"Are they...are they the same ones from the club?"
"Most likely."
"And they know it's you."
He didn't answer that.
He took a sharp turn, the force throwing me against the door. I grabbed thr handle instinctively, heart climbing into my throat as another car joined the chase from the side.
"How many?" I asked.
"At least three."
My pulse spiked. "Zane."
"Elaine."
"I'm mot playing this game with you right now."
A chuckle escaped him, sharp and humorless.."
The car behind us surged closer. I heard the crack of something…..gunfire….and ducked instinctively as a bullet shattered a rear window.
Glass sprayed into the backseat.
I screamed.
Zane swore, yanking the wheel as we sped onto a narrower road, buildings closing in on both sides. He drov like he knew these streets intimately, like he'd memorized escape routes in his braib
I clutched the gun in my lap, fingers numb.
"What do I do?" I asked, my voice barely holding together now.
"Nothing," he said. "You just stay down."
Another shot rang out, this one closer.
"I didn't sign up for this," I said, panic finally seeping into my words.
"I know."
"You said no replacements," I went on, my voice shaking. "You said you wanted Ivy." I know i was rambling but I didn't know what else to do, I do that when I am tensed, ramble that is.
He cut the wheel hard, narrowly missing a movinf car. "This isn't about that anymore."
"What is it about then?"
Surprisingly, he answered.
"Control," he said. "And the fact that someone thinks they can take it from me."
The SUV behind us tried to overtake. Zane accelerated again, the engine screaming as we tore dow the road.
I pressed myself lower in the seat, fear crawling under my skin, sharp and real and unforgiving.
So this is his world, I thought
This.
Speed. Violence. Survival.
And I was in it now, whether I wanted to be or not.
Zane glanced at me briefly, his jaw tight, eyes locked on the road.
"You still want me to drop you off?" he asked.
I swallowed hard, staring at the headlights bearing down on us.
"Yes," I said even though I didn't know how he could possibly do that now in this situation. "But not like this, I don't want anyone tracking me home."
His grip tightened on the steering wheel.
"Then hold on and buckle up." he said.
And the city blurred inty streaks of light as the chase truly began.
The chase didn't slow. Uf anything, it tightened.
The SUV behind us swerved into the next lane, headlights glaring so close I could see the crack in its windshield. Another car flanked us from the left, too near, metal almost kissing metal. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was trying to escape my chest.
"Zane," I said, my voice thin. "They're boxing us in."
"I know," he said calmly, hands steady on the wheel.
Calm like this was familiar. Like chaos was just another variable to manage.
A gunshot rang out. Then another.
The back window shattered completely this time, glass spraying forward. I screamed and ducked instinctively, curling into myself as shards skittered across the seat.
"Elaine," Zane snapped. "Stay with me! Fuck"