I'll Take You Away From Him

Chapter 18

“What happened?” my friend says, shaking her head as she notices my panic.

And at the same time, a low, gruff voice sounds:

“Aurelia!”

And it’s not that he’s deliberately calling me roughly, but rather that this man has a voice that matches him—it sends icy shivers down my spine and panic washes over me instantly.

“Oh my god,” my friend exhales, staring wide-eyed at Christopher.

“Don’t look his way,” I hiss and nudge her with my elbow. “I’m trying to pretend I didn’t see him.”

“Who is he?”

“Kind of my fiancé, the one my mother wants to marry me off to.”

“Oh my god, even I would run from someone like that.” My friend finally comes to her senses, grabbing my elbow and quickening her pace.

“Why?” I ask curiously what led her to such a thought.

“Because just one look at him makes my knees tremble!” Yasmin whispers in shock. “He’s a handsome guy, that’s for sure, but there’s an aura of danger and strength about this man that you can sense from a mile away. William looks much sweeter and at least he smiles. And this one…”

“Aurelia,” comes his commanding tone, now much closer. Damn! He’s following us. “Don’t pretend you can’t hear me,” he growls behind us, and the next moment he grabs my elbow, making me stop abruptly.

“Don’t touch my friend!” Yasmin comes to my defense, even though she herself is trembling in fear of this man.

Christopher glances at her with a mocking look and snorts, after which he drags me to his car, casually saying:

“I won’t eat your friend. Just taking her home.”

“It’s okay,” I look back and nod to Yasmin. I’m scared to death, but what can she do?

Besides, I hope that after Christopher lets me go himself, he really won’t do anything bad to me. Not when there are so many witnesses around.

Still, what does he care about witnesses? People like him fear nothing. Everyone is afraid of them. But anyway, even though Christopher terrifies me to the point of incoherence, he does seem like a level-headed person.

Well, we still need to talk. And here’s the opportunity… Or rather — I have no choice left.

But before getting into the car, whose doors the owner holds open for me, I feel that familiar sticky gaze on me again. And I find its owner without fail.

On the other side of the parking lot, in the shade of a tree, stands Mikey, pretending to smoke. And he’s watching me intently.

With a shrug of my shoulders, I literally jumped into the car. In this situation, he creeped me out even more than Christopher with his oppressive tyrant aura. After all, I’m still not sure if Mikey truly lured me into a trap and almost killed me.

“Who is that?” A cautious question sounds after a few seconds.

Hiding in the car, I continue to look at him. And Mikey stares at me as if he can see through the tinted glass.

“Just one idiot,” I mutter.

“Does he bother you?” Comes the question, after which I stare at Christopher in shock. Why does he even care?

“No,” I replied confidently.

I don’t want to feel indebted to this man since the essence of his question is clear. Will does a great job as my protector, and I don’t need another one.

Christopher starts moving, pulling out of the parking lot, and he stays silent. I feel uncomfortable in the confined space with this man. I want to get outside as quickly as possible and as far away from him as I can. But at least it’s a relief that he doesn’t start a conversation.

Now my desire to talk evaporates too. I just can’t! This man frightens me.

And what scares me the most is why on earth he suddenly decided to come for me at the university. Well, it can’t be just like that, right?

The last part creeped me out more, so I mustered the courage to start the conversation first.

“You… probably wanted to talk?” I begin timidly, noticing how pathetic my voice sounds.

“I did,” he replies tersely and goes silent again, paying attention to the road.

I don’t dare to open my mouth again, curling up in my seat, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Until the car stops next to a restaurant and Christopher gets out.

I come to my senses only when the door on my side opens and he looms over me, looking expectantly.

“You were going to take me home, right?” I ask pitifully, unsure if it’s a question or a plea.

“I will. But you’re right, at first, we need to talk. Let’s go,” he says, extending his hand to me. I have no choice but to accept his gesture of attention.

He stands too close and it’s pointless to keep sitting in the car. The sooner we start, the sooner it will end, I’ll explain everything to him and be free.

Putting my hand in his large palm, I get out of the car. Fortunately, after that, he lets me go and we walk to the restaurant side by side, without any unnecessary physical contact.

“Don’t be afraid, I won't bite,” he says unexpectedly when the waiter leaves us after taking our order. I don’t know how to respond to that, but it doesn’t matter because Christopher continues alone, “Your mother couldn’t find peace; she said you weren’t home all weekend, didn’t say where you were going, didn’t answer her calls…”

“That’s not true!” I interject, flaring up. And instantly feel embarrassed when I notice the strange smile on the man’s face. I continue in a quiet, calm tone. “She hasn’t called me even once. And she wasn’t really bothered before when I spent weekends with friends. Dad only asked where I was and who I was spending time with. He was the one I reported to usually. And he never forbade me from anything, he trusted me,” I added with a touch of sadness.

“But your dad is no longer with us, unfortunately,” Christopher cuts in with a stern tone, in which I still sense a hint of sympathy, “so now your mother is solely responsible for you. However, this responsibility should have passed to me, but considering your behavior, you don’t seem eager to marry me. I’d like to know why. Am I that scary to you?”