04

"Where do you know me from?" he exclaimed, harshly.

He took a step towards me, looking so intimidating and threatening that I instinctively took another step back. Suddenly I remembered all the evil he had committed, displacing the families of the farm.

If this pregnancy had happened, when I discovered that I had been the victim of a scam, a hit-and-run would be insignificant compared to what that man would do to me.

The thought gave me another shudder, and suddenly I saw the buildings along the street dancing around me, becoming a jumble of ghostly, meaningless images. 

As if my legs were no longer able to support me on my feet, I slowly fell, falling to the ground, while my vision went dark.

I was about to crash against the asphalt once more when strong arms held me firmly, supporting me, giving me a sense of security so reassuring that I stopped fighting and surrendered to the deep darkness that swallowed me.

**

When I regained consciousness, I felt the world rocking around me. As soon as I opened my eyes, I realized that I was lying in the backseat of a moving car, traveling through the streets of SaintClair City. I immediately remembered what happened and sat up with a movement so quick it made me slightly dizzy.

"Are you feeling better?" asked the deep, harsh voice.

I lifted my gaze to the rearview mirror and met Adriel Beaumont's icy eyes, glaring at me so intently that I suddenly had the feeling he could see right through me, know that maybe I was carrying his child on me.

My first impulse was to open the car door, escape that demon before he did me any harm, but I refrained. There was no way he could know anything. Maybe I was not even pregnant.

“I am fine,” I replied. "Where are you taking me?"

"To the hospital. You know where it is?"

Damn! He had been in town for almost two months, and he did not know where the hospital was?

“I do not need to go to the hospital. You can leave me right here."

I just wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. I was terrified. If he did not find a way to terminate this possible pregnancy, he would never believe that I was forced to participate in this scam, and then I would be pretty screwed.

Through his eyes, I could tell he was not the kind of man anyone could mess with.

“I can't leave you here in the middle of nowhere. If you do not want to go to the hospital, tell me where you live, and I'll take you home."

"Where is my bicycle?"

"In the trunk."

"You can leave me here," I asked. — The town is small. I'll do the rest of the journey by pedaling.

He watched me intently through the rearview mirror.

"Are you scared of me?"

Shit! All he had to do was guess the reason.

“Of course not. I just want you to leave me right here.

"I already told you I am not going to leave you lying around after almost running you over!" he snarled sharply, and I shrank back in my seat, overcome with the certainty that it would be pointless to argue.

Not only was this man intimidating, he was also a bundle of arrogance, and the sooner he agreed to drop me off somewhere, the sooner I would be rid of him.

"Leave me to my work then." It is on the highway. Alvorada Cafeteria.

Without another word, he made a U-turn further on and led us in the opposite direction, towards the highway. He was driving at low speed, through sunny, uncrowded streets. 

The silence that settled inside the vehicle was tense, almost tangible. Every time I glanced in the rearview mirror, I was met with his cold stare, watching me intently, as if probing me, as if he knew what I had done, which impelled me to look in any other direction to avoid his scrutiny.

"How old are you?" he asked after the long silence.

"That's none of your business."

“You have a very sharp tongue for a girl your age."

"And you are too arrogant for an old man."

"I know how to be kind when it suits me"

I looked into his eyes through the mirror on the dashboard, and suddenly I felt a strange, throbbing heat coursing through my body, not exactly because of his words, but because of the insinuating, naughty tone with which they were pronounced. 

I knew that tone well; it was the way a man spoke when he was excited.