And with every step, I ran farther and farther away from that little girl who was kept in the dark because she was too sick to do anything. Because her mother didn't love her… or loved her too much.
Halfway through the meadow, I saw several cars driving along the main road. They were still about a quarter of a mile away, so I didn't worry about them. Those weren't the ones I was trying to flag anyway. I needed to get into the woods and further along the road, and then I would stop someone when I had cover and could see who was coming. It'd be just my fucking luck to stop Drake as he was coming back from whatever errand he was running, and that would just be damn fucking fantastic.
I was almost through the meadow when suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention. The prickle of awareness I always felt when he was near, like my body was honed to his. Along the main road, a car slowly drove back and forth. Going back toward the house, then away from the house. Suddenly, it stopped and the tires screeched. Then I stopped and stared. I didn't need to be closer. Didn’t need to see the make and model of the car. I just knew. That was Drake.
Holy. Fuck.
Bitch, move.
I didn't need to be told twice. I booked it into the woods. He still had to catch up to me. I didn't know how far I was going to get, but I needed to get as far as I could. Maybe if I could get up into a tree, he wouldn't find me.
Run, honey, run.
I was reminded of a parable my grandmother told me. She loved to tell me and Willow African parables that she'd heard from her mother. Our favorite was always the one about the lion and the gazelle.
The basic idea was that every day a lion woke up knowing he had to be faster than the slowest gazelle or he would starve. And every morning, a gazelle woke up, knowing he had to be faster than the fastest lion, or he would be eaten. And when the sun came up, no matter if you were lion or gazelle, you had better be running. That's what this felt like.
For fuck's sake, I needed the odds to be in my favor. So I bore down and ran faster, knowing that Drake was coming for me.
20
Drake
What. The. Fuck.
There was no fucking way.
Even though my eyes were relaying the message, my brain refused to compute. There was no way the runner in the meadow could be Daphne. No way.
My body knew though. The way that she stopped and stared at me and then took off even faster, I knew.
I screeched the car over, parking along the edge of the woods and allowing another car to pass. Fuck me.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I was still wearing my fucking suit.
I slammed the car door shut, locked it, and took off running. She had a lead on me, a quarter of a mile at least. Maybe half.
She was quick, but I was quicker. And there was the question of how long she'd been running and if she knew anything about covering her tracks. I was a decent tracker. Not the best, but not the worst. Although I had better find her before dark, otherwise, I was fuck out of luck and Massimo would fucking win.
I took off across the field. At the entrance to the woods, I double-checked the pattern of the broken twigs.
I slowly followed one for several feet, and then the pattern stopped. No footprints, no broken twigs. I went back and retraced my steps to the other path. That one went on further. She'd gone this way. Smart girl. The twinge of guilt that hit me dead center in my chest was annoying and not something I was prepared for.
Once I knew which path she took, it was easy to see if she stayed on the trail. She was heading straight for the stream. Also a smart move. If I'd never seen her, this path would have led her right to water, and she could have stayed hidden in the woods and gone home. Granted, I would have just been waiting at her flat.
But I knew she wasn’t that stupid. She would have gone to her sister or to the police. I didn't need the fucking law up my arse, not now. I was too close. I wanted to get my fucking life back, and I wasn't going to let her ruin it for me.
I followed the path at a quick pace, making as much noise as I cared to. Let her be afraid. Let her know I was coming for her.
Worry about that later.
I hadn't left shoes in the room. Was she wearing socks? What kind of stupidity was that? She was going to fucking rip her feet to shreds.
I heard a scream up ahead, and my stomach dropped making me pick up my pace, bolting in that direction. One of the pathways had veered off to the right.
Fuck.
My heart stopped. The sudden flood of adrenaline with the chaser of fear sliced through me. Was she hurt? Had she fallen? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The faster I ran, the louder the thrashing around got in the bushes up ahead. When the path led up an incline that had steep drops on either side, I slowed down. And that was when I saw her in a tangle below. She was trying to scramble back up one side of the ravine. Then she turned, her eyes wide when she saw me.
There were too many fallen leaves, and she kept sliding in the mud. And yes, there she was in fucking socks. She winced and cried as she tried to scramble.
"Daphne, enough. Just come back."
"The fuck I will," she called.
She managed to scramble halfway up, and I bolted down my side, going for her.
When she heard me coming, she scrambled faster, pulling herself up and over onto the path. When I reached for her, she turned swiftly and kicked me in the chest, sending me sprawling because it was the last thing I had expected.
I nearly hit my head, and I groaned when I landed right on a rock on my arse.
"Fuck me."
Her eyes went wide and her lips parted, almost as if to ask, "Are you all right?" But then she caught herself and scrambled again. Next thing I knew, she was on the path.
I suddenly realized why it was so difficult for her to climb back onto the path. It was wet and muddy, and even with my shoes on I was struggling.
When I finally managed to make it back to the path, she was running as if her life depended on it. But she was limping and favoring her right side. And she was cradling one arm. Fuck, she’d hurt herself. I swore to God I was going to tan her hide.
Well, I'm pretty sure her arse is pretty tan. How are you going to accomplish this?
I had some ideas. But throwing her over my knee was an appealing one. And surprise, surprise, my cock entered the conversation.
She might like it.
Shut it.
I was not losing to my dick today. Nope, I was not thinking about that right now.
Up ahead, she fell again and used her arms to break her fall, crying out in pain as I chased her down.
Ten feet, five feet. She took a sharp left, and I ran right past her. When I came back for her, she stuck out her leg, causing me to trip and tumble right back down the ravine.
She was running again.
Oh, for fuck's sake. One woman. So much goddamn trouble.
"Daphne, I'm not fucking around."
"Fuck yourself then."
Despite myself, a chuckle escaped.
I liked her spunk. She really did not give up. And fucking hell, if that wasn't the sexiest thing I'd ever seen in my life, I didn't know what was. I was up on the path and after her in seconds. And this time, I could see she was definitely favoring that leg. She was almost at the road.
Fuck.
With fifteen feet more to go to hit the pavement of the main road, I wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her up.