Act Like You Love Me (Jessica) novel Chapter 118

Chapter 118

Aaron’s POV

91

65 vouchers

I balled my fist so tight my nails dug into my palm. In my sudden surge of protective rage, I completely forgot I was still holding Adrian’s hand.

I crushed his small fingers in my grip until he let out a sharp wince.

The sound pierced through my red mist. I looked down to find his face scrunched in pain, his eyes wide with confusion.

Guilt washed over me, and I immediately dropped to my knees.

“I’m sorry, buddy. So sorry. I didn’t mean to squeeze so hard,” I whispered, rubbing his hand gently.

He blinked, his resilience humbling me as he offered a small, forgiving smile. “It’s okay, Superstar.”

I forced a nod, but as I stood back up, my gaze turned like flint toward the woman in the hoodie.

The park was too vulnerable, the air thick with too many prying eyes.

If Kennedy’s hounds were truly on her trail, standing here in the open was nothing short of a death wish. We were practically asking for a bullet to end the day.

“We’re leaving. Now,” I said, my voice low and authoritative. I glanced around, checking the perimeter.

“I’ll go first. I’m going to drive a few miles out, away from the crowds. Follow the black SUV. Plate ends in 7-X.”

She nodded sharply.

I didn’t wait. I grabbed a bottle of water for Adrian from a nearby vendor, acting as natural as possible, and led him to the

car.

Every nerve in my body was on high alert. I adjusted the brim of his colorful hat, making sure it shielded his face from any prying lenses.

I tucked him into his seat, locked the doors, and pulled out into traffic, my eyes dancing between the road and the rearview

mirror.

“Superstar, is something wrong?” Adrian piped up from the back, peering through the mirror.

I forced a grin, winking.

“Nope. Just thinking about our next big adventure, bud. Hey, tell me about your favorite superhero. If you could have any power, what would it be?”

As he launched into an excited monologue about flight and super-strength, I kept my focus on the car following three lengths behind, my hands slick against the leather of the wheel.

I was calculating every turn, waiting for them to mimic my movements.

When they finally pulled into the left lane and roared past, the driver rolling down his window to scream a string of curses at me for driving like a grandfather, I didn’t get angry. I let out a breath of pure, shaking relief.

To him, I was just a terrible driver; to me, he was a sign that we weren’t being hunted.

After ten minutes of winding through side streets, I pulled into a secluded turnout shielded by heavy trees.

10:30 Wed, Jan 28 R

Chapter 118

91

$5 vouchers

The hoodie lady appeared moments later, her hand tucked deep into her pocket, her head darting side to side with the practiced paranoia of a hunted animal.

I waited until she was right at the door before I unlocked it. She slid into the passenger seat, the door thudding shut with a finality that made the air in the car feel pressurized.

She threw back her hood, and my breath hitched.

It was Mabel-the woman from Madrid. Her face was a canvas of faded purple bruises and a deep cut across her lip.

“Aren’t you the woman from-”

“It’s me,” she cut me off, her voice raspy. “I don’t have the luxury of time, sir.” She glanced back at Adrian, who was staring at her with unabashed curiosity.

“From the conversations I’ve had with his mother, he’s a smart one. We don’t need him listening to this.”

I nodded. I reached into the glovebox, pulled out a pair of noise-canceling headphones and an iPad.

“Here you go, champ. Watch your show for a bit while I talk business, okay?”

Once the glow of the screen reflected in his eyes and the headphones were snug, I turned back to Mabel.

“What is this? Why are you here?”

“Your grandfather,” she spat, the name sounding like a mouthful of poison. She looked out the window as if expecting his shadow to materialize between the trees.

“He found me. He’s been hunting me through every back alley in Europe, trying to break me. He wants a name, Aaron. He wants the person who you were with in Madrid.”

A feral heat rose in my chest, a slow-burning fuse finally reaching the powder keg. My grandfather.

The man who had built our family empire on a foundation of control was now trying to dismantle my life brick by brick.

He was the reason she ran, and now, he was hunting the only woman brave enough to help her stay hidden.

He’d crossed a line that couldn’t be uncrossed, and this was the final straw. He had taken my past, but I’d be damned if I let him touch my future.

I had a family to protect now. The titles that used to define me felt hollow and useless; I wasn’t just a grandson expected to fall in line, or a “superstar” athlete performing for a crowd.

I was a father, and I was the only shield Jess had left against the man who had terrified her into running.

If I wanted Adrian and Jess to ever breathe freely, I had to be the one to put an end to his games.

I had to dismantle the empire before he used it to crush what little peace we had left.

“Thank you, Mabel,” I said, my voice vibrating with a new, dark rýsolve.

“I’m sorry you were dragged into this. I’ll handle the security. You’re going to Japan. I have a team that can get you there and help you disappear, start over. You’ll be safe in two days.”

She looked at me, the hardness in her eyes softening with a flicker of genuine gratitude.

“Thank you.”

She moved to open the door, but paused, her hand on the latch. She looked back at me, her expression turning somber.

10:30 Wed, Jan 28 RG

Chapter 118

91

65 vouchers

“It’s not my place, really,” she said quietly. “But whatever happened between you and Jessica-she’s deeply sorry. The other day… before I found her… she almost jumped. She was on the bridge, Aaron. I got there just in time to stop her.”

My heart didn’t just skip a beat; it stopped. The world went silent.

“What?”

“She’s fragile right now,” Mabel added. “Don’t let the stubbornness fool you.”

She slipped out of the car before I could find my voice. I sat there, my palm sliding down my face, my skin cold.

Oh, Jess. She was always so impulsive, opting for the most permanent solutions to temporary pain.

The thought of Adrian growing up without her, the thought of a world where she didn’t exist-made my stomach turn.

I glanced at him in the rearview mirror. He was laughing at a cartoon, a sound so pure it felt like a serrated blade against my

skin.

He was completely oblivious to the fact that his mother had almost left him forever-that she had stood on the edge of a bridge ready to let go.

A flash of white-hot anger fought for space against the crushing weight of my grief.

How could she be so selfish? To leave this boy behind? To leave me with nothing but a hole where our future should have been?

I drew in a breath, forcing the toxic thoughts out of my head. I couldn’t let my rage bleed into his day.

I let him lose himself in the digital world of his iPad, the soft glow of the screen reflecting the total, innocent focus in his

eyes.

He was safe for now, tucked in a bubble of silence I’d created for him.

I fired up the engine, a new kind of purpose thrumming in my veins. If I was going to be in his life, I was going all in. There would be no half-measures, no hesitation.

Our next stop was a high-end kid’s boutique. I wanted to see him in fresh threads-the best fabrics, the sharpest cuts.

I wanted to watch him pick out every toy that caught his eye until the trunk wouldn’t close.

He’d spent six years with ‘just enough,’ living a life of modesty while I lived in excess.

That ended today. He had my name and he had my face; it was time he had the life that came with them.

AD

Comment

Send gift

No Ads

10:30 Wed, Jan 28 RG