Shadows In Durango

Chapter 123

*****Vincent's POV*****

The silence in the car was killing me.

I kept my eyes locked on the road, gripping the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles pulsed around the leather.

The tension between us was thick, almost suffocating, and I figured that it wouldn't have been so severe since we had both spent some time apart...

But boy was I wrong!

I could feel her growing antsy beside me, fidgeting, probably lost in her own worried thoughts, and all I could think about was how badly I'd screwed this all up from start to finish.

I knew that I couldn't avoid this conversation any longer, but damn, I still wasn't as ready for it as I thought I would be.

Not even close.

There was a million things to say and to talk through, yet all I could give her right now was thickening silence...

She had every right to be angry, every right to hate me for how I had handled things. The way I'd kept her in the dark. The way I'd gone behind her back.

But what the hell was I supposed to do?

Did she expect me to just sit back and watch her get pulled into even more danger? Watch her father finally catch up with her? Watch her get hurt because of me?

I only thought I was helping...

I glanced over at her, just for a second, and saw the tension in her face, her hands twisting nervously in her lap below.

She was hurting like I was over this, probably more.

And I hated it.

I was the one who'd put

I couldn't take the silence anymore.

Anything.

not daring to look at her. My eyes stayed glued to

see from the corner of my eye her head snapping toward me, and I could feel her gaze burning into the side of my face. "What? I mean, how?" Her voice was

out how to explain myself. "I don't blame you for what happened to Daryl. I'm

wasn't angry at her for Daryl getting shot at all, but I knew it probably seemed that way with how I had acted last night, but I

was the real fucking monster here, and yet why could I see the guilt all

was quiet for a moment to think on my words, and then, almost like she couldn't stop herself, she whispered, "I feel that I'm responsible for all of this.

way she said it, like she really believed she was a curse, or some kind of bad luck, hearing it

had no right to snap at her, not after everything that

do with you. But..." I hesitated, knowing what I was about to say wasn't going to be easy for her to hear. "What was to do with you, was not telling me sooner that you knew he was here, in town." I could feel her shift in the seat beside me,

me. She

wanted to keep her

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when she finally spoke, her voice was

dealing with was a lot," she admitted, her voice shaking with the weight of her guilt. "You seemed so stressed and on edge that at the time, I didn't want to selfishly add another problem

words were ones that hit me hard next, pausing any and all

I say

I was truly at a loss for words as I stared ahead and waited for my street

her emotions taking their

my driveway, I put the car in to park and took a second to think... allowing my head to bury in

I didn't even know where to start now. I'd run it over in my head a thousand times, thinking through all the things I would say when we found her, but now that we were actually here, it was like every word I wanted to

known this heavy talk was

to reach out to the one person she feared most in this world:

I knew that, but I was now fucking terrified of what might happen once everything was out in the

I raised my head, forcing myself to face her on this.

been hurt many times before, now hurting because

say: "Sofia I thought I was doing the right thing in order to keep you safe, I didn't know he was going to manipulate the situation like he did, and the whole arranged marriage thing wasn't mine or my fathers idea, it was all him - believe me!" I begin to spill out, hoping that I could provide

least not intentionally, but the same fact still remained - I should