“I can get you out of here,” Anthony said, pulling at her hands until Elena was brought close.
Elena jerked back, blinking hard at the implications of his plans. It was insanity. Pure and simple. It made her heart race, breaths coming hard and fast as she stared at Anthony with wide eyes.
“I can’t…”
“Why not? We can leave right now, and you’ll never have to bend to him again, Elena.”
“Where will I go? I… I’m pregnant, Anthony.”
“All will be well,” he purred, stroking the backs of his fingers against her cheek. “I’ll help you as much as I can. I owe you that much, don’t I?”
“But…” Elena shook her head, at a loss for words even as her wildest imaginings began to unfold right before her eyes. Freedom from Leon, from the constraints of the society that kept her his slave. He’d never make her loathe herself again for her instinctual response to his nearness.
“You can be free, Elena. Forever,” Anthony whispered. “But we must leave now.”
Now. Forever. She could scarce believe that she was considering this. Already vibrating with the frantic energy to be rid of this place and all its misery. To find the delectable sweetness of victory on her tongue when she was far away.
She’d find a way to get in touch with Jamie. He’d help her get as far away as possible. To set up a whole new life where she was independent. Never to find herself under another Alpha again untilshechose to.
“Are you absolutely certain this will work?” Elena gnawed at her lower lip, gaze flitting to the obscured opening of the enclosed patio once again, as if Leon would come marching through at any moment.
“I have it all planned.” Anthony stood, bringing Elena along with him. His hand smoothed over her back in a gentle touch, guiding her forward. “Just come with me now.”
“But my things…?”
“We’ll have to replace them once we have you settled, Elena. Now come on. We don’t have time for you to be indecisive. My neck is on the line here, too.”
“I’ll come,” she said, giving a single nod as she let Anthony bring her out around the dark boards and into the sunshine once more.
Anthony kept her between the lush bushes and the screen as he led her further into the backyard, his eyes quick to pick out the guards roaming the grounds. Holding up a hand to bring her to stillness, Anthony waited until the pair of dark clothed men passed before he caught Elena’s hand and raced her towards another line of shrubbery that hid them away. There she saw a gate propped open, the lock dangling by a cut end. He’d broken in for this, come to find her, to help her.
Not once had she thought of Anthony Marchetti as a friend, but she saw now she’d done him a great disservice. He was a good man, deep down. Even if he did still frighten her a bit as he jerked her forward through the opening, propelling her down a soft hill towards the sleek silver sportscar she remembered from the night at the Talbot.
He jerked the door open, waving Elena inside before slamming it as soon as she was seated. Elena smothered a startled gasp, uncertain of the frenetic energy coming off of him in heady waves. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves as he climbed into the car, and she became enveloped in the biting scent of evergreens.
Odd how she never noticed how similar their scents were. Anthony lacked the woodsy, smoky undertones, but one could mistake him and Leon for the same person if they didn’t know any better.
“Hang on,” Anthony said as he started the engine, wheels squealing before they caught and held onto the asphalt, sending them lurching into motion.
“What is this place, Anthony,” Elena whispered, clinging to his arm as they traversed over a pile of debris that threatened to topple her.
The massive, empty warehouse looked as if it’d been abandoned for decades, the weathered corrugated steel rusted straight through leaving it gap toothed and eerie as he guided her through the dark space with nothing but a weak flashlight to part the darkness.
“It’s just temporary, I told you that already,” he snapped, making no effort to keep his voice to the hushed tones Elena felt the place warranted.
“What could possibly be here to help me?”
“It’s a safe place to hide you for now. I promise, all will be well.”
“Anthony, I don’t like it here.” Elena dared to tug on his arm, bringing him to a stop as she looked around at the encroaching shadows. “I… I don’t know about this.”
“You said you wanted out, Elena,” Anthony snarled, grabbing her arm hard and lifting her up to tiptoe as he dragged her after him. “I’m not losing my head just because you’re afraid of a little dirt on your pretty little shoes.”
“That’s not what I said. You’re hurting me!”
“About damned time.”
Elena choked on a gasp as her head swung around to see the owner of this new voice. It was bitter cold, the depths of an icy winter, and its owner smelled of one, too. Though she couldn’t see him in the shifting darkness, Elena knew whose voice that was.
