“Maybe,” I murmur. “But you also might not. We’re not the only ones in the city in this kind of relationship, and we’re not even the most noteworthy. There’s a chance the stories will circulate for a day or two and then some socialite will get black out drunk at a charity gala, or a finance bro will lose someone’s entire fortune because he’s still coked up from the night before, and this will be a distant memory.”
“He won’t stop.” Hannah drops her head back against my chest. “He won’t stop until he ruins me or I come crawling back to him. Either way, he’s going to get what he wants.”
Rowan appears in the doorway, dressed in a fresh suit and his phone still clutched in his hand. “The plane will be ready in an hour.”
“The plane?” Hannah croaks, her voice hoarse from throwing up.
“We’re leaving the city. That motherfucker is escalating, and I’m not going to give him any more chances to hurt you.” His tone leaves no room for argument, but that’s never stopped our girl before, and it certainly won’t today.
“Where are we going?”
“I have some property in Spain. Once we’re there, we’ll make a more permanent plan of attack.”
“What if I don’t want to leave? My whole life is here. My career is here!” Fresh tears track down her cheeks, but this is the right decision, even if it’s just in the short term.
“It won’t be forever,” I placate. “Just until it’s safe.”
She can fight us on this—spit and kick and claw—but the result is going to be the same.
Hannah will get on that plane, and we will be leaving New York, because that’s what’s going to keep her safe. I’ll take her being safe and hating me over the alternative any day.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
HANNAH
All I can do is sit on the edge of the bed and watch as Asher and Rowan pack up my belongings.
It’s only been a little over a week since I moved in, barely long enough to stop waking up in the middle of the night wondering where I am, but we’re already leaving.
The first place that’s ever truly felt like home, and we’re fleeing it.
I’m still not convinced this is the right choice, but I don’t have the energy to argue either.
I promised I would trust them to keep me safe, and if that means leaving the city for a while, I have to believe that’s the only choice we have.
My phone sits on the mattress beside me, taunting me with every notification that flashes across the screen.
I haven’t been able to bring myself to look at a single one. It’s not in my nature to bury my head in the sand, but right now the world is closing in around me, and it won’t take much to send me spiraling.
Clutching my still churning stomach, I turn my attention back to Rowan as he carefully folds a pile of clothes into the third suitcase they’ve packed.
Normally, I would have told them it was unnecessary, that I don’t need to take so much, but I don’t have the energy.
I don’t have the fight.
It’s all gone. Everything is gone.
The career I worked so hard for, the life I built for myself in spite of my family, the future I thought I was creating for myself.
With one call from my grandfather, it all came crumbling down.
Asher crouches in front of me, his dark eyes swimming with concern. “I’m going to move the things from your apartment into the panic room just in case the house is attacked while we’re gone, but is there anything you need from those boxes?”
“Attacked?” I whisper. Razor blades dig into my throat with every word I’ve spoken since he helped me brush my teeth, which is why I’ve stayed mostly silent, but I need to understand the situation we’re in. Thedangerwe’re in.
He nods slowly. “It’s unlikely but never impossible, and I don’t want you to lose anything that’s sentimental to you.”
A fresh wave of tears fills my eyes, a mix of gratitude and terror swirling low in my belly. They haven’t said as much, but it’s seeming more and more like we’re running for our lives, and yet Asher has taken the time to think about the items that might be important to me.
