehicle before leaving this afternoon. It didn't matter that he hadn't thought there was any need to. There had been no tail when he drove Cassandra to the motel. He’d been as careful as he could be to ensure it because no way was he putting her at risk all over again.
The chances of them being tracked to a random motel were slim, which meant the most likely scenario was that his car had been sabotaged last night. If the man from Cassandra’s house had a partner waiting in the wings for the getaway, it was possible that person had messed with his car while he was inside killing the man who dared touch Cassandra.
When he’d jumped out of his car, his only intention had been to get to his little rabbit, he hadn't even closed his door. It wouldhave been obvious to any potential partner that someone had left the vehicle in a rush, and since he had crashed through the front door, it would be easy to assume that his vehicle belonged to someone connected to Cassandra.
