Chapter 5 RUN EVA, RUN!
“ Run, Eva, every step you take only brings you closer to me.”
-Rafael Vladimir
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After 30 minutes,
After thirty minutes of silence, Eva sat stiffly in the backseat of her father’s BMW, staring out of the window with unfocused eyes. The city of Rome rushed past her in blurred colors, but she barely recognized it. Her heart was pounding so loudly in her ears that she feared Abram could hear it. Her palms were damp with sweat, and her fingers trembled as she clasped them together on her lap.
Abram sat beside her, speaking calmly on the phone as if the world around them was not about to collapse.
“Yes, prepare our jet. We’ll reach in a while,” he ordered firmly before ending the call.
He turned to look at Eva. Her face had gone pale, her lips slightly parted as if she was struggling to breathe. Dark circles framed her eyes from a sleepless night, and unshed tears shimmered in them.
“Eva,” Abram called softly.
She looked at him, and the moment their eyes met, tears spilled over her cheeks. Abram reached out and gently stroked her hair, trying to soothe her racing fear.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “We will help you get out of Italy. Rafael won’t be able to reach you. His rivalry is with us, not with you.”
A sob escaped her lips.
“He told me last night that his rivalry was with you and Dad, not with me,” she whispered shakily. “But now I have to pay for this bloody war by becoming his bride. He promised me, Abram. He said he will come to take me back.”
Her voice cracked on the last word.
“He won’t,” Abram replied firmly. “He doesn’t even know you’re leaving Italy. By the time he finds out, you’ll be in another country, living a free life.”
Eva leaned against Abram’s chest, clutching his coat like a lifeline.
“I’m scared,” she murmured. “What if he harms you? Or Dad?”
Abram’s jaw tightened for a second before he forced a reassuring smile.
“He won’t. We will handle him here and settle the past deal.”
Eva broke down completely, her body shaking with fear. She had never imagined that the man she had slept with during a drunken night would become the greatest threat to her life.
“Don’t cry, Eva,” Abram whispered, holding her closer. “We’ll solve this.”
But even as he said it, Abram knew Rafael Vladimir was not a man who could be solved easily. If Rafael had spoken about marriage, then marriage would happen, either by hook or crook.
Eva lifted her tearful face. “Why did Dad promise me to him?” she cried. “Why would he give me to a mafia family?”
Abram had no answer. The same question burned inside his own chest.
The car slowed as it reached a traffic signal. The light glowed red. The road ahead was strangely empty, as if the city itself was holding its breath.
Abram glanced around uneasily.
“Driver,” he said sharply, “the moment it turns green, speed up.”
“Okay, boss,” the driver replied.
Abram’s eyes scanned every mirror, every shadow. Something felt wrong.
The light turned green.
Just as the driver was about to move, it switched back to red.
“Boss” the driver murmured nervously.
Abram turned to look behind them.
A black car was approaching at an alarming speed.
“Fuck the signal. Start the car!” Abram shouted.
Eva jolted in her seat. “What?”
The driver slammed his foot on the accelerator. The BMW shot forward violently, throwing Eva and Abram back against their seats.
“Ouch!” Eva cried.
“Don’t stop!” Abram ordered. He grabbed his phone and dialed quickly. “Handle the cars coming from behind!”
Eva twisted to look through the rear window.
Three no, four black cars were racing toward them like predators.
“He came,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
Gunshots echoed in the distance. One of Abram’s escort cars swerved and collided with another vehicle, crashing violently to the side of the road.
“Fast, faster!” Eva screamed.
The driver pushed the car to its maximum speed. Tires screeched against the asphalt. Abram’s men tried to block the pursuing cars, creating chaos on the road. For a brief moment, it seemed like they had gained the upper hand.
But Eva’s fear did not fade.
“Abram, I’m scared,” she cried, gripping his arm.
“Nothing will happen to you, Eva,” Abram said, though his eyes stayed fixed on the mirrors.
Suddenly, a powerful engine roared beside them.
A black luxury car pulled up next to their window.
Eva’s breath stopped.
Through the tinted glass, she saw him.
Rafael Vladimir.
His dark eyes were cold and burning with determination. His jaw was clenched, and a cruel smile touched his lips when he saw her.
Eva’s blood ran cold.
He had found her.
Her phone vibrated in her hand.
A single message appeared on the screen:
“You can run, Eva but you are already mine.”
She didn’t read the message.
She heard Rafael’s voice in her ear instead.
“You can run, Eva but you are already mine.”
Her blood turned cold.
“Oh my God, he is here,” Eva cried in panic, her body shaking uncontrollably.
She turned her head and saw Rafael leaning out of his car window, a gun raised in his hand.
“Move left and right!” Abram shouted at the driver.
A loud gunshot echoed through the air.
Rafael aimed at the tire, but the driver swerved just in time, making the bullet miss its target.
“Oh no" Eva whispered in terror.
A thousand horrifying thoughts rushed through her mind.
What if Rafael killed Abram?
What if he murdered her father?
What if this war destroyed her entire family?
Suddenly, the car lost balance.
Another gunshot rang out.
The bullet hit the side of the vehicle.
Abram and Eva were thrown forward violently. The car screeched across the road, skidding nearly two hundred meters before finally stopping.
“Abram!” Eva cried, grabbing his arm.
Rafael’s car stopped a few meters away.
She watched in horror as Rafael stepped out, his gun still in his hand. Without thinking, Eva threw herself into Abram’s arms, clinging to him tightly.
“Abram” she sobbed.
“Be ready,” Abram ordered sharply.
The driver reached for his gun.
“Come behind me,” Abram said.
Eva hid behind him as Rafael walked toward them, his expression dark and merciless. All of Abram’s guards lay motionless on the road behind him.
Another man climbed out of Rafael’s car, Calo, holding a hammer.
Rafael stopped beside their window and knocked on the glass with the barrel of his gun.
“Come out,” he commanded.
No one moved.
Calo suddenly fired at the driver.
“No!” Eva screamed.
Blood splashed across the windshield and onto their faces.
Calo smashed the window with the hammer, glass shattering everywhere.
Eva’s scream echoed through the broken silence.
Calo unlocked the car door, and Rafael moved to the other side.
Terrified, Eva scrambled backward, her body pressing against the seat as if she could disappear into it. From the left, Calo yanked the door open. From the right, Rafael did the same.
Trapped.
Eva lifted her tear-filled eyes to him, trembling like a deer caught in the gaze of a lion.
Rafael showed no emotion, no mercy, no hesitation, o
nly burning anger in his dark eyes.
She had betrayed him.
Her family had defied him.
Good.
Now they would witness his wrath.
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“The man I met in desire became the man I met in terror.”
- Eva Miller
