His to protect

Into hiding

CHAPTER FIVE:

I didn't go to class the next morning.

Didn't go to work, didn't leave my friend Jenna's apartment where I'd crashed after the police finally cleared out.

I sat on her couch, stared at the brick, at the photo, at the message that kept replaying in my head.

48 hours.

Jenna came out of her bedroom, took one look at me. "Okay. What the hell happened? And don't say anything because you look like you witnessed a murder."

"I can't tell you."

"Try me."

I looked at her, my best friend since first-year student year. The person who'd held my hair back when I got food poisoning from the dining hall, who'd talked me out of dropping out at least three times.

If I told her, she'd be in danger too.

"I need to leave town for a while," I said.

"What? Why?"

"I just do."

"For how long?"

"I don't know."

"This is about a guy, isn't it?" She sat beside me. "Did he hurt you? Because I swear…"

"He didn't hurt me. He saved me." The words came out before I could stop them.

. "And now people want to hurt me because of it."

"What people?"

"Dangerous people."

"I'm calling the cops."

"No." I grabbed her hand. "You can't. Please, just trust me. I need to disappear for a while. Can you tell the school I had a family emergency?"

"This is insane."

"I know."

She looked at me for a long moment. Then sighed. "Where will you go?"

"I don't know yet."

The disposable phone buzzed, both of us jumped.

I grabbed it, new message.

Meet me, Corner of 5th and Madison. One hour. Come alone.

It wasn't signed, didn't need to be.

"I have to go," I said.

"Like hell you do. You just said people are trying to hurt you."

"This is different."

"How?"

Because it was him, because even though he'd told me to forget him, even though his father had put a gun to my head, even though every logical part of my brain was screaming at me to run in the opposite direction, I needed to see him, I needed to know he was okay.

"I just do," I said.

I left before she could argue, took the bus to 5th and Madison, got there twenty minutes early. I stood in the corner like an i***t.

Fifteen minutes passed, then thirty.

He wasn't coming.

I turned to leave.

"Wait."

I spun around, Adrian stood behind me. He looked worse than he had last night, his face was bruised, split lip, black eye.

He moved stiffly, like every breath hurt.

"What did he do to you?" I whispered.

"What he had to do." Adrian's voice was flat.

"You shouldn't have come."

"You texted me."

"I shouldn't have."

"But you did."

He was quiet for a moment. Then: "I need you to leave the city tonight."

"I got the message, the brick."

"That wasn't me. That was Mikhail, he's not going to stop." Adrian pulled an envelope from his jacket, handed it to me.

"There's money, a new ID, a bus ticket to Chicago. You have a cousin there, right? Emma?"

I stared at the envelope. "How do you know about Emma?"

"I know everything about you, had to, after last night." He met my eyes. "I'm sorry for all of it."

"You saved my life."

"I ruined it."

"No. You…"

"Don't." His voice was sharp. "Don't make this into something it's not. You helped me, I'm paying you back. That's all this is."

The words stung more than they should have.

"Take the money," he said. "Take the ticket, start over."

"What about you?"

"I'll handle Mikhail."

"How?"

"However, I have to."

I looked down at the envelope, at the escape he was offering. It would be so easy. Take the money, leave, forget any of this happened.

Except I couldn't.

"No," I said.

"What?"

"I'm not running."

"You don't have a choice."

"I always have a choice," I shoved the envelope back at him. "You don't get to swoop in and fix this. You don't get to make decisions for me."

"I'm trying to keep you alive."

"By making me disappear? By erasing my entire life?" I laughed. It sounded bitter. I worked too hard to get where I am.

Nursing school, my apartment, my job. I'm not throwing it away because your family has issues.

"My family will kill you."

"Then I'll deal with it."

"You can't."

"Watch me."

We stared at each other. His jaw was tight.

His hands clenched into fists.

"You're being stupid," he said.

"Probably. But it's my choice to be stupid."

"I can't protect you."

"I don't need you to."

That was a lie. We both knew it, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it.

He exhaled, slowly. Fine, you want to stay? Stay but don't come crying at me when Mikhail shows up.