by Marie Carnay
“We’ve already talked about this. Running is the only thing we can do.”
She twisted the black seat belt around her fingers. “I’ve got connections. I can put in a call to the ADA. He’s an asshole, but he’s a good lawyer. He could get you a deal.”
Damien’s hands clenched the steering wheel so hard it let out a crack. “No.”
“He’s not like my father. He always bitched about how my dad handled cases. He’s one of the good guys.”
“There’s no such thing.”
“How can you say that?”
Damien turned to her. His eyes shone with emotion. “There’s no good and there’s no bad. Don’t you see that? Good people do bad things. Bad people do good things. This whole world is one fucked up pool and we’re all just treading water, trying to survive.”
Mia shrank back against the door. “You can’t mean that.”
Damien focused on the road.
“Good and evil exists, Damien. I’m not saying there are perfect people out there, but not everyone is bad. Not everyone crosses the line.”
He didn’t take his eyes from the road. “There is no line, Mia. There’s only what we choose to do in the moment. That’s all that matters. Our choices and whether we can live with them.”
The car slowed and Mia sat up to look out the window. The big blue box of a Wal-Mart swam in front of her blurry eyes. She wiped at them with the grimy hem of her sleeve.
A handful of words and the man beside her had gotten under her skin. She’d always looked at the world in black and white. Good and bad. Not a continuous spectrum of gray. Was that because she’d been sheltered? Because she hadn’t seen the dark inside so many people like Damien had?
He pulled into a parking spot and killed the engine before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a wad of cash. He flicked off a sizable sum and handed it over.
“Go inside and buy some new clothes. Things that are comfortable. Easy to run in. Get anything else you need, too.”
She took the money. “What about you?”
He scanned the parking lot. “I’ll be inside, but I’ve got to scope the lot first. We need a new license plate.” His eyes met hers and their intensity shocked her. The man who cleaned her cuts and scrapes in the shower was gone.
In his place was a murderer with a job to do. “If you see me in the store, don’t acknowledge me. Pretend we don’t know each other. I’ll pull up to the side entrance in exactly one hour. Be ready.”
Mia nodded and reached for the door handle. His hand grabbed her arm.
As she turned around, his lips landed on hers. Hot and insistent and full of emotion. All too soon, he pulled away. “Trust me, Mia. I know what I’m doing.”
She wanted so desperately to believe him. “I’ll be ready in an hour.”
“Be careful.”
She nodded and Damien let her go.
The entire walk into the store made Mia feel like a criminal. Did people know she was on the run? Did they see right through her too-big clothes and ill-fitting shoes to the woman underneath?
The automatic doors opened and she headed straight for a shopping cart and then the women’s section. Jeans. A couple shirts. A sweater. Socks and new sneakers. Everything went into the cart.
She paused at the lingerie. Damien had said anything she needed. She hugged the sweatshirt to her chest. Did lace bras and panties count? Hell, yes. She tossed a few in the cart.
A cross-body purse and a pair of sunglasses and Mia’s chest lost some of its tightness. She was starting to feel real. Add in makeup and a toothbrush, thank God, and she smiled at the cashier as she rang her up.
Damien wanted to drive all day in a car with stolen license plates? No problem now that she had some decent clothes and could look in the mirror without cringing. She thanked the cashier and hustled all of her bags into the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, she emerged a new woman.
They might not be the designer clothes she was used to, but they were a million times better. None of the things her father shoved her way ever made her feel this happy. Not the bank account or the private school or the fancy gala, none of it ever did more than make her angry. Sad.
There had to be a way to stop Marcelo. Mia swung her purse over her shoulder and checked the time. Fifteen minutes.
She could wait at the side entrance and hope Damien fared as well, or she could make something happen. If she could show Damien there were good people in the world, if she could prove it to him and find a way to put Marcelo away…
Maybe they’d have a chance.
They couldn’t run forever. Visions of the future swam before her eyes and she hustled to the rear of the store.
“Hello, can I help you find a new phone today?”
Mia smiled at the young man behind the counter. He couldn’t have been older than nineteen. “Could I look at a smart phone? All my friends say I should get one now that I’ve got a job, but I don’t know.”
He grabbed a phone from the display and held it out. “This is a good one. It’s got all the bells and whistles. GPS, email, video.”
“It can text right?”
“Oh, yeah.” His Adam’s apple bobbed and Mia smiled bigger.
“Do you have it in pink?”
“I…have to check. Can you hold on?”
She nodded. As the clerk stepped over to the cash register, Mia swiped the phone on. She hated to lie to the kid, but desperate times.
Before he could catch her, she typed out a quick message to the only man she knew who could help. If it went through, he’d be on the alert. Maybe he would even come up with a solution.
She hit send and closed the app as the clerk came back.
“I’m sorry, it only comes in black.”
Mia pouted. “Guess I’ll have to keep looking. Thanks!” She smiled again and hustled off.
Whoa. As she hurried through the aisles, her breathing slowed. She wasn’t a virgin liar, but sneaking back into a boarding school bedroom and lying to the headmaster wasn’t in the same league as her current endeavor.
Damien’s words echoed in her head. Could she live with the choices she made since she snuck into her father’s office?
Was she only treading water?
Clutching her purse close to her body, she ran-walked to the side entrance. Damien might not believe in the goodness of people, but Mia still did. Marcelo might not back off on his own, but if she could get the right people involved…
Damien would have to understand. She wasn’t cut out to be a criminal. With any luck, he wouldn’t be one forever.
Mia stepped outside as a sleek black car pulled up to the sidewalk. The passenger door swung open.
“Get in.” Damien’s voice called out from inside and Mia ran up to the car.
She slid into the waiting seat and swung the door shut as Damien hit the accelerator.
Mia buckled the seat belt and glanced around the car. It was new with a push start ignition, leather seats. A set of keys sat in the cup holder. “I thought you needed new license plates.”
He shrugged. “Got those too.”
Mia swallowed. He acted like stealing a car was no big deal. “How’d you do it?”
“When you grow up on the streets you pick up all sorts of survival skills.”
“Theft?”
“Pickpocketing, mostly.” He glanced at her before turning onto the road. “You find everything you need?”
She nodded. Her world just kept getting crazier. “So where to now?”
Damien pointed toward a sign as they merged onto the interstate. “Next town is in a hundred miles. I figure it’s far enough away for the day.”
Mia smiled and turned toward the window. She wanted to tell him about the text and explain that they could stop running. She might even beg him to turn the car around.
The further they ran, the more it looked like they had something to hide. If she could convince Damien to talk to the authorities, she could get him a deal. She could make it all stop.
But if she told him now, he’d probably open the passenger door and push her right out. It didn’t matter that every time she looked at him, she fell a little harder. Damien was a killer. He wouldn’t understand why. He wouldn’t stop to listen.
Mia watched the small town disappear out the window as they drove into the country. Big box stores and warehouses thinned, houses stopped dotting the edge of the road.
Trees and fields took the places of civilization. They were in the middle of nowhere and nothing Mia said would change Damien’s mind.
She glanced at him. All rough edges and hard stares. But she’d seen the real him. The man he hid behind the tattoos and scars. The one who gave more than he took. The one who made her heart flutter and her breath catch.
She would hold her tongue until the time was right, even if it meant having to lie. Damien’s words came back to her and she curled up in the seat. Maybe she was swimming in the middle, right along with everyone else.
14
DAMIEN
He’d ground his teeth for so many miles, his jaw ached. Mia had been a knockout in itty-bitty shorts and a tank top. She’d been gorgeous in second-hand clothes three sizes too big.
But in skin-tight jeans and a T-shirt that clung to her breasts, she was a damn goddess. Falling for her was a terrible mistake. They could never be more than they were right then. A pair of criminals on borrowed time.
It didn’t change the way he burned inside. His heart twisted in his chest when she batted her black lashes. His cock throbbed in his jeans when she propped her toes on the dash. Christ. The woman was temptation served up on a platter.
He wanted to gorge himself on her body, make her come so hard she cried. He wanted…Fuck. He wanted to be the man she needed. A man who deserved her.
It was a fool’s dream.
His knuckles turned white on the wheel. As soon as they turned the car around or Marcelo caught up with them, Mia would see him for what he was. A criminal. A killer.
But as long as their past stayed in the rear view mirror, they could pretend. Mia’s words from that first night still echoed in his brain. She might have grown up with a nice house and fancy cars, but no one had ever given a damn about her.
Damien didn’t have a pot to piss in growing up, but he’d had Melanie. Even at his lowest moments, his sister had been there, trying to protect him. Mia deserved a glimpse of that life. A few days of something better.
He glanced at her as she leaned back in the passenger’s seat. He couldn’t give her diamonds or pearls or fancy dinners. But he could do more than force a moan past her lips.
For the first time since Melanie died, he would try to make a girl smile.
They pulled into the parking lot an hour later and Mia turned to him with a question. “What are we doing?”
“You’ll see.” Damien pushed his door open and shoved the keys in his pocket. As soon as the first sign for the place caught his eye, he knew it would be perfect. He loped around the back of the car and pulled Mia’s door open.
She stepped out with raised eyebrows. “I thought we weren’t stopping until the next town. Do you need a break?”
Damien bit his lip to keep from grinning. “Something like that. Come on.” He laced his fingers through hers and tugged her toward the entrance.
“I’m sure there’s a rest stop or a gas station just down the road.” Mia slowed and Damien pulled on her to keep moving.
“Trust me.”
Five minutes later Damien held two putters and matching golf balls in his hand.
Mia palmed her hip. “You want to go mini-golfing? Right now?”
“Yep. Right now. You need to get your mind off everything that’s happened, I need a break from driving.” He held out the red putter and ball. “What do you say?”
“I think you’re suffering latent effects from a concussion.”
“Take them.”
She hesitated before reaching for the ball and club in his other hand. “If we’re doing this, I’m blue.” She pointed the club at him. “I’ll warn you, I’ve got a mean putt.”
“I’m sure you do.” Damien smiled and watched Mia’s ass sway as she sauntered toward the first hole.
It had been a risk, taking her somewhere so public. But to see her smile? To hear her laugh not tinged with fear or regret? So fucking worth it.
By the fourth hole, Mia got into it. By the tenth, she’d lost the hunted look in her eyes. Now that they were onto the second course, she was practically giddy.
Her eyes shimmered as she lined up her shot. She wiggled her ass at him and he groaned. The woman must beat off men with a stick. There’s no way she hadn’t had a line out the door just trying to score a date with her.
Damien waited until she started her swing. “So why are you single?”
The ball ricocheted off the side wall and whizzed past the hole.
“Hey! That’s not fair!”
He shrugged. “Sorry?”
“No, you’re not.” She elbowed him in the ribs and skipped down to her ball. “To answer your question, I don’t really know. Guys don’t usually approach me.”
“You’re lying.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not. I guess I’m pretty focused at school. I’m about to start my last year, then the bar exam, and a real job. I don’t have time to date.”
“Do you really want to be a lawyer?”
Mia took a swing. She missed and looked up at him with a put-on frown. “To be honest? I don’t know. My parents were lawyers. It’s what I’ve been groomed to be.”
“You’re a grown woman, you can make your own choices.”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand the power my father used to hold. I’m twenty-four years old and until the other night, I was still terrified of disappointing him.”
Damien steeled himself. They were almost the same age. Somehow it hadn’t clicked until then. What different lives they’d led. “He can’t hurt you now.”
“I know. It’s just going to take me a while to get used to it.” She swung the putter and the ball rolled into the hole. “Your turn.”
A little while later, they finished the last course. The sun dipped low on the horizon and Damien checked his watch. Time to go.
Mia excused herself to run to the restroom and Damien jogged to the car. He needed to change the license plate before anyone noticed. The car next to him would do fine.
By the time Mia got back, he was leaning on the hood, waiting for her.
She smiled and the whole world lit up. “Thanks for taking me on a date.”
“It’s not over yet.” Damien reached for her hand. “I was wrong about you.” He smoothed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “When I opened that closet door, all I saw was a spoiled little rich girl. But that’s not who you are.”
Mia stepped forward and slipped her arms around his waist like she belonged there. He swallowed. “You’re sweet and kind and you have this light about you.” His jaw ticked. “I’ll never be the man you deserve.”
“Shh.” She reached up and put her fingers on his lips. “Stop that. Don’t sell yourself short. You could have killed me a million times since that night. You saved me instead. I know you didn’t come here because you needed a break. You came here to make me happy.”
She let her hand rest on his chest. “And I am happy, right here with you.”
“You don’t under—”
“Let me finish.” She frowned at him until he gave in. “I know you think running is the best thing, but what if it’s not? What if we could find a way to fix everything? Marcelo can’t be invincible. We could work together. Bring him down.”
“I can’t put you in danger.”
“It’s my choice to make.”
Damien reached up and took her face in his hands. “No, it’s not. You’re not getting hurt because of me. Not tonight.” His lips landed on hers and Damien couldn’t hold back. He couldn’t pretend to be that nice guy who played games and laughed and le
t the world roll off his shoulders.
He was a killer. A brute. A violent man only kept in check by his sanity and need to survive. Mia didn’t deserve to be tied up with him, but if she weren’t running…he’d take all she could give.
“There’s a hotel at the next exit.”
She looked up into his eyes and all he saw was a future he couldn’t have. Her words hit him like a bullet to the heart. “What are you waiting for?”
The drive to the hotel passed in a blur. Marcelo could have been standing right in front of the entrance, and Damien wouldn’t have noticed. The whole place could have been buzzing with cops or thugs and all he’d have seen was the front desk and the promise of a room upstairs.
The key card ended up in his hand and somehow they found the room. They tumbled inside, arms and legs tangled up together.
He growled as he planted kisses down her neck. “You’re wearing too many clothes.” He grabbed her shirt in fistfuls, tugging it up and over her head before throwing it on the floor.
Damn.
As he stared, Mia shimmied out of her jeans. “Like them?”
She spun around in a slow circle, the black lace of her bra and panties turning the twitch in his dick into a full-on throb. “When did you…”
“Turns out big-box stores have a pretty good selection.”
“Damn straight.” Damien grabbed her by the hips, his fingers running over the skimpy fabric hiding her pussy from view. Mmm. He couldn’t wait to dive in and get lost.
He ran his hands down her hips and thighs, up the middle until she quivered. “Fuck, I love your body.” She arched into him and Damien couldn’t resist.
He had wanted tonight to be gentle. A chance to show her he could be more than a hard man in a cold world. But she broke something free inside him. Something uncontrolled and dangerous.
She made him want. Not just her body or her orgasm. She made him want tomorrow and the day after. A future.
Damien grabbed her bra strap and yanked it down. Her breast bounced, nipple already hard and begging for his touch. He teased her, flicking and twisting the little knob until Mia whimpered and clawed at his shirt.
She could beg him all he wanted, but she’d lose. He wasn’t stopping until she cried out his name. His knees hit the carpet and shoved her panties to the floor.