VALENTINA
Rose and I would have never made it. It’s not just the cheap motel—well, that’s part of it—but compounded with the scratchy sheets, the constant racket from the other rooms, and the strange odor that comes out of the sink drain every time I brush my teeth…yeah, we wouldn’t have made it on our own.
After all the abuse we suffered through as I sit on the bed with the springs digging into my ass, I’m reminded that I’m spoiled. Even more so under Adrian’s care since I don’t fear bruises on a daily basis with him, at least not any I won’t remember fondly. We’d have fled the house and been back within a week, or at least I might have.
Under threat of death for both my child and me, here I am whining to myself over the crappy motel room and how badly I slept last night. I’m spoiled, and I’m selfish.
I swipe roughly at the tears that seem to constantly fall now and lever off the bed to grab my shoes. The small diner in the parking lot will likely give me food poisoning, but I don’t have anything else to eat. I’ve been researching pregnancy on my phone, and it tells me I need to eat lots of lean proteins and iron to help the baby grow healthy. Somehow, I also need to hunt down a phone charger since I forgot one in my haste to rush out the door. Maybe someone at the diner will let me borrow theirs.
It’s a short walk, but even so, I feel exposed outside the hotel room. My black pants and silk blouse don’t exactly fit in here, and I’m terrified he has people out hunting for me. I’d shoved my hair into a worn baseball cap I’d found in the closet, so I'll likely have lice to deal with after the food poisoning.
I scramble into a booth, and a little old lady in a smeared apron pours a glass of water and waits with an expectant brow for me to order.
Trying to keep things simple, I order eggs and toast. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep them down and save me from having to make another trip here for dinner later. The woman, her name tag reads Sammy, heads back into the kitchen, and I hunch down in the booth with my arms wrapped around my middle. It’s painfully obvious I need a plan, and hiding out in a motel room isn’t going to cut it. I’ve little doubt Adrian will send people after me. If I want to stay alive and keep my baby alive, I need to get out of the city.
The thought of leaving, of him never finding me, rips open some of the realities I haven’t let myself face yet. How can I take care of a baby on my own with barely any money and no job? Once he’s born, how can I look at him every single day and see Adrian in his eyes and not want to go back to him and beg for forgiveness?
The thought of never seeing him again makes me ill, even more so than the tiny person growing inside me. I rub my hand over my belly. It’s still flat of course, but I can imagine it growing and how I’ll feel the closer I get to him being born.
Sammy returns quickly with eggs and toast that don’t look half bad, or maybe I’m too hungry to really care.
After I shovel it down and pay, I head back to the motel room and survey what I’ve got to work with. Not much really. Some clothes, a cell phone, a few pieces of jewelry, and a small wad of cash I found in the bag I’d gathered everything up in.
Nothing of great value and nothing that will tell me how to get myself out of this mess to safety. That’s all I really want…something I miss more than anything. In Adrian’s arms, I felt safe. Like nothing in the world could reach me. Now, all I feel is adrift. My insides feel hollowed out like a melon in summer.
The phone vibrates, the cook calling, and I quickly answer. “Hello.”
“Still alive, I see.”
I snort. “Well, if the lice don’t get me, the food might, so…your day might look up in the end.” I smile at myself. It’s the kind of answer Rose would have given. She was always the strong one. An ache to hold her hand again clenches around my heart. It’s not the same as the pain I feel missing Adrian, though. They both scar my insides in different ways.
“I’m going to meet you tonight and bring you a care package. Something to help you survive until the heat dies down, so you can get out of town.” The fact she’s telling me my plan word for word seems like maybe it’s a tad too predictable. Probably not good.
After another minute of rambling about security at the penthouse, she hangs up, and I clutch the phone to my chest. How did she become my only lifeline right now? Even though she helped me escape and is helping me with supplies, I don’t trust her. I don’t know how I’ll trust anyone for the rest of my life. The thought makes me sad.
I wipe away a new round of tears and lie back on the bed. Suddenly, I’m so exhausted I can’t keep my eyes open.
I wake to a heavy pounding on the door. At first, fear claws at me. Oh, God, he’s found me already.
But then the cook’s surly voice calls through the door. “It’s cold, and I don’t want to stand out here all night.”
I throw the covers off and race to unlock the chain. The second the door is open, she sweeps inside and peers out the ratty curtains. “I don’t think anyone followed me. They all thought I didn’t like you anyway, so…they have no reason to think I’d help you escape.”
I reach out to hug her in thanks, but she holds me off. “I still don’t like you, girl, so back off.”
“Sorry,” I mumble and sit on the edge of the bed. “Thank you for coming.”
She unwinds a gray scarf from her neck and tosses a heavy bundle on the bed beside me. “That’s a few things I took from the kitchen no one will miss, and then a couple of other things I thought you might need.”
I untie the top of the bag and peer inside. Some food I can eat without much fuss, a charging cable (how did she know?), and a heavy black—
“You brought me a gun. Whose is it?”
“No one will miss it. I didn’t take it from the armory at the penthouse, so don’t worry. I’m not an idiot.”
I scowl at it in the bag and then close the top of it, so I don’t have to see it anymore right now. Guns still make my skin crawl.
“Any news, are they all looking for me?”
She nods. “Everyone is out hunting for you right now. All the men who can look are doing so, and your man is stalking back and forth like a caged beast at the penthouse in case you come back there, or someone contacts him about a ransom.”
Guilt bites hard, and I lean over to stifle the pang in my middle. “I hate this. I so hate this. I keep thinking if I go back—”
“He’ll kill you,” she deadpans. “He’ll drag you in the door and murder you right there in the entryway. He doesn’t tolerate any weakness, and you’ve made him vulnerable in a way he’s never been. Hell, he wouldn’t be under watch by the council if it weren’t for you.”
She’s right. Of course she’s right. I have to stay away. In more than just keeping his son safe, I’ll be helping him, protecting him. “Okay. I’ll try to keep moving and head out of town. Maybe in the early morning hours, I can make it to a new motel and just keep jumping until I can catch a ride out for good.”
She nods, her lined face set grimly. “That’s a good start. Just keep moving and use what I gave you there if you feel like you’re in danger. Just be careful, alright?”