Page 72 of Unspoken Promises

I race off,not knowing where the hell I’m headed, I just know I need out of here.

I weave through the crowd, as quickly as I can. I have to lose Enzo. I can’t have these feelings in front of him… I search around for somewhere, anywhere I can hide for a moment and think.

My eyes sting. My heart races with every emotion imaginable. I run past stalls, through the throng, and head toward the exit, my body instinctively wanting to escape, only what I want to break free of follows me everywhere. I wish running would leave behindthe mayhem swirling around my body. I don’t want to feel like this when I see Enzo again.

My heart pounds… fear and hope and loyalty all mingle to create a tornado inside me.

Needing time to compose myself, I manage to slip through a crack between the Haunted House and an ice-cream stand to hide in the shadows before I dare take out my phone again.

My heart beats so hard against my rib cage it burns. My hands shake as I reread the text.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

Hello Menace. I’m safe. I made it to Nevada.

Ice instantly spreads through my veins, freezing every muscle… every organ…

Anton.

The world falls away from me, time stands still, and everything is blurry.

Every muscle in my body is coiled and tight. Questions spin in my mind, the world around me spirals. He found me? How did he get this number? He’s in Nevada? He’s safe? Did he make a clean break?

The sounds and blinking lights of the fair that were making me feel like a giddy kid now make me dizzy and sick. They fill my head with even more confusion.

I stare at my phone again.

Anton is okay. I should have believed he could escape, too. He’s never told me about his background but he’s a smart man. Resourceful… thank God… he made it out alive. If he got away, maybe we’re both free, right? Could this actually be over? Or could this text be Father tricking me?

No… Anton never called me Menace unless we were alone. If Anton was with Father, he’d be questioned about mywhereabouts, some term of endearment isn’t the kind of information that would come out. All Father would want to know is where I am.

When I left college, I was ninety percent sure I covered my tracks and that Father would have a hard time finding me. I worried that Anton would be tortured into giving information and that as close to me as he was, he might be able to figure out where I was headed. He knew I admired certain tech companies, GhostEye being one of them.

If Father found the contest, it would have been possible for Anton to connect the dots if put under pressure and lead Father to Echo Valley.

But now Anton is safe, too. He’s not with Father. He can’t tell him anything. Father could never find me now. How would Father ever know, or have the first clue that I came here unless he squeezed details from Anton? I didn’t enter the hacking contest under my real name. Hell, I worked under my fake identity on those computers in the library before I won that contest.

The guilt over Anton being harmed washes away, and it’s replaced with a sense of hope. That was the last thing holding me back.

A sense of relief unfurls the knot in my belly. Have I really done it? Did I truly escape? There’s just one small thing.

How did Anton get my number? Is he a hacker, too? It seems impossible he could have hidden such a thing from me all these years, but then, he never wanted to talk about himself. In any case, if he could find my number, he’s capable of even more than I took him for, and that, too, is an ember of hope inside me that my only friend will find a new life.

Maybe a life as good as the one I have here in Echo Valley.

Just then, a familiar strong hand wraps around my wrist, and I take in a sharp breath.

Enzo.

He holds me firmly, and his touch grounds me, brings me back to the safe feeling I’ve had almost since arriving in Echo Valley. His eyebrows are knitted together, and the concern in his gaze anchors me to the one thing I want more than anything.

Freedom.

It’s closer than I think.

I really don’t have to wait any longer to tell him. I trust Enzo. He’s earned it. And if there’s anything between us, I want to have it for real. I want to have it as my whole self, not just a snapshot of the woman he knows.

The worry in his eyes floods me with emotion. This man cares about me. His soulful brown eyes leave no question about that. His affectionate touch is firm around my wrist, the best kind of security.

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