Page 63 of Borrowed Bride

I kiss the top of Freya’s head, smoothing her hair down repeatedly while I stare at the door, terrified of who might walk through. What if it’s not Fawn?

What if it’s Dante?

The hinge creaks as the door slides open and my heart punches against my throat, then Fawn’s head pokes through. “Come on,” she demands as I breathe a gigantic sigh of relief. “We’ve lingered too long already.”

I’m on my feet instantly and I hurry after her, cradling Freya while Fawn takes my suitcase. Out in the hall, the moment I glimpse blood I hide Freya’s face against my chest.

“Don’t look,” I whisper, stepping over the two bodies in the hallway. “Don’t look, sweetie. That’s it.”

She remains innocent all the way to the elevator, and I refuse to let her look until the doors have closed. The control panel on the inside is hanging off the wall by a few wires and I glance at Fawn.

“Your handiwork, I take it?”

She shrugs. “Fingerprint scanners are too easy.”

As the elevator rushes down, my stomach twists into knots. I have been here for so long that stepping outside feels alien. Like I’m doing something wrong or spitting on Dante’s kindness.

His kindness has grown sour with Fawn’s revelation.

“Come on.” The doors open and Fawn steps out, then she holds out a hand for me to follow. “You have to trust me, Gianna.If I wanted to hurt you, don’t you think I would have done that upstairs?”

Stepping out of the elevator into the crisp night air. The very edges of the skyline begin to turn pink, teasing the early sunrise as emergency sirens screech through the air.

I haven’t been outside in so long.

The city stinks, and I wrinkle my nose.

“You’re right,” I reply, adjusting Freya against my hip. “You’re right.”

Fawn nods, then she leads me to a silver car that’s parked nearby. My heart continues to race as I constantly have to evaluate how safe each of these decisions is for my daughter, but all of that screeches to a halt when I spot Cherry in the driver’s seat.

I haven’t seen her since that fateful night at the hospital and my eyes widen.

“Trust me,” is all Fawn says as she opens the rear door for me. “Please?”

Once again, I find myself with no real choice to make. Going back isn’t an option because I have to assume Dante sent those guards. And sending them tonight, on the same night that Fawn appears? That’s one hell of a coincidence.

“Just so you know,” I mutter, sliding into the car and having to keep Freya in my lap since there is no car seat. “I will never forgive you, Cherry, for what you did to Tara.”

“Six years is a long time to hold a grudge,” Cherry replies, popping some gum as Fawn slides into the car. “You’ll change your tune real soon pumpkin.”

The sliver of time before late night becomes early morning is an odd time to be awake. The streets are quiet except for emergency vehicles and a few people driving home, and Cherry takes multiple back streets and alleys on our way to our destination.

Which turns out to be an old, run-down building on the outskirts of the city. As I climb out of the car with a sleeping Freya in my arms, I glance behind me to the hill that arches down to the city below. It looks so beautiful this high up. It’s difficult to believe so much of my pain has existed in there.

Fawn leads me inside and shows me a room to put Freya to bed. She’s so tired that she doesn’t even wake up as she changes from my arms to bed, and I kiss her forehead repeatedly. Then, I follow Fawn to a rundown kitchen.

Despite the peeling paint, faded tiles, chipped countertops, and windows stained with age, there are warm signs of life here. Dishes in the sink, magnets on the fridge, a pot bubbling on the stove and the scent of coffee in the air.

“I’d offer coffee,” Fawn says. “But you’re going to need something stronger.”

“Why?” I ask as Fawn unscrews a bottle of vodka and fills a glass she takes from the drying rack. She slides it toward me and then tilts her head, indicating behind me.

I turn around.

“Tara?!”

Tara, looking every bit like the girl I remember and yet somehow more beautiful, stands in the doorway with a bright smile on her face. “Hey, Gianna. It’s so good to see you.”

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