Chapter Five
“She killed him then ran, we followed her as far as Miami,” Dimitri’s voice was hard.
Dimitri had followed her here. He’d been able to trace her. How?
Cara imagined an all-out search going on for her. How could she have thought she would make it out of this alive? Dimitri had the time, money, and motivation. Of course, he would find her, of course.
One thought niggled its way into the back of her mind. She'd been putting the idea off as unimportant, but now the importance of it struck her… She was only safe with Marco if Marco didn't hand her over to Dimitri. All it would take is one word from Marco and Cara would be dead.
Cara turned and silently jogged down the stairs. She ran to her room, grabbed her bag, and ran out of the house. Cara had taken a tour of the property when she’d first come to the complex. She’d always known that she might need an escape route. She ran along the waterfront. Dimitri would take the main driveway out and she couldn’t risk being seen.
Now where would she go? Where would she be safe? Nowhere.
This had been her only hope for survival. To spend her days next to one of the most powerful dragon shape shifters in the country. Possibly the most powerful man in the country. Now Marco would know all about her, where she’d really come from, what she’d really done.
Cara’s hands shook as she made it past Marco’s private property line. Her heart thumped heavily in her chest. She felt so stupid, had she really thought this was going to work? She had been so naïve. Cara would be lucky if she made to another day.
She took the public bus back to the greyhound station but didn’t go in. She took up a lookout from across the street. At some point she would have to risk it, to go in and get a ticket… it didn’t matter where she went anymore. One place would be as dangerous as the next.
Cara pulled her hat down and pushed her sunglasses onto her face. She was sitting on a stoop that pulled back into a doorway where she could look out without being seen.
“Were you planning on catching a bus out of here or were you just going to sit here all day?”
Cara jumped, her body swinging back against the wall. She looked into the darkness behind her and saw Marco.
"You came for me? You're giving me to him?" Cara felt her chest pump with air, her heart thumps out a deep beat.
Marco looked at Cara for a long time. His eyes were burning a deep gray. He moved toward her then put a hand out to touch her shoulder. Cara looked at the hand then back into his face.
“I’m not taking you to Dimitri and I didn’t tell him anything… yet.” Marco sat down on the stoop and Cara looked at his strong back, perfect shoulders and the line of his neck.
Cara looked out at the road, at a greyhound just pulling out of the station. She could run for it, maybe she would make it to the bus. Would he follow her? Could she afford for him not to? Cara sat down next to Marco.
“You were Stavros Costas’ girlfriend?” Marco’s torso leaned forward onto his knees.
“Yes,” Cara was surprised to hear her own voice so deliberate and open.
“And now he’s dead?”
“Are you asking if I killed him?” Cara looked at Marco and felt her eyes fill. She had no control over herself or her emotions. She was just on display for everyone to witness every thought that passed through her head. “Well, I did. I killed him.”
Marco nodded, not saying anything.
Cara took off her sunglasses and wiped at the tears sliding down her cheeks, “Aren’t you going to ask me about it?”
“Do you want to tell me about it?” Marco’s face looked perfectly untroubled.
The odd thing was that she did want to tell him about it. She’d had everything so bottled up inside of her for more than three weeks and she’d not been able to confide in one person. The nightmares kept her awake, afraid of falling asleep. The horrible memories would come flooding back with one clang of a pan on the stove or the slam of a car door.
Cara took a deep breath and let her body find an even rhythm. She pressed her hands together.
“I don’t know how well you knew Stavros,” Cara looked at Marco but he said nothing. “He was… difficult. Sometimes he was, well, he was almost violent.” Cara had never said those words aloud before. “Not almost… he was violent,” Cara felt her body contract and she looked at Marco but he showed no reaction, just continued to look at her.
“I knew I had to leave him, I just didn’t know how. So, one night he got… the way he gets… and I was stupid, I told him I was leaving, that he couldn’t keep treating me that way and…” Cara remembered the look in Stavros’ eyes when she’d said those words. His face had gone red and Cara watched his skin begin to change, his body, he was going to transform into a dragon and she would be dead. The door was on the other side of Stavros and she’d needed to get out, to get away.
“So, I pushed him,” Cara stared at the space of pavement between her feet. “His head hit marble and the sound… the sound his head made when it hit…” Cara felt as if she was staring down at him again. “The blood pooled out around him, so much blood. He didn’t transform, he didn’t get up, he didn’t hit me, he didn’t even open his eyes. I killed him.” Cara looked at Marco. She noticed for the first time that his hand was on her knee.
"And Dimitri?" Marco asked.
“He walked in to find Stavros dead… and me standing over him. I’m surprised I’ve made it this far alive. He can transform too, only he’s more ruthless than his brother was.”
“So you came here, to me, because I’m the only one who can keep you safe.” Marco wasn’t asking he was stating it as fact.
Cara studied Marco’s set jaw, his strong hands.
“You can stay with me,” Marco turned his face to her, “I won’t tell Dimitri. You’ll be safe.”
“Really?” Cara was beyond surprised. Marco had no reason to help her, to keep her safe. She’d gotten herself into this mess and it would only be natural for him to leave her to herself.
“Come on,” He stood. “Let’s go back—you have a party to plan.” He smiled and Cara felt a lurching sensation in her body. The feeling scared her, this man may be protecting her but he was not hers, he didn’t love her. She had to remember that—as soon as he could get his hands on another woman he would.