Doctor Engel [A Spanish bestseller now in English!]

CHAPTER 13

Little by little we stop our kiss, leaving only our foreheads together, while we try to calm down. He still has his eyes closed, our breaths are agitated. His warm breath hits my face, and I can't help but want to feel his lips again. He swallows and turns away to look me in the eye.

'Natalia,' he whispers.

'Cesar...' I reply in the same way.

Lights come on behind us, interrupting us. We look at the same time trying to find the cause of it, but they are so powerful and blinding that they dazzle us, so that that we can't see where they are coming from. A car starts, the lights move and they come towards us. The car hits our rear bumper hard, causing us to move violently inside the car. Cesar opens his door, and when he is about to leave, the car backs off quickly and leaves. That is when I see it.

'OMG! It's Mario!' I scream, scared. It's the unmistakable car I shared with him.

'Shit, he must have followed us,' says Cesar, looking at me with concern.

Something vibrates in my purse, I open it and I take out my mobile. I have a message. I see the name MARIO on the screen. With trembling hands, I press the button to open it:

"WELL, WELL, WELL, THE BITCH AND THE DOCTOR. NOW THAT I KNOW WHERE YOU HIDE YOU ARE NOT SAFE ANYMORE. GET OUT OF THERE IF YOU DON'T WANT HIM TO DIE TOO."

One, two, three... one, two, three... I try to relax. One, two, three... I don't get it, I feel as if panic is surrounding my whole body, it hugs me like an anaconda and suffocates me.

I don't want Cesar to see me like this. I need to leave this place, I am putting him in danger.

'Calm down,' he says, holding my face. 'What does it say?' he lifts my chin up for me to look at him.

'I need to get out of here!' I shout. 'I have to get out of here, now!' The blood burns in my veins and my heart is out of control.

'Relax, Natalia, let me see your cell phone, I want to see it.'

'No, I don't want you to see anything. We shouldn't have kissed!' I shouted at him. 'He's seen everything. I just want to get out of here. This shouldn't have happened.' His expression is sad.

'Natalia... I'm sorry. It was an impulse... It won't happen again.' There is pain in his eyes and I'm sure that he sees regret in mine. Nerves make me say things I don't want to.

I pull the handle to open the door and go outside. I'm very upset. He tries to stop me, but I'm faster. I run and run as fast as I can to get away from him. To get away from this beautiful, quiet place that I just corrupted with my presence. This is all my fault.

'Natalia!' he calls while I hear him running behind me. I look back and see that he is almost catching me up. I try to increase my speed, but soon he reaches me.

'Let me go!' he takes my arm. 'Let go!' he ignores me and holds me tighter. With an agile movement he pushes me against his chest and surrounds me with his arms. I struggle to free myself, but he is stronger.

'Come on, calm down. Everything will be fine.' His voice is soft. 'Don't give him what he's looking for,' he rests his chin on my head. 'Don't let him get what he wants, or get you into this state.'

'I put you in danger...' I say as I burst into tears on his shoulder.

'It takes more than a mad coward for that,' he says as he strokes my back.

'He says he's going to kill me and you will get my luck if I don't get away,' I feel his arms tighten and squeeze harder.

'No-one is going to hurt you,' he says hoarsely. 'Neither you nor me. I will take care of it.'