Snowed In With The Billionaire

Episode 5

Edge of Temptation

You honestly believe we could outrun this?

Her voice cracks over the evening, sharp and brittle like glass, but the question grabs like a gut-grab. Her words appear to tremble and her doubt burdens me. Deep down, the horror I had been trying to conceal resurfaced with an intensity that threatened to swallow me whole for the last several hours. Her face is pale, her eyes wide with dread, and the pounding of her heart—her fear—echoes inside me, slithering across my own nerves like live wire.

Really, do we think we could outrun this?

The question looms large in the space between us. The piercing chill of something far worse than the snowstorm raging outside envelops us as the icy night rushes in. Whether from the cold, the fear, or something else completely, my hands are shaking—that is not evident right now. I know nothing except I am not going to let her go. not quite like this.

"Rory, I... My words stammer, pulled under the distance between us. She is many feet away, her arms tightly crossed over her chest, her eyes suspicious. She is not entirely wrong in her approach. Hell: I would see the same thing if I were her. Still, it is too much to let go of right now.

Too late now is the reality.

"I have no idea how to fix this," I say gently, the reality more agonising than I could have ever anticipated. "I'm not walking away; I can't give you all the answers but will give you this."

Her eyes fly to search for me. For what? Not sure at all. Reducing? Atonement? She cannot find it in me—not now, not yet—but if I do not try I will be condemned.

She inhales shakily, one that appears to have been gathering in her chest for too long, then she says. "You are running from yourself, Cole. Running from everything that counts, and right now you are depressing me.

The comments truly pierce me like a blow to the face. They twist within me, they pain, they burn. I want to argue, scream at her, tell her I'm doing the best I can. I do not, however. Given she is right. I've been jogging for years.

Walking towards her to assist to close the distance between us, I softly say, "You're not just a casualty, Rory." She remains quiet. I'm not fleeing from you here. I commit to God I am not.

Her eyes soften slightly, the smallest flutter of sensitivity across her face before she closes it down. Then, why are you eager to protect me? You just are dragging me more into this catastrophe. Into your mess.

My throat is tight, I swallow deliberately. That is actuality. Not sure what else to comment about. That I have been haughtful? Let alone her, I never dreamed I would feel anything for anyone again.

I stutter, "Because I can't lose you," before I even know the words are out of my lips. I see her flinch; they hang in the air like a confession, unadorned and real.

For me, she is rather understated and intelligent. Still, I saw her eyes alter at that moment. I thought she buried frailty long ago.

Her voice just audible over the shrieking wind: "I don't want to be part of this life, Cole," she adds. "I cannot keep assuming the always left behind lady's posture. Not right now.

The words pierce more forcefully than I could have guessed. She is speaking about myself as well as of the dangers all around us. She is talking about many subjects. The past: our split, the way I turned away from her all those years ago.

Heart pounding, I rasp, another step towards her, never wanting to leave you, Rory. "I am sure I disappointed you. I know how I offended you. But I have been watching out for you. Every unhappy day since you turned away from me.

Her eyes flash with something deadly. Maybe agony. Other than fury. But I am too far gone to bother.

Then, why did you reject my evidence? Her lecture gets sharp emotional edges. "Why didn't you believe in us?"

I was terrified of losing you once more; I confess the words came out in a frantic rush. So I drove you away before you could leave me first. And observe our current position.

Her appearance fuels the flames of mixed wrath and anguish burning through me. She had suffered too much too many times under too many hands; I was not an exception. I dumped her when she most needed me.

Her voice shivering, she says softly, "I don't know what you want from me, Cole." "You left behind another woman than I am now. You no longer make me want trust.

Her remarks hang there, heavy with finality. Every element of reality stings like a gut strike; for a time I want to give up. Need to travel. But I'm not able to. Not in line with what I know.

"You have to trust me," I growl, irritation pouring forth. "We have no time for this, Rory. Not anywhere more.

She steps back and looks directly at me. Something I cannot name drives the buzz between us. From the day we first crossed paths, an anguish, a dread, a yearning has been eating under the surface.

Her voice slightly above a whisper, she begs, "What's going to happen to us, Cole?" "What if I cannot equal all you have done?"

Heart in my throat, I concentrate on her gaze. I want to get in touch with her, bring her close, and kiss all the hurt away. Though I know, it is not that simple. Enough damage has been done here.

"We'll work it out," I reply, my voice raspy. But we really have to relocate. We are unable to stay here. Not with them right now, so near.

She pauses momentarily, staring over her shoulder, and that is when I hear it.

A twig breaks off far away.

Oh, really.

Before I can reply, someone towers and threatens out of the darkness. The air grows colder, the menace more concrete.

Cole. Rory speaks sharply and with a lot of anxiety. They are.

I need not turn around to find out who it is. Victor. He's here. And he has added company.

Pushing Rory ahead of me, I grab her arm and yank her into the dense woods.

"We should relocate. Right now.

Not long until I could clearly hear footsteps behind us smashing through the underbrush.

I hiss, my heart thumping in my chest, "they're closing in." "Run, Rory!," Give up, not stopping!

Breath labouring, my heart thundering in my ears, we negotiate the jungle. But I hear it—the unique click of a rifle primed behind us—just as we are almost at the edge of the clearing.

Check here.

"Stay wherever you are!" Cold and triumphant, Victor's voice explodes across the trees. Cole, you think you might outrun me? You were already lost.

The hairs on the back of my neck sprang up. But Rory, whose face is pale as she turns back towards me, is frozen.

She responds, "No," and I know she has understood what I have dreaded all along.

We are i

mprisoned.

And nowhere to evacuate this time.