Page 15 of Captivated By the Bratva

“Use the emergency card. The one your mom gave you.” I rubbed a hand over my face. “I’ll pay you back.”

She deepened the lines on her brow. “It’s not about the money as much as it is about what the hell is going on with you. Are you hurt? Is someone threatening you?”

Yeah, with a lifetime of marriage I don’t want.“No. Please, Zoe.Please.”

She stared at me, pensive and likely thinking it over. I prayed that she also recalled how I'd never, ever asked her for anything in the years we’d been roommates.

“Fine, but?—”

I rushed to her and hugged her, but as soon as her arms wrapped around me, I grew nervous that she’d feel the bloody spot. Just as quickly as I launched at her, I jerked back. “Thank you.”

“To where, though?” She still eyed me so suspiciously, willing to help but damned curious.

I hadn’t actually thought about it. All I wanted was a destination that would be far, far from Mr. Avilov’s notice. I’d need to use my passport, though, and I bet that was traceable for a criminal lord. There was no way around using my passport, but if I went somewhere obscure, somewhere I could get a ride and drive somewhere else… Maybe somewhere with lots of places to hide…

“Cozumel.” Mexico was big. It would look like I was jetting away to a vacation spot, somewhere touristy. And then I could drive away to wherever.

Once more, Zoe’s eyes practically bugged out. “Cozumel?”

I nodded. Now that I’d said it, it felt like a plan. If not a plan, another stepping stone of hiding from the future I didn’t want. “Please,” I begged with genuine desperation.

“Fine. Fine.” She shook her head, though, going to her laptop.

One day, I’d owe her a hell of an explanation, and I’d give it to her. But for now…

I didn’t linger and risk her asking any more questions. I cleaned up my cut the best I could in the bathroom. Seeing the long gash on my skin frightened me. It looked worse than it felt. The ache had faded. It wasn’t gone, but I’d gotten used to it. Survival numbed the senses. And that was what drove me—surviving onmyterms.

After shoving some things in a bag, I hurried back out to Zoe. She sighed and handed me the credit card her mom had given her for emergencies. This was an emergency, a huge one.

“I emailed the flight info to you.” The frown on her face was both sad and mad, but she seemed resigned to linger in confusion about it all.

“Thank you.” I hugged her again. I wasn’t as worried that she’d feel the wet spot of the blood stain on my shirt, but I held my breath when she squeezed me tight. Fortunately, she didn’t feel the thick gauze and bandage I’d applied to the cut.

I left right away, not wanting to risk her asking more questions and having to think up what I could tell her. Sticking around was the opposite of what I needed right now.

My wait at the airport was surprisingly short, and it wasn’t until I was seated on the plane that I dared to draw in a breath of relief. For the first time since I laid eyes on the Avilov man, I letmyself relax and just breathe. Several minutes passed and the sense of panic remained, but once the plan took off, I tried to think ahead, not dwell on the past.

Trying to be pragmatic and practical didn’t last long. Too many questions and worries filtered through my mind. I was too scattered with my thoughts. I was still coming down from the roller coaster ride of panic, that adrenaline rush that I crashed from now.

I’d gotten out of London. That was the first step. But how long would I actually be able to hide in Mexico? How long could I plan to stay in any one place, and with limited funds at that? I’d grabbed all my cash and my cards, but I had no means to obtain more. All my “income” was from my scholarship stipends.

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, I suffered another moment of reckoning.

I’ll never be able to escape the Avilovs.Lev, and his minions, would continue to come after me, and trying to plan on an entire lifetime of hiding didn’t seem like a life at all.

For as long as I remained a target, a person to hunt down, others would be impacted by association.

Zoe had been, using money to help me get away. I couldn’t dare to get close to anyone else, either.

And that man, the deep-voiced one who’d pushed me aside to safety…

I winced as I stared out the window, wondering how he’d fared. I hadn’t even gotten his name. My… savior? I didn’t know what to call him. How could he be my savior when he wanted to capture me? And why’d he know my name?

Rubbing my face, I gave in to the fatigue of trying to understand it all. I didn’t know who he was, and I doubted I’d see him ever again. I’d left him behind in London.

But with every mile that grew between us, I was surprised at the degree to which I cared.

Maybe he had ulterior motives, but at least he’d tried to keep me from getting in the Avilovs’ hold.

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