She headed to the luggage store that was right at the beginning of the food court.
Calm down, Chloe, she told herself, reaching the safety of the store that was far enough away from Amo and Lucca to breathe.
Staring at the suitcases, she managed to ignore what had just happened enough to pick the size she needed then wheeled it to the checkout counter. The line was so long it curved the registers. Waiting for her turn, she patiently stood. However, the longer she waited in line, the stronger a feeling came over her that she was being watched.
Looking around, she didn’t see them at the tables anymore. When she scanned the food court, she found Elle, Nero, and Amo waiting in line to get a pretzel. They loved the pizza pretzels and always had to get one to take home for later. She noticed Amo glance in her direction, but he wasn’t the one she felt staring at her.
Scanning the other side of the food court, she then saw Maria in a small shoe store with her bodyguard. However, Lucca stood by the shoe store door, watching the passerby’s until his eyes settled on her. Still, his stare wasn’t what brought the feeling that was taking over her body.
With it only getting stronger, she was about to get out of line, when a woman’s voice stopped her. “Will that be all?”
Nodding her head, she handed the sales clerk the suitcase to ring it up then her credit card, wanting to quickly leave. While the cashier charged her card, she looked out the window into the mall and met the eyes her nightmares were made of. Clutching the counter, she kept telling herself frantically she was imagining the face staring back at her.
“Here you go. Thank you. Come again.”
Chloe snapped her eyes back to the woman behind the counter then back to the spot she had seen … He’s not there.
Letting out her breath and trying to control her racing heart, she realized it had just been another figment of her imagination. Lucca is doing this to you.
“T-thanks.” She took her card and suitcase.
Many times, the devil haunted her sleep or even when she was awake. This time, it felt more real than usual. Only one other time had it felt so real, and Lucca had been there. See? It’s just him.
Coming out of the store, she rolled her suitcase behind her as she scanned the mall. She found Amo, Nero, and Elle checking out on one side of the food court, and on the other side, Lucca still guarded the shoe store with Maria.
Taking a step forward, she found herself freezing in place, a horrible feeling rocking through her body.
Stay still, little girl.
Bang. Bang.
Chaos ensued as gunshots rang throughout the air behind her. Screaming people ran as fast as their legs could take them to the exit at the back of the food court.
Nero protected Elle, running toward the exit, while Maria’s bodyguard protected her, also heading toward the exit.
Unable to find her legs, she felt like everything was going in slow motion as people ran past her.
Or it’ll just hurt worse.
“Chloe!” Amo’s voice boomed as he tried to move forward to get to her, but the running people were coming at him, making it impossible.
Her heart thudded once in her ear as she took a step toward Amo.
“Chloe, move,” Lucca demanded from the other side, fighting against the flood of people, trying to reach her.
Her heart thudded again, and she took another step forward, this time toward Lucca.
“This way, Chloe,” Amo pleaded.
“To me, Chloe!” Lucca demanded.
Time stood still before her as she looked at the two men desperately trying to fight their way to her. They both stood equal distances apart from her. Her mind felt pulled to the right toward Amo, yet her body felt pulled to the left toward Lucca.
As she looked at Amo, memories flashed before her …
Smiling proudly, he took his seat. “You thought I wasn’t going to actually sit beside you, didn’t you?”
Chloe’s answer was scooting her chair over to the very edge, though it didn’t give her much more room because he practically took up the whole table.
By his smirk disappearing, she could tell he didn’t like her answer very much …
… When a tray was extended to her, she looked up to see Amo holding it out for her. It was the first time she could see something that almost seemed nice under his rough exterior.
Slowly, she took it from him, having to look away as she did. She had grown almost used to the roughness of him, and seeing him differently for once seemed weird …
… “You know why they’re staring like that, don’t you?”
She looked to the floor. “Because they think I’m a fre—”
“No, you’re not a freak,” Amo snapped. He paused for just an instant before he said, “It’s because they’ve never seen me walk a girl to class before.” …