First, we heard the breaking door. Then, I heard the unmistakeable voice of my father.

“Fuck! It’s my father!” I whispered to Dante, breaking free from his embrace.

“Stay here!” Dante ordered, heading towards the door.

“No!” I cried, moving for the door myself.

“Yes, Gabby!” he said, blocking my way. His eyes flashed with concern and stubbornness. “Just fucking please do as I say, will you? Stay here until I know everything is safe. We don’t know what the fuck is going on out there, just wait!”

“I’m so fucking tired of you telling me to wait! It’s my father! I can fucking handle him. He’s not going to hurt me!” I moved around him, heading for the door.

We both jumped at the sound of a gun firing. Dante threw me to the ground, landing on top of me, the bed shielding us from the door. He pulled his gun out from his pants and kissed me hard.

“Fucking stay here, goddammit! I won’t take no for an answer!” he demanded, his voice hard and determined.

“Alright, shit!” I whispered, my heart pounding. He disappeared and I stayed laying on the ground, listening to the raised voices in the other room. I could make out my father’s voice, and Bella’s screaming, and what sounded like another woman’s voice, but I couldn’t understand anything anyone was saying.

This was all my fault. All of it.

If only I’d never walked into Otto’s, none of this would be happening. Dante wouldn’t be throwing himself in the face of danger yet again for me. My father wouldn’t be all the way in the middle of nowhere looking for me, putting his freedom in danger.

There wouldn’t be two dead bikers in the morgue.

I’d done all of this, and for what? To get laid? What kind of woman was I? Who had I become?

Tears of frustration began running down my face. I was so sick of all of this. I was so tired of being a Loprinzi. I wanted to just run away, but I had no idea where to go.

My eyes landed on the open window next to Dante’s bed and goosebumps ran down my spine.

Dante’s truck was right outside this open window, just waiting for me to start it up. And the world was right down the road, just waiting for me to disappear into it, to leave everything I had ever known behind.

A new life.

A fresh start.

I crawled out of the window, heading for the truck as my thoughts raced through my mind. All I had to do was start up the truck and be on my way.

I could vanish into thin air.

I could leave behind the Loprinzi name.

Leave behind my father and everything that came with his fucked up legacy.

Leave behind everything I’d ever known about who I was and where I came from.

Leave behind Dante.

All of that sounded very tempting, except that very last part.

How could I leave him behind when I’d just found him? I’d just have to figure it all out some other time.

The urge to flee was so strong, I couldn’t resist. I still had the keys in my pocket. I ran to the truck and flung open the door and climbed in.

The key slid into the ignition easily, my heart beating a mile a minute. Dante’s face haunted my thoughts.

I’d gotten him into this and now I was just going to leave him when everything blew up?

Tears of confusion began drifting down my face and I placed my head on the steering wheel.

What did I owe him? My life? He’d saved me so many times. I never imagined for a minute the person that I’d thought about, fantasized about, wished so many times that I could have just one moment to thank, would actually walk back into my life.

Everything seemed like one big mistake, and yet at the same time, it was almost like it was just a cruel twist of fate. Dante was meant to be in my life. He wouldn’t have been thrown in my path again if that wasn’t true. I had to accept that.

There was no other explanation.

And if I left him now, what did that make me?

A coward. And a fool.

A big, ungrateful fool.

“I can’t do this,” I muttered, lifting my head and wiping the tears from my cheeks. I pulled the key from the ignition and jumped out of the truck. I shoved the keys back in my pocket and turned to go back inside. I’d just crawl back in the window and wait like Dante had begged me to do.

I reached the window and was just about to heave myself up to jump back in when I felt the barrel of a gun push into my temple.

“Don’t make a sound.”