CHAPTER 3: Get in... or Loose Everything
1387 Words
“I said I don’t know you.”
But even as the words left my mouth… I knew they were a lie.
Because my body remembered him.
My mind tried to forget—but my body didn’t.
The way my pulse spiked the moment I heard his voice.
The way my chest tightened when his eyes locked onto mine.
The way fear… and something dangerously close to something else… twisted together inside me.
Rain started again.
Soft at first.
Then heavier.
Like the night was repeating itself.
Like fate was laughing at me.
“Get in the car, Amara.”
His voice didn’t rise.
Didn’t harden.
But it didn’t need to.
There was something in it—something controlled… something absolute—that made it feel like the world itself had already decided I would obey.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said, forcing strength into my voice.
Lie.
Half-lie.
Because my feet hadn’t moved.
Because I was still standing there.
Because I hadn’t walked away.
His gaze dropped slightly.
Not to my face.
Lower.
For just a second.
So quick anyone else would have missed it.
But I didn’t.
My breath caught.
My hand instinctively moved to my stomach.
Did he…?
No.
Impossible.
There was no way.
His eyes came back to mine.
Sharp.
Focused.
Calculating.
“You’re shaking,” he said.
“I’m cold.”
“Liar.”
The word landed softly.
But it hit hard.
Because he wasn’t just talking about the cold.
“Why are you here?” I snapped, my patience cracking. “Was almost running me over not enough the first time?”
Something flickered in his eyes.
“So you do remember.”
Damn it.
“I remember enough to know I shouldn’t get into a car with you.”
A pause.
Then—
“Yet you did.”
My chest tightened.
“Three months ago,” he continued, his voice quieter now, “you didn’t hesitate.”
“That was a mistake.”
The words came out faster than I could stop them.
Sharper than I intended.
Silent.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Something changed in his expression.
Not anger.
Not exactly.
But something colder.
“Is that what it was?” he asked.
I swallowed.
“Yeah.”
Another pause.
Longer this time.
Then he leaned slightly closer, one arm resting against the open window, his voice dropping just enough to make the moment feel… too intimate.
Too close.
“You didn’t look like you regretted it that night.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Stop,” I said quickly.
Too quickly.
Because I remembered.
God, I remembered.
The way the rain had turned into something else entirely.
The way silence between us had shifted into tension.
The way one moment had blurred into the next until there was no space left to think.
Only feel.
Only react.
“Stop,” I repeated, softer this time.
His eyes held mine.
Unmoving.
Unforgiving.
“Why?” he asked.
Because if we didn’t stop…
I might remember everything.
And I wasn’t ready for that.
“Because it doesn’t matter,” I said. “It was one night. That’s it.”
Something about that answer didn’t sit well with him.
I could see it.
The slight tightening of his jaw.
The faint shift in his posture.
“One night,” he repeated.
“Yes.”
Another pause.
Then—
“Then why did you run?”
My breath hitched.
“I didn’t run.”
“You left before I woke up.”
That shut me up.
Because it was true.
I had left.
Before I could think.
Before I could process what I had done.
Before I could face him in the morning light and realize just how badly I had crossed a line I could never uncross.
“I had things to deal with,” I muttered.
“Like your husband?”
The word hit like a slap.
My expression must have changed.
Because his eyes sharpened instantly.
“There it is,” he said quietly.
“Don’t,” I warned.
“You’re married.”
It wasn’t a question.
It was a statement.
“Yes,” I said.
Then, after a beat—
“Was.”
That caught his attention.
“What changed?”
I laughed bitterly.
“You really want the full story right now?”
“I want the truth.”
The truth.
I shook my head slowly.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
For a second… I almost did.
Almost told him everything.
About Daniel.
About Lila.
About the humiliation that still burned under my skin.
But then I remembered who I was talking to.
A stranger.
A mistake.
A man I should have never seen again.
So I did what I had learned to do best.
I shut down.
“It’s none of your business,” I said.
Silence stretched between us again.
But this time, it wasn’t empty.
It was loaded.
Heavy with things unsaid.
Then—
“Get in the car.”
Again.
That same command.
“I said no.”
“You don’t have anywhere else to go.”
My chest tightened.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
My eyes narrowed.
“And how exactly would you know anything about me?”
A pause.
A small one.
But I noticed.
Then he replied—
“I made it my business.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he reached over and pushed the passenger door open.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
The quiet click echoed louder than it should have.
“Get in, Amara.”
My heart pounded.
Loud.
Fast.
Relentless.
This was wrong.
Everything about this was wrong.
But so was everything else in my life right now.
Behind me?
Nothing.
No home.
No marriage.
No family.
In front of me?
A man I didn’t understand.
Didn’t trust.
Couldn’t read.
A man who looked at me like—
Like he already knew something I didn’t.
My hand started shaking.
Think.
Think, Amara.
But thinking had never saved me before.
Feeling had destroyed me.
And right now?
I didn’t have the strength to fight either.
Slowly…
Carefully…
I stepped forward.
His gaze didn’t leave me.
Not once.
Every step felt like I was crossing a line.
One I wouldn’t be able to uncross.
I reached the door.
Paused.
“This doesn’t mean anything,” I said quietly.
“It never does at the beginning, ” he replied back to me.
That answer…
Didn’t help at all.
I exhaled slowly.
Then I got in.
The door shut behind me with a soft click.
But it sounded final.
Like something sealing.
The car moved almost immediately.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“You’ll see.”
Of course.
I turned to the window, watching the city blur past.
Lights.
Buildings.
People.
All of it felt distant.
Unreal.
Until—
“I know the child is mine.”
Everything stopped.
My breath.
My thoughts.
My heartbeat.
No.
Slowly…
I turned my head.
“What did you just say…?”
His eyes stayed on the road.
Calm, focused, and certain.
“I said,” he repeated, his voice steady, “the child you’re carrying…”
A pause.
Then—
“…is mine.”
My world tilted.
“How do you—”
“I’ve been looking for you,” he cut in. “For three months.”
My pulse skyrocketed.
“That’s not possible,” I said quickly. “You don’t even—”
“I know enough.”
My fingers trembled in my lap.
“No,” I whispered. “No, you’re wrong.”
“Am I?”
I couldn’t breathe.
“You disappeared,” he continued. “No name. No number. Nothing.”
His grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
“I don’t like loose ends.”
I swallowed hard.
“And now…” he said, finally glancing at me.
Those eyes.
Dark.
Dangerous.
Unavoidable.
“I’ve found you.”
Fear curled deep in my chest.
Because this wasn’t coincidence.
This wasn’t chance.
This was something else entirely.
Something deliberate.
Something inevitable.
“And you’re not leaving again.”
My heart dropped.
Because the way he said it…
Wasn’t a threat.
It was a promise.
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