Downfall(63)

I let out a breath and slowly shook my head. “I can’t. Not right now. I don’t have time to explain all the reasons why, but it’s better if I go. Better for all of you. Trust me when I say you don’t need the added trouble of having me and Noble around.” I almost whimpered out loud when I saw the other woman tear up a tiny bit. I choked on my next breath and jerked open the car door. “I’m going to try my best to come back… promise.”

She must’ve understood there was deeper meaning to me leaving the perfect guy behind, because she lifted her own crying child into her arms and gave me a sharp nod.

Before I slipped into the car, Solo’s hand shot out and he used his thumb to wipe away the last stray tears rolling down my cheeks. In a tone so soft and low only I could hear him, he growled, “Be careful. Don’t do anything stupid.” He tugged the brim of his hat down so our gazes could no longer meet and cleared his throat roughly. “Drive safe. Keep your eyes open. Take care of yourself and your kid.”

I nodded mutely and got into the car, knowing if I waited any longer, I wouldn’t be able to go.

Noble was still crying and kicking her feet. When I pulled away from the curb, it felt like I was leaving my heart on the sidewalk at Solo’s feet. The shriek of “Mommy!” and the pleas to turn around and go back didn’t stop no matter what I said or how much I reassured Noble everything would be okay. I suddenly realized what it was like when Solo begged me to trust him to take care of everything when I was a hysterical mess. It was hard to hear anything or process any emotion when your heart was breaking into a bunch of painful pieces.

Even though she was throwing the mother of all fits and making my head hurt, I still managed to keep an eye on the road behind me as I started to drive out of town. I was headed out of the city and far away from those gilded gates where the monsters lived. I was probably ten miles into the hasty trip when I caught sight of a black SUV following behind me. It took another five miles for a white SUV to join the black one. A loud rush whooshed between my ears and my palms started to sweat so badly it was hard to keep hold of the steering wheel. Noble must’ve realized I was about to break because she suddenly went quiet in the backseat.

“Mommy,” her small voice was hoarse from screaming. “Look at the train.”

I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw she was pointing in the direction of the train that was chugging down the tracks we were quickly approaching. The gates were already down, which meant both SUVs behind us were going to be on my bumper in no time.

“I see it, sweetheart. Can you count how many cars there are? And what colors do you see?” I wanted to keep her attention off the fact the gates suddenly lifted so I could zoom across them, dangerously close to the engine leading the long line of graffiti-colored cars. I would never normally take such a risk, but right now I had no choice. Luckily, Solo had spent some significant time working on my junker of a car while we were sequestered away in the garage. The old piece of crap was running like a sports car now and had no issue leaving the SUVs in the dust.

As soon as we were literally on the right side of the tracks, I picked up speed and raced up the street and around the corner to the very busy mini-mall where it would be easy for my car to get lost in the crowd.

It was easy enough to spot the expensive Range Rover standing out like a diamond in a collection of rocks. It’d been a good long while since I’d been around a luxury car, and the reminder of how messed up my life was at the moment because of the kind of people who could afford a car that cost as much as a condo made me hesitate momentarily, but there wasn’t time to second guess. Those SUVs had to have made it across the tracks and were no doubt looking everywhere for me.

I shoved open the door, ignoring Noble’s nine-hundred questions about where we were, why we were stopping, and about who the stunningly beautiful woman climbing out of the Range Rover was.

She was several years older than me, but approximately the same height. I wondered how it was possible for anyone to mistake the two of us for the same person. She appeared completely unbothered. The long red wig she was wearing was pretty close to my own auburn locks, but even though we were both dressed in black leggings and oversized hoodies, her pants looked like they were made of skin-tight leather, and there was no mistaking her body was about one-hundred times better than mine under the baggy shirt. Trying to keep my cool, I rushed to pull Noble out of the back seat and hefted the stuffed go-bag Solo had made me pack for the both of us onto my shoulder.

When I was situated, the other woman reached out and snatched Solo’s hat off my head and snapped it on top of her own. She smiled a breathtaking grin at Noble and reached out to tap my daughter’s chin in such a way that made me think she probably had kids of her own. It was a subtle, motherly gesture toward a curious child, and it also calmed some of my rampaging nerves.

The stunner lifted a dark eyebrow in my direction and held out a flawlessly manicured hand with the keys to the Range Rover. “The GPS is already loaded to take you up to the house. Don’t be shocked when you get to the guard house at the base of the mountain. My husband is sort of a freak when it comes to security. The guards know you’re coming, so when you get there, show them your ID and they’ll let you up to the house.” Her grin widened. “The house looks like something you would find in the Swiss Alps, so if you see a massive log cabin that makes you feel like you walked into a ski lodge on accident, you’re in the right place.”