I will do anything

Alina

Liam had driven into the underground garage like a madman.

Panic seized my chest. I rushed to the paper, pressed the pen down, and scribbled my name, Alina Sterling, at the bottom of the page.

The front door downstairs slammed open.

“Alina!” Liam’s voice roared through the silent house.

I pulled the diamond wedding ring off my finger. It felt like shedding a chain.

I placed the cold, glittering stone right on top of my signature.

“Alina, please! Are you here?”

Footsteps pounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

I grabbed the handle of my suitcase, ready to run, but I was too late.

The bedroom door burst open.

Liam stood in the doorway, chest heaving, his tie loosened and his hair a mess. His dark eyes locked onto me, wide.

“Alina…” he breathed out, stepping into the room. “I… I forgot… I realized what today is. I am so sorry, I—“

His apology died in his throat.

His eyes fell to the suitcase gripped tightly in my hand.

Then, they darted to the bedside table. To the printed document. To the diamond ring shining under the lamp.

The temperature in the room instantly dropped to ice.

I watched the guilt in his eyes vanish in a single second. Dark, vicious rage took its place. His jaw clenched, a muscle ticking in his cheek.

“What is this?” His voice dropped to a deadly whisper.

“I am leaving, Liam.” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady. “I signed the papers. It’s over.”

“Over?” He let out a dark, cruel laugh. He stepped forward, shutting the bedroom door behind him. “You don’t get to decide when this is over.”

“Let me pass,” I demanded, stepping toward the door.

He moved faster than I could blink. He closed the distance between us and grabbed my arm, the exact same spot he had bruised in the cemetery.

I cried out in pain, dropping the suitcase.

“You think you can just pack a bag and walk out on me?” He snarled, his fingers digging violently into my skin. “After everything my family has done for you? You are my wife!”

“You don’t want a wife! You want a punching bag!” I screamed, struggling against his grip. “Let me go!”

“I am not letting you go anywhere!” He shoved me hard.

My back hit the wooden desk. Pain exploded in my spine, and I gasped for air.

Before I could recover, Liam was entirely in my space, his hands slamming down on the desk on either side of me, trapping me against the wood.

“You belong to me, Alina…” He whispered viciously, his face inches from mine. “If you think I am going to let you walk out of here and ruin my reputation, you are out of your mind. I own you.”

He reached up, grabbing a fistful of my hair, forcing my head back so I had to look into his dark, psychotic eyes.

Tears of pain spilled down my cheeks.

“I will never let you leave…” He promised.

No… I couldn't let this happen. I wouldn't my child born in a place where she was unwanted.

Survival instinct flared in my chest.

If I stayed in this room, I was going to die here.

My hand blindly reached across the surface of the desk. My fingers brushed against a glass paperweight.

Without another thought, I grabbed the glass and swung it up with all my strength, smashing it directly into the side of Liam’s head.

“Aggh!” Liam stumbled backward, releasing my hair as he clutched his bleeding temple.

I didn’t waste a second. I didn’t grab my suitcase. I didn’t grab my coat.

I bolted.

I ran out the bedroom door, down the grand staircase, and tore through the foyer.

I could hear Liam roaring my name from the top of the stairs, his footsteps already thundering behind me.

I threw open the front door and ran out into the freezing night.

"Alina!" Liam’s furious roar echoed in the darkness

The massive iron gates of the estate loomed ahead in the darkness. Freedom was just steps away.

My heart hammered wildly against my ribs, fueled by pure terror.

Suddenly, a deafening roar tore through the quiet night.

A blinding white headlight cut through the darkness, speeding directly toward the front gate from the outside.

I tried to stop but my speed carried me too far forward.

I gasped and threw my hands up to shield my face as a blacked-out motorcycle screeched to a sudden halt, just inches from hitting me.

I lost my balance and crashed hard onto the cold pavement.

Sharp pain shot up my scraped knees and palms but the adrenaline instantly drowned it out.

Trembling, I pushed my hair out of my face and looked up.

Sitting on the bike, wearing a black leather and suffocating danger, was a man I knew all too well.

Gabriel. Liam’s uncle.

The black sheep of the bloodline. The MC President everyone whispered about in terrified, hushed tones but never dared to cross.

He just sat there, unbothered, and stared down at me.

His intense hazel eyes slowly took in my disheveled hair, my pale face and the blood trickling from my scraped hands.

"You are in my way…" He said. His voice was a low, rough gravel that barely cut over the sound of his engine.

There was no pity in them. No surprise, either.

Before I could even process his words, a furious roar echoed from the driveway behind the walls of the estate.

"Alina!" Liam.

He was coming.

Sheer terror shocked my system back to life.

I scrambled up from the hard ground, ignoring the bleeding scrapes on my hands and rushed to the side of the bike.

"Help me," I gasped out. “Help me, Gabriel.”

Gabriel didn't look impressed. He didn't offer a hand or show a single ounce of pity.

"Why would I?" He asked flatly.

"Alina! Get back here!" Liam shouted. He was at the top of the driveway now.

I grabbed the leather of Gabriel's jacket, my bloody fingers gripping the lapels like a lifeline.

I looked up into the eyes of the most dangerous man I had ever known about, offering him the last thing I had left to give.

"Please," I begged, my voice breaking as I stared into his dark eyes. "I will do anything. Just take me somewhere."