I smile weakly. “I wish I could agree with you, but you still haven’t heard the worst part.”
“What is it?” he frowns.
“Well, to put it simply, it’s still happening. I can never get away from her. I’ve tried, God, believe me, I have tried. But she’s always one step behind me, waiting for me to screw up somehow.”
I slump my shoulders and rub my exhausted eyes.
“What do you mean?” he asks in disbelief. “She’s still stalking you… that’s who you’ve been running from?”
“Yes,” I reply. “She’ll never stop. I’ve learned that the hard way.”
“The fire?” he asks. “Was that her too?”
“Yes.” I nod. “After my Dad died, she disappeared for a while. I thought foolishly that everything would be okay, somehow. He left all his life insurance and estate to me, so I didn’t have to worry about money. I was still living in my childhood home, and things were sad… but there was finally peace. And then one night, she came back. She was having a complete psychotic break when she confronted me. She blamed me for my father’s death, and for making him hate her. She started pulling her usual shit, calling me names, putting me down, expecting me to cower or run like I always did. But I was just so fucking sick of it. So I stood up for myself.”
I laugh as I recall my foolish bravery. “I don’t know what I was thinking because I didn’t stand a chance against her. I tried to hit her, and she snapped. The next thing I knew she was on top of me, beating me unconscious. I swear the woman is superhuman when she’s having an episode, it’s like nothing can stop her.”
Gabriel grunts from beneath me. “I’m sure a fucking bullet to the head might.”
“Well, when I woke up that night, I smelled gasoline. And it took me a minute to realize it was all over me. The house was on fire. I don’t know how I made it out of there, but I did. I spent the next couple days in the hospital, and Eleanore had already skipped town, so they didn’t catch her. But the day I got out, she called me. She told me it wasn’t over, and I knew she meant it. She was never going to stop.”
“One of my Dad’s friends, Officer Wright, came to visit me in the hospital after the investigation. He was the one who broke the news to me that she’d got away. And then he gave me some advice. He told me to leave town, and he said he would help me. He told me how to stay under the radar, paying cash for everything and never using my real name, ever. He said hopefully, after a few years, Eleanore might forget all about me. But I think we both knew it wasn’t true.”
Gabriel interrupts me with a stone-faced expression. “What about your other relatives? Surely they would have taken you in?”
“I had some Aunts and Uncles, but I never really knew them. They didn’t live in the same state, and they never reached out to me, even after Dad’s funeral. My paternal grandparents were both dead, and my mother’s parents were in Italy somewhere. I’ve never even met them.”
He nods in understanding, allowing me to continue.
“So Officer Wright helped me get out of town. He drove me four hours to a bus station and tried to prepare me mentally for what I needed to do. But it was a lot harder than I thought, and I had to toughen up, real quick.”
“So that morning you crashed into me, in front of Maddox Corp…”
“I thought I saw her,” I say quietly.
“Seriously?” he groans. “And I was such an asshole to you.”
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “I’m glad I ran into you.”
“I am too,” he states firmly. “And I’m not going to let you keep living this way, Victoria. I can protect you.”
“No.” I shake my head, my voice cracking. “You can’t. I won’t let you get involved in this. That’s what everyone always used to tell me and my Dad. They always thought there was a simple solution, but there isn’t. Eleanore is dangerous. She will hurt anyone to get to me, including you. And I could never live with myself if that happened. This is the only way, Gabriel. I will have to leave New York soon, and I will have to say goodbye to you.”