Page 87 of Dare To Free Us

“It’s not you who’s leaving.” Matteo glanced at his stomach. “It’s me leaving you.” I saw the sadness in his eyes. Matteo thought he was dying. “I’m so sorry, Beautiful.”

I started to wheeze. “I’m not leaving you like this. You are not dying! Do you hear me Matteo Russo?” I was getting angry only because I felt so damn helpless.

His hand gripped the back of my head and pulled me forward forcefully. I gasped at the anger and desperation stirring in his eyes. Our noses were almost touching. “You are the only thing that matters. This is not over Arianna, you are not safe. You will go with Steven. You will take our child and get away from here.” Matteo may have looked to be on death’s doorstep but the fire in his words were full of life.

I didn’t answer.

“Please,” Matteo rasped.

My heart shattered. How did I ever think I could live without this man? Already it was a pain I didn’t think I could stand. Everything inside me was crumbling into heap at the bottom of my stomach. “I can’t live without you.”

It was the truth. I might have thought I could make it without him but now, as the reality that I could actually lose him sank in, I knew I’d been a fool to believe otherwise. Matteo was my heart, the very air I needed to fill my lungs and keep it beating.

“You don’t have too. You’re taking me with you.” His hand lowered to my stomach and rested on my small bump. I covered his hand with mine and cried at the idea that our baby might never meet their father. “Call Luca, he will know what to do.”

“What about…?” I glanced at Steven and Vinny. How was I supposed to explain or hide Luca from them?

“Luca will understand.”

“I don’t know how to say goodbye,” I whispered. I physically didn’t think I was capable. When I tried to run away there wasn’t going to be one. I’d been focused on the fact that I had to do it on my own, but Matteo had promised me, said we would leave together. It changed everything. Saying goodbye? I suddenly found it hard to breathe.

“Then don’t. Just tell me you love me.”

“I love you, Matteo.”

“I love you, Arianna. Now go.”

I froze unable to move. Matteo nodded to Steven behind me and I felt his strong hands settle on my shoulders. They hesitated a moment then started to pull me back. Leaning forward I pressed my lips to Matteo’s, needing to kiss him one last time. He breathed me in and I prayed that my love would be enough to keep him holding on.

Steven pulled harder, cool air rushed between our lips. Vinny closed the door and jumped in the drivers seat. I knew there was no time to spare, but the SUV and Matteo were gone in seconds.

I heaved in air knowing I might never see him again. I didn’t know anything about stomach wounds but knew if Steven and Vinny were that worried, it was bad. Bad enough that Matteo might die.

There was so much more I wanted to say. So much more I wanted to experience with him. We had agreed to leave this life behind and find a new one, now I would be back to doing it without him. Something broke inside me. It felt like a rushing flood crashing into a dam that wasn’t made to hold against such powerful feelings. The dam blasted apart and so did I.

Falling to my knees I cried out in a wail that was probably the most dramatic and pathetic thing to witness. I couldn’t breathe as the anguish seeped into my bones, threatening to finish me off. It doubled me over so all I could do was hold my stomach as if that act alone would keep my physical body from tearing apart, like my insides were doing.

Steven’s strong arms wrapped around me and picked me up, cradling me against his chest. “You still have something to live for Arianna. Don’t forget that.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried into his chest. I’m sure it was a bit awkward for Steven, but he was doing his duty, getting me out of there.

Before I knew it I was being placed in the back of a car and the road was moving under us.

I stoped crying after a while, feeling empty inside. The trees flew past. The world looked dreary and I felt so disconnected from it I wondered if I would ever feel a sense of belonging to it again.

Call Luca.

I wanted to demand that Steven take me to Matteo. Scream and yell that Matteo had been wrong and I needed to be with him, but knew it would be like talking to a brick wall. Steven wouldn’t disobey Matteo’s orders, even if it meant dragging me all the way.

I took a deep breath and accepted the reality of what would happen. Even though I hated it, the last thing Matteo asked of me— begged me— was to take our child far from here, and I would do just that. Hoping that he would find the strength to hold on and come for me. My hand rubbed across my stomach.To come for us.

“Steven,” I croaked.

“Yes.”

“I need your phone.”

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