Snowed In With The Billionaire

Episode 2

Under the Storm’s Shadow

"Get in the car, Rory. Present now.

I grab her wrist and gently drag her towards my black SUV before she could complain. From the panic engulfing her body, her skin is cold and damp; her pulse is beating under my fingertips. She is terrified, but it is from everything hidden in the dark, not merely from the storm outside. From what she now knows, arriving is expected.

Her pupils dilated, her eyes stretched great distances. She doesn't object, though her lips quicker as she tries to understand it. "Cole, I'm not sure what is going on. Why are we supposed to be leaving?"

I fast close the door securely behind her. The real danger is not the temperature, even if the storm outside is just getting worse. We are looking for it. Since she re-entered my life, what has she been chasing?

"Just drive," she says, voice shaky as she grabs my arm and her fingers dig my jacket as though she were trying to root herself to me. " What are we running from?"

Without reacting immediately away, I just step on the accelerator pedal to propel the SUV across the icy road. Her body stiffens against mine as the speed increases; her grip gets firm. Her heart thudding against her chest is in perfect time with mine.

I wish I could send it all to her. That her past haunts her not merely from recollection. That transcends my own, our quarrel, or unfinished issue from bygone eras. There also exist much more dangerous things.

Her voice broke through my ideas, her face half-hidden in the low light from the dashboard, "Why won't you tell me?" she asks? Cole, what are you covering? What is going on here?

White as I clutch the driving wheel so fiercely, my knuckles. "I'd like to, Rory. Under my breath, I murmur, just loud enough for her to hear: I really do Still have to be improved upon though. Trust me; saying it's safer for you if you know nothing will help.

She stares at me, incredulity on her face, but for some reason—some f*****g reason—she says nothing. She stopped pushing me a while ago. Maybe she understands down inside that I am not the same person I was in our early years. She can feel it as well. The distance between us, my adjusted strategy. How then would I not be able to Once all that happened with my family—the betrayal, the lies, the secrets—I had to learn to survive as someone else.

I just glance quickly at her from the corner of my eye. Her lips are slightly parted, her forehead pinched with concern and annoyance, and dammit it. I can feel her pull even now. Even now, following all of this She is as beautiful as before, but her eyes now display a hardness I had not observed before. This town regarded her in such a way. This was how Derek handled her.

A terrifying prick. I almost regret letting her ex-husband get what he deserved, even though I cannot afford to think about it right now. Here there are more broad problems involved. Far worse than anything unresolved we might have for each other.

"You can't keep pushing me away, Cole," she says gently, voice scarcely audible over the storm's roar. "I understand you." You are not telling me anything, as I know of. At least let me help you; if you are not going to tell me.

My eyes go to her; today for the first time I let the weight of what I have been carrying show in my gaze. She is not mistaken. I would like her inside allowed. Above all, I wish to let her help and take off my guard. But I cannot. Not at this moment. Not in accord with the present direction of affairs.

I growl low and harsh, "I'm not letting you get involved in this, Rory." "You cannot now share this world. I won't permit that to occur. Once more also not once more.

Her lips parted, but before she could say anything, a tyre squeal tore across the evening. Jolt the steering wheel to the side and instantly press on the brakes, and my heart leaps into my throat. Our fishtail on the ice road as the SUV slides dangerously towards the edge of the cliff, tires screaming against the frigid tarmac.

My thoughts racing, I experience unplanned adrenaline surges. I am sure this is who it is.

Still another car shows up, headlights blazing over the snow. It is not another car. This is a black, souped-up terrible beast of a truck. My pulse leaps upon recognising the familiar driver. The right-hand man of my father, Victor Hartman, is the real reason I find myself caught in this dream.

"Cole!," declared Screaming, Rory grabs the door handle; her breath stops in her throat as the car approaches, its headlights blinding us. "What's occurring?" What then is going on?

I am pressed for time and cannot explain. The vehicle surges ahead, and just now I can see the figure in the driver's seat. My blood becomes chilly.

Vic. The man who has always lurked in the margins of my past.

I pressed the accelerator pedal once again; the vehicle hot on our heels as I accelerated away from him. The tires shrieked. Beside me, Rory gasps; her fingers clench into the fabric of my jacket; her body stiffens as she supports herself.

"I told you," I whisper between clenched teeth, my hands tightly on the wheel and gaze fixed on the road. "He is not going to quit. Not until he has what he wants.

"Who?"? Rory breaths, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Who is that?"

I have no answer for her. Not now. She is not familiar with the complexity of the monster I deal with. Finds it incomprehensible that Victor harbours resentment toward me. Opposed to us.

"Stay down," I say, voice raspy. "Keep your head lowered." And don’t make a sound.”

Adrenaline pumping through my veins, I rush over the storm while the vehicle keeps behind. I have to lose him; I am going to lose him, but right now my mind is racing. Where am I supposed to go? Where am I hiding?

Beside me, Rory's breath is short; her body is stiff and poised for whatever is ahead. The anger of the storm outside reflects the fury within my breast. And even if I wish I could shield her and tell her the truth, I am unable to do both.

There is no turning back once she realizes after she sees just how far this goes.

Not for her. Not applicable to me. Neither of us should do this.

I turn again sharply, tires screaming as the truck behind us pursues. The risk is too real, too near. I have to get going. And fast.

I veer off the road into the woods before I can consider it, the SUV jolting across the uneven ground. The air smells like shattering branches, and for a fleeting second I feel we are secure. Then the truck reappears, its headlights slashing above the storm.

He is not letting us leave.

The engine roars as the truck takes pace; I know that if we do nothing—that is, if I do nothing—this may be the last of us.

Her face pale, eyes wide with panic, I glance at Rory but she is not staring at me. Her body shaking as she settles into the seat, she is facing forward.

She says, "Cole," voice hardly audible. We are not going to make it, are we?

I react not here.

Deeply down, I'm not sure we will.