Garden of Roses ✔️

Chapter 39

Zara

My decision to leave was quick, maybe a little too quick. But I had to do it. I had no other choice. Staying there wasn't an option anymore.

As we were leaving, my heart pounded so hard I could hear it. I prayed to God that everybody would still be too busy to even pay attention and notice us leaving. I know Dante said that we were free to leave whenever we wanted, but I'm sure if he knew I was leaving right now, he would stop me. He wouldn't let me go just like that, not after what happened.

The look on his face when he figured it out is permanently imprinted in my brain. His words are still echoing in my mind.

Aren't you supposed to be dead?

I know he was hurt. He felt betrayed. Hell, I did betray him by not saying anything sooner and keeping him in the dark. I understand what my secret did to him. That sentence is still haunting me, repeating itself in my head over and over and over again.

Did he really wish I was dead? After all the time we spent together, I knew he wouldn't react well to finding out the truth, but I had a sliver of hope that he would be glad that I was there. Despite everything, I thought... I hoped that he would try to understand. But he couldn't. Not that I could blame him anyway. Why would he understand? I was the one who lied to him, not the other way around.

We manage to leave the estate without being noticed. At first, we have some trouble orienting since we never knew exactly where we were and in what direction was our home. Thankfully, the car itself helped with GPS, and we were soon on our way.

I know taking one of Dante's cars wasn't exactly the best idea since he could track it without any problem, but it was our only option. We couldn't go anywhere on foot. And let's be honest, even if he couldn't track the car, it was pretty obvious that we were going back to Venice. Where else would we go? I just hoped that he would be occupied enough or hate me enough at the moment that he wouldn't chase after us.

I'm not driving long before Alex takes over, stepping on the gas pedal as if his life depends on it while I flop down on the passenger seat, suddenly feeling extremely exhausted. Until this very moment, I felt completely awake and alert, my heart pumping like crazy. As soon as I sit down in the passenger seat and buckle up my seatbelt, I feel my body starting to shake.

I'm sleep-deprived and I've participated in several physical fights just a couple of hours ago. Now that adrenalin isn't coursing through my body anymore, I start to shake and feel the pain in almost every part of my body. I haven't used my muscles so intensely in a long time, and the strain I put on them last night is just now becoming apparent.

My abdomen feels like it was used as a punching bag, and every move that I make feels like I am being stung by a needle. The skin on my arms, legs, and neck displays dozens of small cuts. Some of them deeper than the others, and everything hurts.

"Jesus, are you okay?" Alex asks me, his eyes flying between the road and my trembling body. "Do you want me to turn up the heat?"

I open my mouth slightly. Feeling my teeth chatter, I close them back up and just nod my head. Gabi was knocked out cold at the back, but Bianca heard our conversation. She pulls an oversized white hoodie out of her backpack and drops it in my lap. "Here, take this."

"Thanks," I say as I pull the hoodie over my head and wrap my arms around my body to warm up as quickly as possible. After about half an hour, I finally stop feeling cold. My body is still shaking slightly, although it isn't from the cold anymore. It just needs some rest.