Prologue
The air was thick with the smell of rain as I sprinted through the narrow streets of Camallera, the small town that had been my refuge since I left the chaos of America behind. The familiar cobblestones under my feet, the comforting shadow of the old and ugly church, none of it mattered anymore. They had found me.
My heart pounded in my chest, a frantic rhythm that drowned out everything else. I had seen him inside my apartment—a stranger lurking in the shadows of my quiet little sanctuary. And there was only one explanation—the Sinclairs. They had finally caught up to me, even here, in the forgotten corner of Spain, I thought would keep me safe.
I could barely think straight as I rounded a corner, my breaths coming in short, panicked gasps. I had nothing with me, just my phone clutched tightly in my trembling hand. No plan. No escape route, just the primal instinct to run, to get as far away from them as possible.
I ducked into an alley, pressing myself against the cold stone wall, my chest rising and falling in erratic gasps. My mind raced. I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears, louder than the rain tapping against the pavement. I had been gradually keeping my distance from family and friends, barely leaving home, hoping no one would see me, find me, or notice me. Each day blurred into the next, a routine of isolation and fear. I knew it was only a matter of time before they tracked me down, but I wasn’t ready for that moment. I couldn’t face anyone—not with the weight of everything I was hiding. Every knock on the door sent my heart racing. Every glance from a neighbor made me paranoid. What was I thinking? There was nowhere left to hide. No one to call—
Gabriel.
I hesitated, my thumb hovering over his name on my phone. I hadn’t spoken to him since I left, since I made the decision to walk away and try to build a new life without the constant fear that came with being by his side. He had no idea where I was or what had happened after I left California. And he definitely didn’t know I was pregnant.
My finger trembled, and I bit my lip, feeling the weight of that secret crushing down on me. He didn’t deserve this. He deserved to know the truth, but calling him now meant bringing back the nightmare I had run from. It meant exposing myself, and worse, him and our unborn child, to the Sinclairs again.
But I had no other choice.
With one deep, steadying breath, I pressed the call button. The dial tone rang in my ears, long and unnerving, each second stretching out longer than the last. What if he didn’t pick up? What if he was done with me?
Then, I heard his voice. Deep, familiar, sending a shiver through me even in this moment of terror.
“Sophie?” he sounded shocked, as if he couldn’t believe it was really me, “Where are you?”
I closed my eyes, the tension in my body crashing down like a wave, “Gabriel... They’ve found me.”
