Page 14 of Run

Four

Giovanna

I’d goneto the bar expecting the usual night of serving drinks, fending off advances, and smiling to collect tips. And the night had ended my life as I currently knew it and brought back the one I had so desperately tried to leave behind.

It was hard to believe, but absolutely everything had changed.

Well, not everything.

I still loved Vincent as much as I ever had. I hadn’t needed a reminder of that, not really, but I’d gotten one all the same. Seeing him again, feeling those feelings, I wondered how I’d managed to leave him at all. Because it had taken everything I had not to throw myself into his arms.

The temptation to stay with him had been almost irresistible.

Thank God for well-timed interruptions.

Tony was Gage’s second, decent enough as far as guys like him went. He pretty much left me alone, probably due to the fact that he was busy plotting against Gage. Outside of general amusement, I didn’t care about that at all. If Gage was too blind to see something so obvious, it definitely wouldn’t be a concern of mine.

But Tony’s presence, while a blessing that had allowed me to leave before I did something stupid like tell Vincent how much I’d missed him, opened other possibilities.

I’d had no doubt that Tony, maybe a couple of the others, had noticed Vincent, and had been somewhat surprised when they hadn’t cornered him in the bar. So maybe Tony’s little visit hadn’t been for my benefit.

I tried to look at it from the outside, imagine how someone might have seen Vincent and me. Me alternating between glaring and frowning. Him looking like he wanted to rip the building apart brick by brick.

I didn’t doubt how it might have looked. I knew what Vincent looked like he was capable of, knew what he was actually capable of, but never, at any point, had I feared for my safety. Not even once.

Yeah, when he’d told me I would do his bidding, there had been a moment of concern, but not for my physical safety. Vincent was a man of his word, and I didn’t doubt it for a moment when he said he would carry me out of the alley.

That wasn’t what worried me. What worried me was the fact he probably wouldn’t have to.

All the years apart, the reasons that I had left, the reasons that I could never go back. They were all there. Yet, what was also still there was the connection between us. My need to be with him, see him happy, even if it was to my own detriment.

He would laugh in my face if I told him that, would say that I was a liar, selfish. His eyes had already said as much in those few moments that we were together, but I knew the truth. I’d loved Vincent with my entire heart, would have done anything for him. After tonight, I suspected I still would. Which was why I’d had to leave.

Doing so had probably hurt him, made him think that I was rejecting him and not leaving for his good and mine. As if I’d had a choice.

Now that he was on my tail, I’d have to figure out a way to keep moving, make it so he couldn’t find me. Because Vincent was determined.

But I wasn’t there to explain that to him, probably wouldn’t be able to explain it to him. I hoped my read on Tony was right. He seemed smart enough, more cautious than the others, and I hoped those qualities kept him from tangling with Vincent. Because doing so wouldn’t end well for him.

I frowned at the thought, tried to remind myself that Tony could take care of himself and that I had no reason to worry about Vincent. In fact, I needed to be worried about myself.

It was the dead of night, and I didn’t know where I was going to go, so I needed to figure stuff out.

Because in this night of surprises and uncertainties, one thing was clear. Vincent was on my tail, and he wouldn’t stop until he found me.

And if I wanted to keep my heart intact, I could never let that happen.

Giovanna

It was late, and there wasn’t much traffic, which had me on edge. I would have loved a car or a ride, but since that wasn’t to be, I kept walking, getting closer to the city center. I hadn’t figured out exactly how I would get out West, so I needed to get somewhere so I could rest and think.

About fifteen minutes after I’d left the bar, I sensed someone looking at me, and when I looked over my shoulder, I saw a black sedan pulling up beside me slowly.

The windows were tinted, but I recognized the car. That creeping dread that had only barely begun to fade came back full force, and I cringed in time with my rapidly beating heart. It was Gage, or one of his men, so I kept walking, hoping that maybe the car would pass me by.

No such luck, not that I had really expected it.

The car pulled to a stop beside me and I stopped as well, that dread intensifying even more than it had been before. But the best way to handle Gage and guys like him was to not show them I was afraid, so I stood still, looked in the passenger-side window as it was slowly lowered.