Page 8 of Virtue & Vengeance

Then a rush of adrenaline raced through me, and without thinking, I pulled into the opposite lane. A few cars swerved to miss me, and their horns blasted into the air, but I didn’t care.

Honk.

Scream.

Curse.

They could do it all, but nothing scared me more than the thought of Allen walking the streets of Las Vegas looking for me.

My foot held the gas pedal down as I sped back to the condo. Fear and adrenaline were pushing my body to move. Otherwise, I knew I would be a bumbling heap of nerves who couldn’t speak much less drive.

I rode the elevator to Kennedy’s condo, and once I was inside, I sprinted to my room, pulling out the large tote bag I’d brought with me from Arizona. Throwing whatever could fit into the bag, I stuffed it and then zipped it closed.

I moved into the bathroom and swept my arm across the counter, pushing everything that belonged to me into another bag. I did all of this while my heart hammered against my chest.

Dropping my bags on the floor in the dining room, I pulled out one of the Empire Sevens notepads Kennedy had in a drawer and began to write.

Tears filled my eyes before spilling down my cheeks as I tried to explain to Aunt Kennedy that my sudden departure had nothing to do with her. She needed to know that I couldn’t be more grateful for everything she had done for me and that I would call her as soon as I got settled to let her know I was okay.

I left the note on the counter where I knew she would find it, and then I picked up my bags. Before leaving, I took a long look around the room.

Home.

A place had never felt more like home in all my life.

It was breaking my heart to leave. Aunt Kennedy had made the last few weeks of my life the best weeks I had had in a long time. The last thing I wanted to do was leave, but I didn’t have any choice.

As I rode the elevator back down, all I could think about was getting out of Vegas as fast as I could. I had no idea where I was going, but as far away from the city as I could get was good with me.

Allen had somehow found me.

How he had found me, I had no clue, but it didn’t matter.

I was leaving, and this time when I settled somewhere, I would make sure he would never find me again.

Ten minutes later, I was filling the car with my things and counting the money I’d saved. It was more than enough to get me where ever I wanted to go, but I was going to need more, and I knew that meant stopping at Empire.

My paycheck.

I couldn’t very well leave my hard-earned money behind.

I parked in the part of the parking garage where employees parked, and I made my way inside. I worried I would run into Zander, which was the last thing in the world I wanted to do.

Before, I’d hoped I would run into him. I wanted him to see what he had passed over. I wanted to look him in the eye and show him he hadn’t broken me, even if he had. But more than anything, I wanted answers.

However, the situation was different now. I felt as though I was being chased out of town, which meant I didn’t have the time or the urgency to let him have it anymore. There were more pressing matters.

Thankfully, I didn’t run into him, and when I made it to the locker room, I was even happier to find it empty. My locker was full since I never cleaned it, so I quickly tossed any trash into the bin and shoved my things into my bag.

After emptying the locker, I started to leave the room. I had one more stop, which was to get my last check. Then I could leave Vegas and never look back.

My palms felt sweaty, and the nerves in my stomach began to twist as I stood in front of the door. It was as if I could sense him in the building. I’d been lucky up until that point, but that luck didn’t continue.

I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to leave Empire Sevens without seeing Zander Hale, and I had been correct.

Pushing the door to the locker room open, I walked right into Zander.

Literally.

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