“We don’t have any money. No jobs. No more family either,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Not to mention the fact that we’re still being hunted by Lex. My father.” She shivers. “I don’t think it’ll ever stop. Or that we’ll ever be safe.”
I grab her arms and make her look at me. “I will keep you safe.”
Her cheeks turn red, but her blush is accompanied by a look of worry. “But that’s just it. It forces you to stay vigilant. To fight. And I wanted you to have a chance at a normal life.”
My brow furrows. I never actually thought about it.
“I don’t just want you as a beast. I want the real you too,” she says, placing her hand on my chest.
I shake my head. “That’s impossible as long as they live.”
She averts her eyes, mulling it over.
I know she wants a life in peace, but such a thing is simply impossible in my world.
“What can we do?” she says, sighing. “I mean, if my father came back here, what’s to say Lex and his guards won’t find this house too?”
Her father. That sly bastard will put everything I fought so hard for in jeopardy.
My fist tightens, and I step away from her to grab a shirt from the closet.
She’s right. If I’m going to protect her, I need to be proactive.
Get ahead of them before they make their plans.
“What are you doing?” Aurora asks as I put it on.
“I’m gonna check something out,” I reply, marching out the door.
“Wait, where?” she asks.
“It’s safer if you don’t know.”
I don’t want her to worry.
“Will you come back?”
Her words make me turn to face her. “Always.”
The smile that follows is all I’ll ever need to bring me back to her.
And I hop into the car and drive off.
* * *
Hours later
I drive allthe way back to the one place I’ve dreaded going back to. But I have no other choice. I need to keep an eye out on those bastards to know if my suspicions are true.
With a heavy heart, I drive up to the side of the house, wearing a cap I stole from a local store. If I’m lucky, the guards won’t notice me squatting outside the house. At least not while they’re this busy with an unexpected guest.
I peer through the front window as a van travels up the mansion's driveway. Out pour several guards, along with a man whose hands are tied behind his back and his mouth stuffed with a cloth.
They shove him inside and quickly shut the door, so I gaze through the other window and watch the scene in the living room unfold from the car. Lex doesn’t even bother shutting his blinds before the guards barge inside with none other than Aurora’s father.
I knew that fucker would get himself caught.
My muscles tighten. If I’d just taken care of him myself, he wouldn’t be there running his mouth.