Page 38 of In Her Shadow

“You won’t,” I tell him confidently, because all those times he told me he would never hurt me. I believed him.

“Eloise, this isn’t a game; you're in some real danger, both of you are, and until I know what that danger is, I have to get you out of here.”

“Are you mad about it?” I touch my hand over my tummy protectively.

“Mad about it? Are you kidding?” He laughs at me as he steps forward and places his hand over mine.

“I couldn’t be happier.” His nose brushes against my cheek, and his lips tease mine, making me forget why I’m putting a shield up between us. “Now, are you gonna be a good girl and let me keep you, and this precious little thing I put inside you safe?” he asks, making my insides melt as he kisses me, and I quickly push him away before I give in to temptation.

“What danger, Ren? How do I know you haven’t made all this up?” I need to start thinking with my head and not my heart. I can’t avoid questions anymore.

“Baby, I will put you over my shoulder and carry you out of here if I have to,” he warns in that same calm voice. “You gotta trust me.”

I stare up at him, and despite what my head says, everything else inside me is screaming to do as he says.

“Fine.” I go to lift my bag off the bed, but he grabs my hand.

“Uh, uh, uh.” He shakes his head. “I got it.” Lifting up the bag in one hand, he takes hold of my hand in the other and starts leading me to the door. I swallow down that sick feeling in my throat, not sure if it's coming from being pregnant or fear of doing the wrong thing.

Ren keeps a tight hold of my hand as we cross the street and head down the alley beside the warehouse. He passes the door that was open yesterday and moves on to the small empty parking lot around the back. Taking a set of keys from his pocket, he crouches down to unlock the roller door on one of the garages. After he’s pushed it all the way up, I stand shocked at what I see behind it.

“Holy shit.” I stare at the car as he opens the trunk and tosses my bag inside.

“Ren, that’s a Maserati.” I stand stunned and slightly concerned about where it came from.

“I didn’t know you had a thing for cars.” He opens the passenger door for me.

“I don’t, I just…Ren, where did you get this?” I start to panic when I realize how new it is; the paintwork is flawless, and when I slide in past the door, the interior is pristine, too. It even has that new car smell.

“It’s not gonna be conventional once the kid gets here, but it’ll do for a couple of months.” He shrugs as I look around at all the gadgets on the dash. Ren leaves me to explore as he paces around the hood, then gets into the driver’s seat beside me. He leans across to my seat, and I brace myself for him to kiss me, but instead, he tugs on my safety belt, pulling it around me and ensuring I’m buckled in.

“Gotta keep you both safe.” He smiles before pressing a kiss to my lips and sitting back to fix his own belt. I listen to the engine purr when he starts it up, feeling the vibration come from under my seat, and as he pulls out and drives us to the top of the alley, all I can do is pray that I’ve made the right decision.

Ren drives us further and further outside of the city, not saying a word and focusing on the road. I can’t go on pretending as if all this is normal for a second longer. I need to know what his plan is and where he’s taking me.

“Are you gonna tell me more about this danger I’m in?” We came off the freeway ages ago, the roads are getting windier, and the woodland surrounding them is getting thicker.

“I told you, I’m gonna tell you everything once we get where we’re going.” He reaches his hand over the console to my thigh,and I can’t deny that it feels good to have his hands on me again, especially when he moves that hand to rest over my stomach.

“I get that you're happy about this, Ren, but aren’t you a little scared too?” I’m curious about what he’s really thinking.

“What's there to be scared about?” He looks at me in confusion.

“Lots of things. We’re gonna be parents, are you really ready for that?

We barely know each other. What if, in a couple of months, we figure out we don’t like each other?”

“That's not gonna happen.” He shakes his head and laughs at me.

“It’s not just that. What about finances? I don’t earn much from my job, and I’m assuming that your investments don’t do all that great either. How are we gonna afford to raise a child?”

“I don’t want you worrying about any of that, I got it covered.” He pulls down a private road that seems to head us deeper into the woods, and when huge cast iron gates appear in front of us, I look past them to the mansion-style house and really start to worry.

“Is this your plan?” I laugh through my tears. “You're gonna grand theft auto our child into college, and break into rich people's houses?” I drop my head into my hands in despair, and when I hear him start to laugh, I look up and see that the gates have started opening.

“Ren?” I’m confused when he pulls through them and drives right up to the front door.

“Master Ren.” An older guy, dressed smartly in a suit, looks pleased to see him once he steps out of the car and rushes to get my door for me.

---