Page 159 of Forbidden Forget-Me-Not

That couldn’t happen.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “It’s safer if you hate me for leaving. I hope one day you’ll forgive me.”

I wiped the lone tear from my cheek just as headlights flashed across the side of the trailer and the crunch of gravel under tires announced my father’s arrival.

Grabbing a notepad off the table, I scribbled a hasty note. I had no business leaving one. But I did anyway.

I love you. I’ll always love you.

Turning, I picked up my suitcase and quietly opened the trailer door. The cool early morning air hit my face, sending shivers down my spine.

The limo waited, engine running. Black and ominous. It was as if one of the four horsemen had come to cart me off to the underworld.

My father stood beside it, his face hidden in shadows, fitting for the moment. He didn’t speak when he saw me. He simply opened the door, a silent signal that it was time.

My legs shook, but my resolve never wavered. I would do what was necessary to protect what was mine. Goran, our unborn child, and even Atlas. They were my family.

I walked past Father without a word and slid into the back seat. The door closed with a heavy thud as he climbed in and settled across from me.

As the car began to move, I couldn’t stop myself. I turned to look out the back window just as the trailer door burst open.

Goran.

Barefoot. Shirtless. Wild. He ran toward the car like he could outrun the steel and gasoline monster.

“Kaylani!”

My name came out broken and ragged, and it felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest.

I pressed my hand flat against the window.

He was still running. Still shouting.

“Faster,” Father commanded.

The limo accelerated, widening the distance. Goran’s figure blurred behind the wall of tears clouding my eyes. Then the car turned, and he was gone.

My hand dropped from the glass, but my fingers trembled as the silent droplets rolled down my cheeks. I didn’t gasp or sob. I didn’t give my father the satisfaction of seeing me break.

Leaning back, I forced my breathing to steady. Dimitri watched in silence, his eyes colder than I had ever seen. He was no longer my father. He was the keeper of my gilded cage.

There was no forgiveness for what he had set in motion. I didn’t know when he stopped being my father, but there was no going back. I was no longer his little girl.

I was a woman. A smart and capable woman. And with every mile, my next move formed in my mind.

Goran

The click of the trailer door closing pulled me from sleep before I understood why. I jerked upright, my hand shooting across the bed.

Kaylani’s spot was empty and cold.

“Lani?”

No answer.

The trailer felt wrong, too quiet. Panic had me moving before my brain caught up. My hands fumbled with my jeans as I stepped outside, bare feet hitting gravel.

Sharp stones bit into my feet but I didn’t care. The limo was already halfway out of the lot, and it would reach the main road in seconds.