Chapter 1
MARLA
I can’t stop checking the rearview mirror, even with the blood running into my left eye from the deep cut that bastard gave me.
I don’t even know what he threw at me—it could’ve been a shoe or a goddamn brick for all I knew, I just haul assed out of there.
At least he didn’t catch me.
He still might.
I shake my head and bite my swollen lip so hard I cry out, forgetting that too was damaged by his fist.
“Keep your shit together, Marla,” I mutter to myself, blinking so I could see straight. I’d been driving for nearly four hours, my knuckles bone white on the sleek black steering wheel. I just need to me far away from the Troy Brothers.
The country road veers to the right and I gasp, unprepared for the hairpin turn. The car wheels screech as I skid, the car spinning until it slams into something solid—and I black out.
***
“Miss? Can you hear me? Shit!”
I feel like I’m underwater, like my ears are submerged, making everything sound far away. There’s a phone ringing somewhere, the high pitch tone muffled, but still there. My head feels like a dead weight, but I manage to lift it. Something sticky connects me to the steering wheel, but I can’t open my eyes to see what it is.
“Fuck,” I groan as someone calls for the medics.
“Miss? Can you hear me?”
“I hear you,” I try to say back, but it doesn’t sound right.
“We need to call the police, Trey,” another voice suggests, and I jolt, pain slicing through me like a knife.
“No police!” I scream, and a hand lands on mine, warm and steady.
“Hey, hey now, it’s alright. We don’t need to call the police if you don’t want us to, but you’re gonna need a medic, okay?” The voice is gruff but reassuring, and my heart rate starts to calm to a reasonable rate.
“Can you move your legs?”
I can, thank god, and I attempt to swing them out of the car, but something pins me to the seat.
“I—”
The sound of a knife cutting through webbing interrupts me, and suddenly I slump forward, falling straight to the ground. I brace for impact, but strong arms surround me, breaking my fall.
“Easy, easy.”
I want to stay here forever, wrapped in this stranger’s embrace, but I can’t—if Goldie finds me—
I struggle to my feet and fall straight back down, my knees crashing onto the ground hard.
“Dammit, you’re like a newborn calf, woman.” Those same strong arms slide beneath my knees, the other bracing my back, holding me against his chest. “I’ve got you.”
“I have to go,” I mutter, blinking in and out of conciousness. “He can’t find me—he’ll kill me.”
The man holding me stiffens, his footsteps faltering as i sense him looking down at me.
“Who’s that now, darlin’?” His voice had deepened with an edge to it it didn’t have before.
Tears and blood blur my vision, my voice drying in my throat. I try to tell him who is coming for me, that he has to leave me alone, but it’s too late.
My eyes close.
