Page 58 of Untouchable

Alessandro shrugs. “I mean, it isn’t exactly a stretch. I just wanted to buy us some time. But obviously that means that we can’t just call them casually from the cell phone number that they all know, the one that Aiden has no doubt been tracking all this time.”

“Okay, so what now? We can’t just walk down this road. They will leave soon and then we are done for.”

Alessandro’s brows furrow in concentration and he seems to be looking around our surroundings for an idea. As if summoned purely from Alessandro’s thoughts, a car pulls to the side of the road, a bubbly young couple rolling down the window.

“Do you two need help?” The man in the driver’s seat asks.

I look down at myself and realize why they are asking. We are two people covered in dirt with clothes that are stained from smoke walking around on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Another reason they even bothered to stop is probably because this is Virginia and not New York City, people tend to be much friendlier down here.

“Yes,” Alessandro says as he puts his arm around me, a charming smile spreading across his face. “Our car was stolen while we were camping, our wallets, cell phones, and practically everything else was in there. Would we be able to catch a ride with you? We need to get home to our son.”

I shoot a surprised look at Alessandro wondering why he would tell such a ridiculous story. He doesn’t look at me though, keeping a friendly smile on his face as he squeezes my waist tightly, urging me to go with it. I nod and smile as I look at the couple.

“Oh my goodness! Yes, hop in. You poor things. Do you want to call the police?” The woman asks as Alessandro opens the back door and allows me to slide in first. He jumps in right behind me, putting the duffle bag at his feet before settling an arm around my shoulders.

“If it isn’t too much trouble, I would like to make a call to let our friends know that we are okay.”

“Of course! I am Mary and this is my husband Ben,” she says as she hands Alessandro her cell phone.

“Thank you so much. I’m Alex, this is my wife, Sarah.”

As ridiculous as it is, I practically beam at the sound of Alessandro calling me his wife, even if it wasn’t my name he used. And he said that we have a son? Can’t say I hate the idea of having a child with Alessandro, real or not, it is a nice thought.

Chapter Twenty Six

Alessandro

“Who is this?” The Boss practically growls in greeting.

“You have a snake in the pits. Your future son in law,” I murmur lowly while looking out the window.

“Explain.”

“No time. You will hear that we are gone, play along.”

“Understood.”

The line goes dead before I lower the phone and let out a deep breath. I slap on a fake smile and hand the phone back to the woman in the front seat. I could tell that she was trying to eavesdrop but thankfully enough, Seraphina struck up conversation with her almost immediately. I squeeze her shoulder and bring her into my side tighter. She looks up at me and smiles weakly before turning back to the woman, continuing their conversation.

I don’t really know where to go from here. At this point I am kinda making things up as I go. There is just one goal, stay alive, at least long enough to make sure that Seraphina stays safe.

When she said that Aiden told her we were dead, I was confused for a second, but only for one second. Then everything clicked. Every gut feeling that I ever got, every look he ever sent my way, every moment since I met that guy, I knew there was something off about him. He was too perfect, too nice, tooconvenient.

For a while, I thought that maybe it was just my jealousy. He seemed like the perfect man, and everyone seemed to love him almost immediately, even my own family liked him. I had myself half convinced that it was all in my head. That I hated him with a violent passion because he had the one thing that I always wanted. Now I know that I should have trusted my gut from the start. I should have ripped that guy’s throat out the moment I saw him at that first dinner just like I fantasized on loop the entire meal.

My fist tightens in my lap as my jaw clenches. That motherfucker tried to have me killed, tried to have Seraphina killed. I am going to take a great amount of pleasure in watching the life drain out of the fucker’s eyes.

Another few minutes go by before we drive into a small town. I see a few busy parking lots filled with cars that look promising enough to pick up a ride. I briefly considered just taking this car when they pulled over, I mean who is dumb enough to pull over and pick up a couple of hitch hikers? But I figured two people babbling on the side of the road about how a guy and a girl car jacked them might tip off the wrong people. And I guess they were nice enough to give us a ride and use their phone. Whether people believe it or not, I am not a total asshole, not all the time at least.

“You can just drop us off at the store over there. We are going to have some friends come and get us.”

“Are you sure?” The husband asks.

“Yeah. Thank you so much for the ride, we really appreciate it.”

“No problem. I hope they find the people who stole your car.”

I give them a convincing smile and nod as they pull into a parking stall. I open the door and help Seraphina out, looking at them one last time.

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