Chapter 12
My heart threatened to crack my ribs as Caspian and 1 hurried through the parking garage.
His SUV breped twice as he unlocked it, the sound echoing off concrete walls like wanning shots. Every shadow seemed to hide Robert’s sneering face, every || footstep behind us a potential threat,
“We need somewhere safe,” I said, sliding into the passenger
passenger seat. “Somewhere Robert can’t find us.”
Caspian’s jaw tightened as he started the engine. I have a place. Private building, secure access, no connection to me in public records.
The city blurred outside my window, lights smearing like runny makeup.
My phone buzzed again – another text from Robert. I didn’t need to look to know what it said. More threats. More reminders of what awaited me when he found me. And he always found me.
“He won’t touch you again, Caspian said, eyes fixed on the road, knuckles white on the steering wheel. “I promise.”
Empty words from the boy who’d first taught me that promises break as easily as hearts
Yet something in his voice made me want to believe him. Maybe I was just desperate for an ally against the monster who’d haunted my nightmares for six
“There’s something you need to know,” I said, staring straight ahead. “About that night. About why I ran.”
“Sage
“No, let me finish.” The words burned my
my throat like acid
“After I heard you and your friends laughing about the bet, I went home. Robert was waiting. He’d been drinking. Said he’d seen me sneaking in that morning, wearing your jersey. Called me stupid. Said that’s what happens when daddy leaves you fall for any guy who pays attention.”
Caspians breathing changed, becoming heavier, controlled. The muscle in his jaw twitched.
“He tried to… 1 swallowed hard. “I hit him with a lamp. Grabbed what I could and ran. Never went back.“
“Jesus, Sage,” His voice came out ragged.
I went to your house the next day. Saw your things scattered across the lawn. Robert said you’d run away, that it wasn’t the first time. When I tried to get past him, he threatened to call the cops.”
A bitter laugh escaped me. “Of course he did. Couldn’t risk anyone finding out what happened in that house.”
The car turned into an underground garage beneath a sleek high–rise I didn’t recognize. Not Waigns territory. Not in Victoria Palmer’s social orbit.
“Penthouse has its own private elevatur,” Caspian explained as we parked. “Building security doesn’t even have access without authorization.”
As the elevator doors closed behind us, sealing us away from the world, I felt the weight of the past six years pressing down.
Here I was, trapped in a metal box with the man who’d broken my heart, running from the man who’d broken my spirit.
“Victoria showed up at the training center tonight,” Caspian said, breaking the silence. “Threatening to destroy your career if I don’t drop the contract dispute.”
“She came to my office too. I leaned against the elevator wall, suddenly exhausted. “Showed me photos of us together. Said she’d make sure the ethics board.
saw them”
“Fuck.” His fist hit the elevator wall, the sound making me flinch. He noticed, instantly pulling back. “Sorry, I just – I’m done letting them control me
Control us.”
Us. Such a dangerous word. There was no “us” just a shared past, a legal obligation, and an enemy in common
The elevator opened directly into a stunning penthouse all clean lines and nuated colors, flour to ceiling windows revealing Manhattans glittering skyline. Nothing like the Caspian I remembered. No trophies, no team memorabilia, nothing that screamed “NFL star lives here.”
“Guest apartment,” he explained, reading my expression. Tor when I need to disappear.”
Chapter 12
You’re good at that,” I muttered, unable to help myself. “Disappearing.”
His eyes met mine, green as summer leaves. “I looked for you. Sage. For six years. Hired people in every city I played in
“You’re lying.” But even as I said it, doubt crept
t in. Why would he bother? What could he possibly gain from finding me after all this time?
“The bet was real,” he admitted, dropping onto a sleek leather couch. Five hundred dollars to take the valedictorian to prom. But what happened between us that night…” His voice broke. “That wasn’t part of any bet.”
and
“I heard you laughing with your friends, I countered, arms wrapped around myself. “Heard you joking about how I wasn’t that bad under those glasses ar baggy clothes.”
you h
heard what they said, not what I said.” He looked up, eyes burning with intensity.
They were giving me shit, and I was too much of a coward to tell them the truth. That somewhere between study sessions and late–night conversations, I’d fallen for the girl who saw past the jersey to the mess underneath.”
My heart traitorously skipped a beat. “Don’t.”
“I never took that money, Sage. Never claimed it. Because what happened between us was real. Every word. Every touch. Every promise.”
“Promises break.” I whispered, the words barely audible.
“Then let me make a new one.” He stood, approaching slowly
y like I might bolt. “Robert, Victoria, the Warriors- they don’t get to win. Not this time.”
My phone buzzed again. We both looked down at the screen.
Running to v
your quarterback won’t save you, little girl. Some debts can only be paid in blood. Sweet dreams.
Caspians hand closed over mine, warm and solid in a world suddenly shifting beneath my feet. “Stay here tonight. You’ll be safe.”
I should have said no. Should have maintained professional boundaries. Should have remembered that trust was a luxury I couldn’t afford,
Six years ago, I’d run from Robert, from Caspian, from everything I knew.
But Robert had found me. Victoria was threatening me. And now I was caught between the man who’d broken my heart and the man who’d broken my spin with nowhere left to run.
Clearly, Caspian Drake represented the lesser of three evils.”
My heart pounded. For the first time in six years, I wasnt sure I wanted to run.
“One night” I agreed, hating the tremor in my voice. “But this doesn’t change anything between us.”
His smile held no trace of his quarterback charm, just grim determination. “Get some sleep, Sage. Tomorrow, we start fighting back
As he showed me to the guest room, I caught him sending a text. Just two words visible on the screen: “Find him.”
