Page 7 of Run with Me

“Believe me, Anna – I didn’t come here without a reason. Don’t worry about me. I can handle Ben, but I can’t do so while worrying about you. Just get out of here and go home. Better yet, pack a suitcase, and let me take you withme.”

I laughed as quietly as possible. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I’m not. This town is not for a girl like you. You should be thriving, not trying to outrun these thugs.”

Unfortunately, the Cortez family was much more than thugs. They wereevil.

“Pace used to be a town full of good people. We stay here because we still believe that it can become that once again.”

I stay here for love. I stay here because my heart ishere.

“You’re hoping for a miracle.”

“Sometimes, hope is the only thing that keeps us alive.”

He frowned, quoting the inscription on my parents’ crypt: “Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow. If you’ve learned anything from the past, you’ll leave rightnow.”

I swallowed through my tight throat and shook my head. On the verge of a tearful breakdown, I searched for the right words to say to him so that he’d stay safe, but didn’t get a chance to voice my concern. That was when Xavier grabbed me by my arm, opened a back door, and pushed me outside. I stumbled forward and turned around, fury and confusion raging out of myears.

“How could you do that?” I asked.

“If this were a different time, I would kidnap you and take you away from here. Unfortunately, it’s bad timing; but one day, when my life is not a mess, I’ll come back for you. In the meantime, stay away from Ben. Go home, Anna,” he said, before closing the door in front of my face, his emerald eyes disappearing into the darkness.

I stood there, gawking and shaking my head. Minutes later, a gunshot echoed from the inside, and I jumped up. Around the corner, I saw Pablo and Dante, Ben and Mateo’s cousins, working on an old car. It had backfired again, apparently, and I felt myself relax a little. Walking backward so as not to draw attention, I tripped on a rock and fell. They didn’t notice me, though. It felt like it took me forever to get up again, but once I did, I ran as fast as my feet would take me, without lookingback.

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