Chapter 412
Chapter 412:
Asher gave a faint, tired smile. “Even with his temper, he wouldn’t actually lay a hand on me. Don’t forget, I’m a p>
“I’m not letting you get hurt because of me.” She cut him off, holding her phone up to cast a thin beam of light across the tunnel floor ahead of them.
Asher looked up at her face — the set of her jaw, the resolve there — and felt something move through him. It ended in a long, quiet exhale.
Kristine picked up the pace. Behind them, the sound of boots on stone grew louder, closer.
A dozen men at least. She could hear them shouting into the dark. “Stop! There’s nowhere to go p>
She didn’t respond. She put everything she had into moving forward.
The footsteps pressed tighter at their backs. They were one stumble away from being caught. Then she saw it — a heavy door at the far end of the passage.
“There!” she gasped. “We’re almost out p>
Asher saw it too. He looked over his shoulder at the darkness closing in behind them.
Only a few yards now.
N𝘦w 𝘤𝘩𝗮𝗽𝘁𝖾r𝘀 е𝗏er𝗒 𝗐𝗲еk о𝗻.с𝗼𝗺
The instant Kristine pushed the door open, Asher planted his hands on the frame and shoved her through with everything he had. The door slammed shut behind her with a heavy, metallic bang.
Kristine stumbled across the pavement and barely caught herself. She spun around and found solid steel between them.
She threw herself against it, fists striking the door. “Asher! Open this door right now p>
His voice came through, steady and unhurried. “Run to the car, Kristine. Colton is already moving toward the exit — he knows where you’ll come out. If you don’t go now, you won’t get another chance p>
“I am not leaving without you!” she cried.
There was a brief silence. When he spoke again, his voice had dropped to something softer — almost gentle. “Don’t you want to be free? Go. Go live the life you were always meant to have p>
Kristine went still.
No one had ever said that to her before. Not once in her life.
As a child, she had been bound to her parents. When her father died, what little freedom she’d had went with him. She had spent years dreaming of escape, of a life that was simply hers — then she had mistaken love for a way out, only to find it was another kind of cage. Even after she gave up on love entirely, there had always been something else holding her in place. Something always said no.
She had buried that longing somewhere deep. She hadn’t known it was visible.
But Asher had seen it the whole time.
A warmth spread through her chest, slow and aching.
Then, from the other side of the door — shouting. A crash. Multiple voices, rapid and overlapping.
“Mr. Edwards p>
Her heart lurched. Colton’s men had reached him.
She opened her mouth — and a car screeched to a stop beside her.
Tripp was behind the wheel.
“Asher is still in there!” she shouted.