Page 6 of Twisted Hearts

What in the hell had he meant? My fingers tightened on the steering wheel, white-knuckling it until I could shake off a vicious set of shivers tumbling down my spine and creating a curdling sensation in my stomach.

Pay with blood?

The visual alone was enough to make me feel like I was going to lose what little breakfast I’d eaten that morning.

I ignored it, cranked up the country music radio station, and blared it until it was louder than my thoughts.

It was an hour later when I pulled off at a rest stop, desperate for something to eat, and checked my phone again.

Jillian:We’re at the hotel getting ready. Text me when you get here, and I’ll give you my room number. If you want to join us, I have an extra dress you can wear.

A strangled laugh fell from my throat. A dress? Like I wanted to get dolled up to party at a fundraiser in Raleigh on the night I was supposed to get married?

That wasn’t going to happen. It was everything I was leaving behind.

What I needed was a night of quiet, maybe a few drinks, definitely a pint of ice cream and a half-dozen tacos. Then I needed to grab my notebook and pen and start planning my future.

Jillian:Lots of people here I could introduce you to who can help you get on your feet. I know it’s probably not what you want but think about it. Love you.

It was like she could read my mind from several hundred miles away.

Thank God I had one decent friend in my life. Tears threatened to fall, burning the backs of my eyes, but I forced them down.

I could lose control of my emotions in the hotel, when I was safely hours away from Daniel.

After grabbing fast food, I hit the road again, and hours that felt like days later, I was pulling off the interstate, following the directions I’d printed off old-school style in case I couldn’t get a phone with a maps app. I cruised through downtown streets in Raleigh, headed for The Hills Hotel.

* * *

I paced backand forth beside where I’d parked the SUV. My keys were gripped in one hand, my phone in the other, and my heart? Well, it might as well have been a battering ram due to the painful beating in my chest.

I’d left.

I’d made it out of Charleston and four hours away, and there wasn’t a single person on the planet who knew where I was outside of Jillian and Klaus.

It wasn’t until I’d parked my car and texted Jillian I was outside that the reality of what I’d done truly rushed through me.

What was happening?

How long did Mom stall? Was she hurt for helping me?

What were Matthew and Daniel doing now?

What was going on with my dad?

Did they know where I was? I had planned and done the best I could to cover my tracks, but it wasn’t like I had practice in things like this. There would have been cameras at my stops. The gas station. The fast food restaurant.

I had paid for the rental in cash, but I’d had to leave a credit card. Would they figure that out? Were they already on their way to get me?

And if they were…what would happen if Daniel found me?

“That’s only minor compared to what will happen to you.”

“Oh God.” I was going to be sick.

My knees buckled, and I sat against the back bumper of the SUV and pressed my palms to my knees.

My breath came in short, quick spurts, and the pavement below me spun in a circle.

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