Chapter 2 The Bride Who Escaped the Wedding Car

Not long after the car turned onto the mountain road, Elena knew she had to get out before the drugs clouded her judgment completely.

She stopped questioning the two men in front and lowered her head, pretending to grow weaker.

She didn't need to overpower two grown men.

She just needed them to make one mistake.

"I need water."

She leaned against the window and deliberately slowed her breathing. "If something happens to me before you do whatever you're planning, Maya won't be happy."

"Shut up."

"Did she even tell you the dosage?"

Elena closed her eyes.

"My heart's already racing. If I die in your car, do you really think Maya Vale is going to admit she knows you?"

While she spoke, her fingers found a loose strip of metal beside the seat.

The man in the passenger seat twisted around and grabbed her by the hair.

Pain tore across her scalp.

Elena gritted her teeth, lunged forward, and seized the steering wheel with both hands. Before the driver could regain control, she yanked it hard toward the guardrail.

Metal screamed.

The car lurched violently.

For a few seconds, all Elena could hear was ringing in her ears.

Then came the swearing.

"Grab her!"

Elena kicked off her heels, gathered the wedding dress in both hands, and ran barefoot onto the road.

Gravel cut into the soles of her feet. Between the drugs and the crash, her strength was disappearing fast.

Footsteps pounded behind her.

She wasn't going to outrun them.

So Elena ran straight into the middle of the road.

A black SUV came around the bend.

Its brakes slammed on, stopping only a few yards away.

Elena immediately raised the strip of metal in her hand.

The first man out was Miles.

Then the rear door opened, and another man stepped out.

Black overcoat. Dark suit. Tall, broad-shouldered.

A faint scar ran from his left temple toward his cheekbone.

Adrian stopped several steps away instead of approaching her.

His eyes didn't go first to the torn wedding dress.

They went to the blood at her temple and her bare, injured feet.

He lifted one hand, stopping Miles from moving any closer.

Elena kept her makeshift weapon raised.

"Give me a phone. I need to call the police."

She immediately took half a step back.

The stranger was too calm.

And somehow, that made him feel more dangerous, not less.

"What happened?"

"I'll explain after I call the police."

"Are you sure the police are the first people you want to call?"

Elena's guard went up.

"What does that mean?"

"That wedding dress costs six figures. The car back there is registered to Vale Holdings."

His gaze dropped to the metal strip still clenched in her hand.

"And most runaway brides don't usually stab the driver's hand on their way out."

Elena tightened her grip.

He noticed too much.Too quickly.

"Who are you?"

"Miss Vale!"

Elena turned.

The man from the passenger seat was coming toward them, blood streaked across his face. The driver followed behind him, one hand clamped over his injured hand.

Somehow, the stranger had moved behind Elena without her noticing.

The warmth of his body shouldn't have mattered through the thin fabric of her dress.

But the drugs had sharpened every sensation.

Heat raced across her exposed back, and Elena's breath hitched.

She immediately stepped away.

"Elena?"

Her eyes snapped to him.

"I never told you my name."

Of course he knew it.

Before leaving the Blackwood estate, Miles had sent him basic information on both Vale daughters.

The Elena in the old photos wasn't wearing a wedding dress, and she certainly wasn't covered in mud and blood, but those eyes were hard to mistake.

The problem was that every marriage document the Vale family had submitted to the Blackwood attorneys named Maya Vale as today's bride.

"Aiden."

Elena frowned.

"My name."

Aiden was his middle name, one he used only in a handful of private situations.

As for Blackwood, he kept that part to himself.

According to the documents currently on file, Maya was still the legal bride. Elena looked more like someone the Vale family had shoved into her place at the last minute.

Until he knew exactly what had happened, he had no intention of treating her as his bride.

Elena clearly didn't believe him completely, but she filed the name away.

"Sir, this is a private matter."

The bloodied man stepped closer.

"She's Miss Vale. She was supposed to be taken to the Blackwood estate today. There was an accident on the way, and we're taking her back now."

Elena looked at him coldly.

"By 'accident,' do you mean driving me into the woods?"

"She's been drugged. She doesn't know what she's saying."

Aiden's gaze sharpened.

"What drug?"

"A sedative. She's been unstable all day."

"They're lying."

Elena didn't move toward Aiden.

"I was drugged. They took my phone and my ID, and they were taking me somewhere else. I just need to borrow your phone. I can handle the rest myself."

Aiden looked at her.

"You don't want my help?"

"I don't know you."

"So?"

"So I'm not going to assume you're safer than they are just because you're wearing an expensive suit."

He reached for the buttons of his coat.

Elena's entire body went rigid.

Aiden stopped immediately.

He didn't come any closer.

Instead, he took off the coat and held it out to her.

"I'm not cold," she said.

"I know."

His gaze dipped toward her dress.

"Your skirt is torn."

Elena looked down.

The rip along the side of the wedding gown reached almost to her thigh.

She was silent for two seconds before taking the coat and wrapping it around herself.

The heavy fabric covered the torn dress and blocked some of the cold air.

It still held his warmth.

There was also a faint scent of cedar and leather.

Under normal circumstances, neither detail would have mattered.

Right now, the drugs made both impossible to ignore.

Elena tightened her fingers around the lapels and forced her attention back to the men in front of her.

"Listen, we don't want trouble."

The man who had followed her was losing patience.

"This involves the Blackwood family. She was supposed to become their bride today. The wedding has already been delayed because of her, so you'd better not make this worse."

The faint amusement on Aiden's face disappeared.

"The Blackwood family?"

"Yes. So stay out of it."

Aiden looked at him for a long moment.

"Who told you that name gives you the right to threaten people?"

The man frowned.

"Who the hell are you?"

Elena looked at Aiden too.

He didn't answer.

He simply held out a hand toward the SUV.

Miles immediately passed him a phone.

Aiden didn't call the police for her.

He didn't ask who she wanted to contact.

He just placed the phone in Elena's hand.

"Call the police. Call an ambulance. Call someone you trust."

His gaze stayed on hers.

"Your choice."

Elena took the phone but didn't look away.

For the past several hours, her father had decided who she was supposed to marry.

Her sister had decided what she would wear, what name she would use, and even what strangers were allowed to do to her body.

And somehow, the most dangerous-looking man she'd met all day was the first one who hadn't tried to make a decision for her.

"Why are you helping me?"

Aiden looked down at her.

Only a step separated them.

His coat was draped around her shoulders, the oversized collar nearly swallowing her whole.

He still looked dangerous.

But he still hadn't moved any closer.

"Because you said no."

Elena froze.

Behind her, one of the men muttered a curse and strode forward, reaching for her.

Aiden stepped in front of Elena.

The movement was almost casual.

Still, the man's hand stopped in midair.

"She already said no."

Aiden's voice wasn't loud.

Both men stopped anyway.

"Now," he said, "it's my turn to say it twice."

He lifted his eyes.

Whatever warmth had been there a moment ago vanished.

"Get lost."