She dropped her keys in a puddle and scraped her knuckles against the pavement when she bent to pick them up. After she managed to get her door unlocked, Ellie collapsed into the driver’s seat. She knew she needed to go but wasn’t ready for the ball to be over. She wiped her eyes, started the engine, and pulled onto the road. Her wipers thumped back and forth at full speed, but Ellie struggled to see more than a few yards ahead.
The storm pummeled her car, the wind rocking the vehicle while the rain fell in straight lines, exploding across her windshield. Her breath caught in her chest and her fingers and lips started to tingle while blood mixed with the water that dripped from her hand to her knee.
Gone. It was all gone. She’d had it all and lost it in the time it took to speak two little words. The breath from between her very lips the tempest that annihilated her house of cards.
Between her tears and the rain, Ellie couldn’t see a thing. She knew she should pull over and wait out the storm, but she needed as much distance separating her from James as she could possibly manage. She dreaded seeing her apartment again. So small and cold. Fear tucked into the corners, little memories of Ben lurking in the dark, pointing and laughing at her.
Ellie swerved around a corner, her hands slick on the steering wheel and her foot heavy on the gas. She looked in the mirror and saw a pair of headlights in the distance. They seemed to be gaining on her a little too fast. She tapped her breaks and turned on her emergency blinkers and still the car barreled toward her. As the lights grew larger in the mirror, she panicked and stepped on the gas, electricity shooting through her veins.
And still the car gained on her.
Ellie was spending more time looking in the rearview than she did out the windshield. More time trying to understand what was happening behind her than she did paying attention to what was in front of her. She rocketed through a stop sign, but when she glanced in the mirror she saw her pursuer do the same.
Still gaining.
She passed her apartment and flew down the road leading away from Bliss. The car behind her closed the gap. And then, as if in slow motion, she watched it get too close. Realized it still wasn’t slowing down. And then, in a screeching howl of metal against metal, the car slammed into her. Ellie fishtailed out of control.
And the world on the other side of her windshield veered and then spun and flipped itself head over tails…
…over head…
…over tails.
Something hard slammed into her face, and something even harder hit the side of her head.
She screamed as light flared.
And then darkness.
Chapter Thirty-Four
James
The front door slammed, and James knew Ellie was gone. He watched through the window as she ran from Ian’s house. Betrayal and disappointment surged in his chest while a hollow ache settled into his stomach.
Just like that, she was gone.
And he had a feeling he’d never see her again.
The woman carrying his unborn child—the family he’d always wanted was slipping through his fingers.
He dropped his beer onto the table and ran after her, pushing through the crowd that had gathered behind him to watch the show. He burst through the front door in time to see Ellie drop her keys.
He called after her, but the wind ate his words. And before he could reach her car, she pulled away, her tires struggling for traction in the deluge.
As he turned to go back inside, the headlights from a car parked at the end of the drive flared to life, then pulled onto the road and squealed off after her. James’ blood ran cold. Nothing was wrong with what happened and yet, it seemed more than ominous.
Ellie was in danger and James knew it, every instinct in his body on fire.
He had to find her.
Had to save her.
“Ian!” James burst through the door, screaming for his brother. “I need your keys!” James held out his hand, water rolling down his face.
“What happened?”
“There’s no time! Give me your damn keys!” James shook his hand in exasperation while Ian grabbed his keys off the table near the door.
Ellie would likely go to her apartment. She’d need to pack her things before she could disappear, and she’d probably chalk up the stuff she had at his house as a loss.
And as angry as he was, he couldn’t let her do that. He couldn’t go back to his empty life, without purpose or necessity. He wanted Ellie with him. At his side for the rest of his years, and if she had his baby in her belly…?
If there was a chance they could be a family…?
His need to protect her surged, churning with the adrenaline flowing through his veins. He climbed in his brother’s truck and barreled through the rain toward Ellie’s apartment. He finally caught up to a pair of tail lights gleaming red through the storm. If he squinted, he thought he saw Ellie’s car in the distance, recklessly blowing through stop signs. Worry clenched his heart, but when the car between them didn’t stop either, anger joined the fray.
Ellie was in danger.
If only he’d been more understanding when she told him. If only he’d pulled her into his arms and told her how much he’d always wanted to have a family instead of losing control and letting his emotions rule. But there was no time for regret. As he watched Ellie fly past her apartment, he knew she’d realized she was in trouble.
James slammed his foot down on the gas pedal. His brother’s supercharged engine growled in agreement, sending the truck surging forward, a predator toward prey.
His heart froze when he saw the car in front of him slam into Ellie. She swerved, and in
