CHAPTER 7 : ON THE RUN
1183 Words
We didn’t stop running until the city lights were behind us.
Damian drove. I held Liam in the backseat. One duffel bag. His medicine. $2,400 in cash. That was all we had.
“Sir, pull over,” the voice on the police radio crackled.
Damian didn’t. He took the next exit. Dark roads. No cameras.
“Where are we going?” I whispered. Liam was asleep on my lap.
“Away,” Damian said. His knuckles were white on the wheel. “Richard can freeze accounts. He can’t freeze us.”
We drove for 3 hours. Small towns. Gas stations with flickering lights.
At 3 AM, Damian pulled into a motel. The sign said `VACANCY` in pink neon.
“Stay here,” he said. “Lock the doors.”
He came back 10 minutes later with 2 keys and sandwiches.
Room 14 smelled like bleach and old carpet. But it had 2 beds and a lock.
Liam woke up when I laid him down. “Are we on an adventure?”
“Something like that, baby,” I said, brushing his hair. “Go back to sleep.”
Damian sat on the edge of the other bed. He looked exhausted. 48 hours and he’d lost a company, a penthouse, and 2 billion dollars.
“You don’t have to do this,” I said. “You can go back. Make a deal with Richard.”
Damian laughed. No humor. “And let him hurt you? Hurt Liam? Never.”
He looked at me. Really looked. “I meant what I said, Ava. I choose you. Forever. Contract or no contract.”
My chest hurt. “Why me? I’m a mess. I’m broke. I lied to you.”
“Because you slapped a man for me,” Damian said simply. “Because you held your son’s hand while the board called you a gold digger. Because you’re the bravest person I know.”
He stood and walked to me. Knelt in front of the bed.
“I’m not good at this,” he said. “The feelings. The... caring. But I’m learning. For you. For him.”
He reached out and took my hand. His thumb brushed over my ring.
“This was part of a contract,” he said. “But I want it to mean something now.”
I nodded. Couldn’t speak.
Damian pulled me into a hug. I buried my face in his shirt. He smelled like expensive cologne and fear and safety.
For the first time in years, I felt safe.
The next morning, Damian was gone when I woke up.
Panic shot through me until I saw the note on the table.
`Gone to get cash and burner phones. Back in 1 hour. Don't open the door. - D`
I made Liam breakfast from the vending machine. Crackers and juice.
Damian came back exactly 1 hour later. Hair wet. New clothes. Cheap jeans and a t-shirt. He looked... normal.
“Here,” he said, handing me a phone. “New number. Cash.” He dropped $800 on the bed. “And IDs.”
I stared at the driver’s license. `Ava Bennett`.
“Bennett?” I asked.
“Your mom’s maiden name,” Damian said. “Mine is Cole. Liam is Cole too.”
He looked at Liam. “How do you feel about being Liam Cole for a while, kid?”
Liam grinned. “Can I be a spy?”
“Sure,” Damian said, and for a second he smiled. Real.
“We can’t stay here,” Damian said. “Richard will check motels. We need to go to a small town. No cameras. Pay cash.”
“Where?”
“4 hours north. Mill Creek. Population 2,000. I have... had... a cabin there. It’s in my assistant’s name. Richard won’t find it.”
We packed and left before checkout.
The drive was quiet. Liam slept. I watched Damian.
He was different without the suit. Softer. Tired.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?”
“For not leaving. When everything fell apart.”
Damian glanced at me. “I told you. I choose you.”
We reached Mill Creek at sunset. The cabin was small. Wood. By a lake. No neighbors for miles.
It felt like hiding. And like breathing for the first time.
That night, after Liam slept, Damian and I sat on the porch.
“The hospital called,” I said quietly. “They need $40,000 by Friday or they pause treatment.”
Damian went still. “I have $30,000 in cash. From the safety deposit box Richard doesn’t know about.”
“That’s not enough.”
“I know,” Damian said. He stared at the lake. “I’m going to sell the car. The watch. Whatever’s left. And I’m going to call in a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
“The kind that will put me back on Richard’s radar,” Damian said. “But I don’t care. Liam comes first.”
He turned to me. “I’m scared, Ava. I’ve never been scared of losing money. I’m scared of losing him.”
I took his hand. “We won’t. We’ll figure it out.”
Damian squeezed my hand. Then he did something I didn’t expect. He kissed me.
Not desperate like in the penthouse. Not angry.
Soft. Slow. Like he had time.
When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against mine.
“I don’t know what happens next,” he whispered. “But I know I want you in it.”
“I want that too,” I whispered back.
His phone buzzed. The burner.
He answered. “Yeah?”
His face changed.
“What?” he said. “When?”
He hung up.
“What is it?” I asked.
“That was my lawyer,” Damian said. “Richard filed for emergency custody of Liam. Claiming you’re unfit and I’m unstable.”
My blood went cold. “He can’t—”
“He can try,” Damian said. He stood. “Court is in 5 days. In the city.”
“Then we have to go back.”
“We can’t,” Damian said. “If we show up, they arrest me for violating the eviction. And they take Liam.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I need a plan. A better plan.”
Another buzz. A text on my burner.
`Unknown: Nice cabin. Saw you on the road cam. 4 hours north. Tick tock.`
My hands shook.
“Damian,” I said, holding out the phone.
He read it. His jaw clenched.
“Pack,” he said immediately. “Now. We’re leaving.”
“Where to?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Damian said, already grabbing Liam’s bag. “As long as it’s not here.”
He looked at me. At Liam sleeping inside.
“I won’t let him take you,” Damian said. “Not ever.”
Outside, a car engine started down the road.
Too late.
*[END OF CHAPTER 7]*
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