CHAPTER 14: THE CHOICES WE MAKE

Clara dropped the gun instantly, the heavy metal clattering loudly against the concrete floor.

She ran forward, catching Julian just as his knees buckled entirely.

He was bleeding heavily from a deep wound in his side, his dark suit jacket soaked entirely through.

“I got them,” Julian rasped, leaning heavily against her shoulder as she dragged him toward the SUV. “It’s over.”

“You need a hospital, Julian,” Clara panicked, pressing her hand desperately against his bleeding side.

“I need you to drive,” Julian corrected weakly, his eyes rolling back slightly. “To the safehouse.”

Clara shoved him into the passenger seat, ignoring the sticky, warm blood covering her own hands.

She jumped into the driver’s seat, hit the ignition, and slammed her foot onto the gas pedal.

The massive garage doors opened automatically, revealing the quiet, dark streets of Chicago.

For the first time in days, there were no guards, no locked doors, and absolutely no fences trapping her.

She was behind the wheel, completely free to drive away from the violence and the madness.

She could drop Julian at the emergency room and vanish into the night forever.

What would you choose—a safe, normal life, or a dangerous future tied to a broken, violent man?

Julian looked over at her, his breathing shallow and ragged in the quiet car.

“You can keep driving, Clara,” Julian whispered, reading her mind completely. “Take Leo. I’ll make sure you have enough money to disappear.”

Clara gripped the steering wheel so hard her hands went completely numb.

She looked in the rearview mirror and saw little Leo sleeping peacefully in the back seat.

Then she looked at Julian, the terrifying, ruthless monster who had just sacrificed everything to keep them breathing.

“Shut up and put pressure on that wound,” Clara snapped, turning the wheel sharply toward the safehouse coordinates he had taught her.

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