Alex

I don't know if Cole Valdez is still staring at me. All I know is that I really want to get out of the restaurant. Alive.

Enzo gives me a look and stands up. I stand up as well, almost losing my balance for no reasons at all. He finds my hand and intertwines his fingers with mine, not letting me go. I look down as we walk towards the exit. Enzo's words replay in my head.

If I tell you to run, you do it. Without looking back. Do you hear me?

Everything is getting serious, and I don't know how to deal with all of this. I follow Enzo's fast but calm strides and try to act normal. When I glance at his face, his expression is neutral, but his calm behavior is still betrayed by the way he clenches his jaw.

"Talk to me, Alex," Enzo murmurs just as we step outside of the restaurant.

I snap my head towards him, my eyes wide.

"You want me to talk to you right now?" I reply through gritted teeth, trying to keep my shit together. "There's possibly a murderer following us and—"

"Shh." He stops at the corner of the building, turning to face me. He releases my hand and tucks a strand of my hair that fell from my bun behind my ear. "Remember what I told you?"

I furrow my eyebrows but nod.

"Good," he simply says, before he makes his way to the car again.

Confused, I follow him quickly. I'm about to open my mouth to ask what's going on, but I don't need to.

Because right in front of us is standing the man in the black coat. Cole Valdez.

"Go," Enzo murmurs to me before he turns towards his opponent.

I blink, shocked. The man was still in the restaurant when we left! How could he be so fast?

And then I realize what Enzo just said.

He wants me to run.

Okay. I can do that. I think.

I turn around and run like my life depends on it. I run past some stores, past people that look at me either annoyed or confused as to why I'm running like that. I trip almost two times and bump into a woman that glares at me in return.

Everything is a blur. I don't look back once, and I feel proud for listening to Enzo. I did run.

And now, what?

What do I do? Should I keep running? Should I try to find Enzo? Should I just walk into a random store and hide in there?

I decide to do that and enter the first shop I see, glancing over my shoulder. When I look in front of me again, I stop right in my track.

"Alex?" Sasha smiles at me, walking in my direction, a couple of bags hanging from her arms.

I clear my throat and run a hand through my messy bun before I untie it.

"Sasha, what are you doing here?" I say, smiling brightly at her.

What do you think, idiot? She's shopping, living a simple life. Not like you, who are running away from a possible murderer who wants your death for revenge.

She giggles, and for the first time since I know her, this makes me cringe. I want to keep running, away from Cole Valdez, away from Enzo, away from Sasha, away from the reality.

But I can't.

"You always disappear in the middle of the night! Where did you go last night?" Then she pauses with a knowing smile. "You left with that hot guy, didn't you? I saw you—"

I clench my fists unconsciously when I cut her off. "No. I was just... tired."

"Hmm." She purses her lips, not believing me at all.

I roll my eyes and sigh. "Listen Sasha, I really need to go now..."

"Where are you going? You want to—"

"Do you need help, ladies?" a voice behind us asks.

I tense. A shiver runs down my spine, and when I whirl around to look at the man, I take a sharp breath.

Cole blue eyes. A murderous expression, well hidden by a smile. A dark shade of brown for the hair.

How is that possible?

How can Cole Valdez be standing right in front of us... if he was at the restaurant—

Holy shit.

The man from earlier wasn't Cole Valdez. Then who the hell was he? And what happened to Enzo?

I swallow the lump in my throat and try not to freak out. Oops, too late.

Getting closer to Sasha, I shake my head at the man. "We're fine, thank you."

The man tilts his head, still smiling so fakely. "Are you sure?"

Sasha chooses this moment to giggle and flirt, and I've never wanted to kill someone so much.

"Actually, I do need help..." She bites her lip and winks at him, and I almost throw up right here.

"I said that we're fine," I repeat coldly, glaring in Sasha's direction.

She frowns. "But—"

I turn around and start to drag her towards the exit. However, when I see the figure right in front of the door, I know we're trapped.

Again, I turn, tightening my grip on Sasha's arm and make my way in the other direction, towards some clothing racks. I look around, swallowing although my throat is too dry. I have no idea what to do, and now, Sasha might also be in danger.

"You're hurting me, Alex," Sasha mumbles and I release her arm, apologizing without conviction, glancing around me.

"Do you have your phone?" I ask her in hurry, glancing in her direction.

"Yeah, sure." She searches through her purse for a few moments and when I see the panicked look on her face, I know. "Where the hell is it! Oh my God, where is my phone?"

"Hell," I mutter, making my way towards the fitting room. "Come on!"

"But my phone! Alex, you have to help me find it!"

I glance over my shoulder at her while walking, but the next thing I know, I'm being dragged into one of the fitting room, my scream muffled by the hand covering my mouth.

I try to scream again, struggling with the arms around me, but then, his voice stops me.

"Shh, it's me," he murmurs in my ear, and I completely freeze.

Relieved, I let out a sigh and lean against his chest.

Enzo.

He turns me around so I can face him and at that moment, I don't even mind our proximity or his arms around me. His eyes meet mine, and I automatically notice the bruise forming on his cheek.

I shake my head in disbelief, looking him in the eyes again. "Enzo—"

"Don't say anything," he whispers, leaning against the wall behind him, dragging me with him by doing this. "You're okay?"

I nod, frowning. "But Sasha—"

"Jake is helping us with this." He pauses, still murmuring. "My priority is you."

My heart skips a beat and I hope he doesn't notice. I shake my head again, frowning.

"How did you kn—"

Enzo presses his finger to his lips, telling me to stay silent. I bite the inside of my cheek, annoyed. He tilts his head, raising an eyebrow. I let out a small breath, defeated.

A minute later, something makes a small, subtle sound, and I frown when I see Enzo taking out something from his pocket. He looks at his phone—or whatever this object is—and glances at me.

"See these small circles moving around?" Enzo shows me the screen of the phone, and indeed, I can see these.

I narrow my eyes. "Wait. Is that the store?"

"Yes," Enzo whispers. "And these circles represent all Cole Valdez's little friends. We'll need to get out of here without meeting them."

"Jesus," I mutter, swallowing. "Okay."

"Can you trust me?" he asks quietly, holding up his hand for me to take.

I pause, glancing between him and his hand. The question disturbs me because I don't know. Years ago, I would have automatically said yes. Now, I don't know.

But this isn't my choice, anyway. Right now, I must trust him.

So I just place my hand in his, not answering.

We walk out of the fitting room, and Enzo carefully looks around. He glances down at the phone in his hand and quickly starts to walk with my hand in his. We avoid a bunch of people and get closer to the back of the shop. Enzo pushes a door open and makes me enter first. A stairwell.

"I think we're not supposed to be here," I say, following him down the stairs.

"And I'm not supposed to be an agent, and you're not supposed to be in danger," he replies, glancing once in my direction.

And we're not supposed to be together, right now. Life is full of surprise.

We reach an indoor parking. Before I know it, Enzo makes me crouch down behind a car, and I hold my breath. A few seconds pass in silence before he finally looks in my direction.

"Okay. Get in the car," he says quietly, before standing up and walking around the vehicle.

I frown, doing so. I turn my head towards him when he's sitting beside me.

"That's not your car," I state slowly.

"I know." Then, he's driving away.

I let out a breath, shaking my head. "What just happened? And how did you find me?"

Enzo pauses, glancing in my direction. "I put a tracker on you, earlier."

I blink. "Excuse me?"

"Behind your ear. I wanted to be sure to not lose you," he murmurs, focusing on the road ahead.

Swallowing, I try not to reply with something like 'You've already lost me, two years ago.'

I stare at him, not knowing what to say. I finally just change the subject.

"So, if the man from the restaurant wasn't Cole Valdez, who was he?"

"Someone working closely with Valdez." He shakes his head. "We fell right into his trap."

I fell into his trap.

"He probably just wanted to scare you," Enzo adds after a moment, looking at me.

I nod, not replying.

"You managed well, Alex," he says with sincerity in his voice, "but now, I'm convinced that you're not safe. They probably followed us to the restaurant, which means they followed us to your apartment."

My shoulders tense and I look at Enzo. "So you're telling me I can't even go home tonight and be safe?"

He slowly shakes his head, his jaw clenched. "I'm not taking that risk."

Pausing, Enzo takes a deep breath. His eyes lock with mine.

"Stay with me," he declares seriously.

*

Dun dun dunnn.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Make sure to vote to let me know! 💛

Also, I recently made a merch dedicated for SAMB! There's also one that ships worldwide. If you're interested, the links are in my bio. There's a lot of items not related at all to the book, too. :)

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I love you all and I'll see you in the next chapter!

Audrey