“Did you get some sleep?” I ask, trying to play it cool.
“No, I’ll sleep while you drive.” she shrugs. “That way, if you’re too tired to drive tomorrow, I can.”
I nod. It makes sense. Logic, I can deal with. We pack our things and wait for dinner. She’s ordered us toasted sandwiches, and I scarf mine down with a soda from the minibar.
She seems too quiet, and I sigh. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” she says quietly. “We’ve both made our decision.”
I nod. “We can still be amicable, try and make the most of what we’ve been given.”
She nods. “I will, just… stop looking at me like I’m a piece of meat.”
I fluster slightly but nod. “Okay.”
We finish our food and take our luggage down to check out. Once I’ve paid the bill cash, I walk her to where I parked the car the night before. We load the luggage, and I slide into the driver's seat. I check around us and drive out, driving to the freeway where there is almost no traffic this late. We pass a car every now and then, but mostly it’s just us on this long road.
She does as she promises. She props her head up on a travel pillow and falls asleep, snoring slightly because of the angle she is lying at.
My mind is exploding with doubt, wondering if I should have been more forceful, if I should have begged. If I have made a terrible mistake by marrying her.
The thoughts keep me awake, along with the bright truck headlights that pass me by now and then. One comforting thing about driving at night is that it’s easy to tell if you’re being tailed.
I’m alert to any cars that come up behind me, and I move onto the shoulder of the road so they can overtake me. I don’t want to come off as suspicious, and through the night, there’s no one that stays behind me or seems determined to tail me.
I stop at a gas station and shake Amelia lightly. “Do you want to stretch your legs and grab some snacks while I put in gas?”
She nods sleepily, and I hand her some cash. I go to the pump and fill the car, keeping a wary eye and looking around for any suspicious activity.
I think we may just have made it out of New York without detection.
Alessandro has mentioned that some of Jose’s men have been outside my place and his and that they follow some of our people around as though hoping they’ll be led to where Amelia and I are. So maybe we got lucky, and we got out right on time.
I finish pumping the gas and go inside to pay. Amelia is at the counter chatting to the cashier about interesting things to see along the highway.
“Yeah, you’ll find many of these cute little towns along the way which have an attraction of their own. It’s to generate business,” he says as he rings up her snacks.
I come up behind her and raise an eyebrow at her.
She falters slightly and pays for her goods. “Thanks so much for the advice.”
“Have fun in Pennsylvania,” he calls.
My blood boils, and I pay for the gas quickly. I wait until we’re back on the road before I round on her, “This is why I didn’t tell you where we’re headed and why I won’t be giving you any more information.”
She looks at me wide-eyed. “He’s just a cashier.”
“Jose has men all over the country. You can’t trust anyone,” I raise my voice slightly. “Don’t be a naive little girl, Amelia, because you will get us both killed.”
She huffs and turns her back to me, hugging her travel pillow.
I stare straight ahead, wondering what to do next.
Chapter 23 - Amelia
After we stop at the gas station, I close my eyes but can’t sleep. All I can think about is what has happened between Frankie and me the last two nights. He was so emotional, passionate, and determined that it’s making me question everything. I mean, does he really love me? Did he mean what he said about me being his again?
A part of me ignited on fire when he said those words, and I wanted to walk to him and kiss him like my life depended on it. It’s all I wanted since we broke up: a chance to be together again. To be something, because we belong to each other, I can feel it. But there’s still that little voice inside me that reminds me about the heartbreak he put me through. He left me. He left me, and I barely survived. I drank myself into oblivion and tried to party away my feelings, but every night, no matter how drunk I was, I would cry for him. I don’t understand how he could leave me so coldly then and want me so passionately now.