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I don’t give a fuck who comes, as long as we get going right fucking now.

Whitney crosses the room and grips Dane’s arm. She pulls him down and kisses him hard, then flashes me a small smile before leaving the room.

Tate drives us to the airstrip. I’m in the back seat with Dane, and neither of them speaks the entire drive. The jet is already running on the tarmac when we pull up to the private airstrip. We’re in the air within minutes.

I’m fucking coming, little one.

Chapter Twelve

Laine

The bus smells like diesel and stale air freshener. The man three rows ahead of me has been fucking snoring since Connecticut. I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to. I have to watch everything. They will come after me, it’s only a matter of time.

I grew up in a fucking mansion. I don’t know how to escape a world that is controlled by men into another one that isn’t much better. At least I knew how to survive in the world I left.

But I chose running over staying in a house where the man I love treats me like I’m nothing. I have more dignity than that. And fuck them both.

The city lights of Baltimore appear through the window. I don’t know where I’ll end up, but I have to keep moving for a while to try to throw them off my tracks. I think I have enough cash to survive for a few weeks if I’m careful. The watch will buy me more time after that. I’ll figure it out.

I press my forehead against the window and watch the lights blur past. I’ll get some cheap place to live and find a job where no one knows my last name or what my blood is worth to a table of rich fucks. No more Ravens. No founding family bloodline bullshit. No Rhett.

That last part makes my chest ache, as much as I knew I had to leave. Even if I’m carrying Ryker’s baby right now, which is still a very real possibility. I’ll do this on my own if that’s the case.

I’ve spent my whole life being someone’s daughter, someone’s Dove, someone’s future bride, someone’s good girl. I don’t even know who I am when no man is telling me what to be.

But I can still feel his hand on my throat. I can still hear him calling me his little one. And I hate that the freedom I’m chasing feels emptier than the cage I’m running from.

The bus pulls into the station right at two in the morning. I grab my backpack, and I’m the first one standing because I need to move before the exhaustion catches up with me.

I step off the bus into fluorescent light and cold air, and my legs almost buckle from being still for five hours. The station is half empty. Nothing but rows of chairs and the smell of burnt coffee and exhaust.

Then my body goes cold.

A man is standing twenty feet from the gate. Hands at his sides. Blue eyes locked on me.

My first thought isn’t anger. It’s fear. A Dove who runs from a Raven household gets dragged back in chains. The Council can do whatever they want with me. I knew that was the risk when I ran, but it still seemed like the right thing to do. At least if they take me from Rhett, I won’t have to live a life too close to him.

I scan the station for Talons. They’d be in masks like they are from some horror film. They love to intimidate their prey.

But all I can focus on is Rhett.

The fear turns to rage so fast my hands start shaking.

“How?” It’s the only word I can get out.

“It doesn’t matter how.” His voice is rough and wrecked in a way I’ve never heard. “I’m here.”

“Did you bring Talons? Are they going to drag me back?”

“No, baby. No one is dragging you anywhere.”

“Don’t call me that, and what the fuck are you doing here, Rhett?” I grip the strap of my backpack so hard my fingers go white. “You made it very clear how you feel about me. I’m just fun distraction, a fantastic fuck. So can you just be a decent fucking man and let me run so I can live my own fucking life for a change?”

He flinches. Good. Fuck him.

“So you heard that earlier tonight.” He takes a step toward me. “Every word I said to Ryker was a lie.”

“Don’t.” I step back. “Don’t fucking come near me. And don’t try to lie and manipulate me into coming back with you. That’s done now.”