His Love, My Choice (Book 2) [Completed] - book 1 on Inkitt dot com

Chapter 3 - Laera

"Get in."

My mind was a jumbled mess. I wasn't exactly huge as my baby bump had only really become noticeable at month five, but I wasn't small either. There was no way that I'd get very far if I made a run for it. I could only see Max, but the SUVs out front undoubtedly held more.

Turning my head, I looked at the door that I'd just come through. Was it already locked?  But going back inside would put everyone in there at risk. I wasn't going to do that.

"Laera?" Max said softly.

Hearing that name was jarring. I hadn't heard it in so long.

Now the tears that had been just hovering at the surface spilled over. In a of couple minutes, I'd be sobbing.

"Please. I can't go back there." With my purse in my hand, I used both arms to cradle my belly.

Something shifted in that moment. I could see it flitter across Max's face. His whole demeanor changed. Leaning forward slightly, he turned his palms over, so they faced me with his fingers spread apart.

I didn't think that he was going to harm me. In fact, it looked as if he was trying to communicate the exact opposite.

"He just wants to talk. I promise that I'll take you to wherever you want to go afterwards. Just hear him out."

I couldn't hear anything in that alleyway. Even the noise from the street had quieted down. I was listening to my own heartbeat pulsating in my ears.

Max took a step back and opened the rear door leading to the back seat.

Watching him closely, I took a couple of tentative steps towards the vehicle.

Was I really going to do this? What if it was a trap and he didn't keep his word?

I was trying to keep my thoughts from overwhelming me in that moment, but it was getting harder.

Even if I couldn't trust the words coming out of Max's mouth, I knew that I would put up one hell of a fight if they tried to abduct me. I wasn't the same woman from six months ago. And I'd already made up my mind to stop running. This would be a test to see whether my resolve could help me overcome my circumstances.

And besides, Max was such a man of few words that I couldn't imagine that he'd waste them on making a promise that he didn't intend to keep. I mean, he didn't have to make me any promises. Physically, I would've been at a great disadvantage if he'd used force.

This internal dialogue gave me what I needed to climb into the back of the SUV.

As I sat back in the seat, I was too thankful that no one else was in the vehicle. I didn't know where I was being taken, but at least I'd have some time to prepare myself for whatever conversation was about to take place between myself and Liam King.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that when Max leaned his giant frame across me to fasten my seatbelt, I very nearly jumped out of my skin.

Managing to tether me to the seat without laying a finger on me still had me completely shook. I almost forgot my manners, but then hesitantly said those two words.

"Thank you."

Not surprisingly, he didn't respond.

When we finally pulled up in front of a large set of black, wrought iron gates, I was thankful that Max hadn't said a word to me throughout the drive.

I hadn't seen how Max had gotten the gates to open, but we pulled through them with ease past an unmanned guard station. I noticed some cameras atop tall polls, and there was so much foliage that there was no way that anyone could see onto the property from outside the gates.