UPTIGHT (mgk mafia au)

🌸 12 🌸

"Did you tell Diablo?" Clara asked after almost two hours of silence.

"Yes. I never wanted to. I would never try to hurt you or Colson or Dominic or anyone. He held a gun to my head and he threatened my family and Dominic. They wouldn't have had a warning. I'm so sorry Clara. I know you won't trust me after that but I promise I'm trying to protect you." I explained.

"I believe you. He's terrifying, and I'm sure you didn't feel like you had a choice. Why didn't you tell us you worked for him?"

"I was coerced into spying on Colson. Diablo feels like he's losing him and is doing everything to stop it. I'm sorry, Clara. I'm alone. I had nobody, not until I came into your life. I've made the biggest mistake of my life. I should've just let him kill me." I said, and she shook her head.

"No. You still have me." She grabbed my hand.

It was almost one in the morning when we finally stopped for some sleep.

"We're halfway there." I said, getting out of the car.

"Halfway? Where are we going?"

"Sedona. My cousin has a house out there. Diablo doesn't know about him." I answered, helping her up.

"We need a room, please." I told the desk attendant.

"We've got only one bed."

"That's fine. We're just here for the night." I said, and he slid the key across the desk. We walked to the room and Clara laid down, crying herself to sleep.

🌸

Clara:

"We've got to get on the road again." Rainn woke me gently, and my head was pounding from crying all night. I stared at her, anger and pain gripping my heart and squeezing my lungs, making me struggle to breathe. But at the same time, I understood. And I needed her, because now without her, I was alone.

I turned the ring on my finger as we drove, watching the fields roll by. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to sleep, leaning my head against the window. I rubbed my stomach lightly, trying not to think about my fate.

After 25 hours of travel, I finally saw the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona. A small, weird town in the middle of the desert.

"My cousin's house is out here." She said, pulling up to a ranch. She drove along a long path until we got to a large farmhouse.

"Dakota!" Rainn cried as a guy about our age came outside to the car. She ran across the drive to a pretty blond guy.

"Hey, Rainn" he hugged her and I watched them, getting out of the car.

"Come, meet my friend Clara." Rainn pulled him and he jogged up behind her.

"I'm Dakota." He held out his hand and I shook it timidly.

"How far along are you?" He looked down at my stomach, and I sighed, knowing Rainn told him before. I was starting to show, and I looked down.

"Almost three months." I answered, touching my stomach.

"Come inside. I've got a place set up for you both. You'll be taken care of and protected here, Clara." Dakota lifted my suitcase.

I followed him inside and Rainn went to rub my back, but I pulled away from her touch. I couldn't look at her, and I went up to the room that I was given, and I closed the door. I knelt on the bed and held my hand over my heart, feeling like I was going to shatter.

"I'm so sorry, Colson." I whispered, sobbing. By the time I had run out of tears, the sun was setting over the red desert.

I felt heavy as I stood up, and I opened the door and went downstairs. Dakota was in the kitchen, and he looked up when I entered. He was handsome, but in a different way than Colson. He was muscular and very southern and classic looking. Nothing about him reminded me of my fiancé, and it somehow made me miss Colson even more.