Page 28 of Marko

She nodded, her eyes wide with fear. That was close, too fucking close.

Grabbing her hand, I tugged her across the road.

“Fucking bastards!” Trigger shouted, shooting at the vehicle. The back window shattered, but the car continued to barrel away from us.

“Let’s get out of here,” I told him. He jumped into the driver’s side, and we got in the back. He spun the car around, and we revved off away from the scene and any unwanted police attention.

CHAPTER 15

MELISSA

LATE SATURDAY EVENING – GOING TO THE ESTATE

Marko bundled me into the back of the car and pulled me close. I clung to him, shaking. Heck, that had been close.

“I can’t believe some asshole tried to run us over,” I blurted out, adrenaline still coursing through me.

Marko held me tighter while his guy started up the car, and we revved off quickly in the opposite direction from where the car had gone.

“Where to?” the guy called back.

“To the Estate,” Marko replied before turning back to me.

“Whoever was shooting at us knew where we were and must have been following us, waiting for an opportunity to attack. Whether they were after you, me, or both of us, it doesn’t matter. We are going to stay with my family where it will be safer.”

Wait, what?

I wasn’t keen on the idea of staying with Marko’s family. They were strangers to me, and I felt uneasy. Right now, I needed to calm down and preferred doing that alone with Marko. Shaking like mad, I wasn’t ready to engage with a bunch of strangers just yet.

“Are you sure we can’t return to the apartment and go to see your family tomorrow as planned?” I asked, my voice quivering.

“The apartment’s not safe, Melissa,” he said.

“We don’t know that!” I practically shouted, pulling away from him and putting some distance between us.

The little voice in my head chided me for being unreasonable, but fear and agitation were clouding my judgment. Everything had turned upside down, and now strangers were intruding into my life, pushing me into unfamiliar territory. It felt overwhelming, and rationality seemed out of reach.

“Someone just tried to run you over. They must have had some way of tracking us to find you, or we were being followed and didn’t realise before, so we can’t return to the apartment. We are going to my family’s estate, and you will stay there with me until this situation is over,” he said, his voice filled with barely contained fury.

I stared at him, the charming, sexy nerd I had met seeming to vanish before my eyes, replaced by a hardened and dangerous man. A lump formed in my throat, a sudden fear gripping me. What did I really know about Marko? Sure, he had claimed he had a code against hurting women, but what if that was all just talk? I never truly considered him a threat, but now doubts crept in.

“Can I trust him?” I asked myself, biting my lip nervously. Deep down, I wanted to believe I could, but then the question extended to his family. Did they share the same principles? And who did he think he was, telling me what to do? Just because we had been intimate that didn’t mean he could dictate my decisions. Annoyance bubbled up inside me, overtaking my momentary fear.

“I want to go to a hotel,” I said, moving away from his side.

“We’re going to my home,” he replied firmly.

“No! I’m going to a hotel, drop me off at a hotel!” I practically shouted as anger took over rationality.

“Melissa, be reasonable. We’ve discussed this already. It’s not safe,” he pleaded, grabbing my hand.

“I’ll check in under a different name. Nobody will know I’m there,” I replied.

A muscle in his jaw twitched and I could almost hear the grinding of his teeth as he fought to remain calm.

“You’re coming home with me!” he stated.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do!” I shouted.

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