Beating her to it
1204 Words
Amber's POV
"Stop crying, you will hurt the baby, Amber." My brother tried calming me down.
The clock dinged at 8 pm. It had been seven good hours since Ace had left. Thanks to Brady, my whole life was upended in one day.
I sat up and leaned on my brother for support while wiping away the dried streak of tears from my face. I was exhausted and drained.
Brady's death had undone a lot of things. Now I had to sign my freedom away to this stranger from nowhere. How would the rest of my life be?
In times like these, Tom was my anchor but things had changed. He couldn't protect me from Ace and even if he could I wouldn't let him. This was my mess to clear up.
It all still seemed like a dream to me but it was true. And the sad reality was that although it was my life, I had no say in it. How would I travel back to California with a man I had never known all my life?
With Brady, it had always been one calamity or the other. Even after his death, he still caused me so much pain. Would I ever be free from him? He was a like a plague I couldn't get rid of.
"Stop crying, I have a plan." Tom said, causing me to sit up.
My amber eyes bored into him while I wondered what it was.
"Tom, whatever it is, we can't dare him. He'll-"
"Amber, I can't watch that monster take you all the way to Miami. We don't even know who he is except for the fact that he is one of those spoilt rich brats who think the world should bow at their feet because they have money." Tom shook his head in disapproval.
"There's nothing we can do." I sighed.
"Of course, there is always something to do. We can't sit back and let that brute dictate for us. We need to think of something else."
"Like?"
"We'll run away." Tom said with a tone of finality.
"What? How? Where? What if he left his men to watch us?"
"Just leave that to me. This isn't the time to think. We'll think about that later. We have to leave now." Tom walked into the room.
Ace's warning echoed in my mind. What if they got caught? The last thing I wanted was for Tom to suffer.
"But what if-"
"Hey, take a deep breath or you will ruin the plan. Nothing will happen, I assure you." Tom walked out of the room with a small bag of mine.
"That monster forced you to sign yourself to him when it was obvious that you weren't at fault. I won't sit back and do nothing about it. You've been watching out for me, now it's my time to watch out for you. And if anything happens, I've got this." Tom waved a pepper spray before me.
"Okay." I succumbed.
We walked out of the house and locked the door after us. The cold night wind whipped my hair all over. Wrapping her arms around myself, I let out a sigh into the air. I hoped this plan would work out for the sake of my unborn child.
"We need to walk faster, Amber. It's late." Tom said, taking my hand in his.
We walked down the streets and were just about to hail a cab when a black Lamborghini Aventador SUV intercepted us.
A tall muscular man in chinos pants and a sky blue shirt that clung to his body alighted from the car.
"Look where you're going, man." Tom spoke in anger.
My eyes widened and my lips parted in complete shock when five hefty men trooped out of the car making way for the inevitable.
"No." I moaned.
I didn't have to see who it was before she knew. A familiar darkhead emerged from the car. Even in the dark, I could see the sinister smile twitching on his lips. How could he have known?
"I will take them from here. You can go. Have this." I watched him retrieve a small brown wallet from his pocket and he paid off a driver who seemed some excited to have earned some wads of cash.
Fear gripped me innards as what was happening dawned on me. I and Tom were so invested in running away that we hadn't realised that a driver was keeping tabs on us. This was a big mistake.
I raised my gaze to meet his and in that moment I understood what he meant when he said that I would not be able to run away from him. This man had people eating off his palm.
"Well, well well, look who we have here. Where did you think you were going to?" A sneer graced his face as he approached us, his men following after him in slow strides.
"I won't let you touch my sister. You-"
He snapped his fingers and that was all it took. Two of his men hurried to my side and tried pulling Tom from me.
"I don't have the patience for all these. If you choose to be stubborn, my men won't hesitate to do the needful. Take him away." Ace growled in anger.
"No, no, please let him go. Punish me instead, he isn't at fau-fault." I clasped my hands together in a pleading form.
"It is too late to plead with me. You should have listened to my instructions instead. I warned you and next time, I am sure you'd think twice before disobeying me." Ace pulled me back from going after my brother.
"Did you really think that you could run away from me?" Ace erupted into a peal of harsh laughter.
I backed away from him thinking that he would hurt me but he was faster. It was a habit I learnt since Brady chose to dish out blows each time I dared go against him or refused him s*x. After my second miscarriage, I learnt how to keep mute for my sake and my baby's.
Ace grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.
"The last thing I'd ever do is to give empty threats. You can never run away from me. And if you do, you have nowhere else to run to." His face darkened.
"I should punish you for daring to disobey me but we shall look into that later. For now, we have a flight to catch." His hands tightened around my wrist.
"A flight? You said we wouldn't leave until tomorrow." I whispered in shock.
What was he saying? I heard him clearly when he said we were leaving the next day which was why Tom racked his brain to think of an escape plan. If we knew he would come today, we would never had risked it.
"You see…" Ace took slow strides towards me and paused in his tracks.
He leaned in close and whispered into her ears
"I like to be one step ahead of my enemies. That way, they can't predict my next move. We were never leaving tomorrow. Tonight will be your last night in Miami, Amber."
I gulped hard.
- Writer
