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.

was the one who'd

the silence anymore. I had to

Anything.

said quietly, not daring to look at her. My eyes stayed glued to the road ahead, my voice

feel her gaze burning into the side of my face. "What? I mean, how?" Her voice was shaking, and I could hear the

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

probably seemed that way with how I had acted last

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

my words, and then, almost like she couldn't stop herself, she whispered, "I feel that I'm responsible for all of this. If I hadn't come into your life

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

had no

trying to stay calm, even though part of me wanted to punch something just thinking about that bastard alone. "He made his own choices, and he hurt people because of his own issues. That's nothing to 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

worse, but I couldn't pretend like it didn't bother me. She should

only wanted to

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finally spoke, her voice was

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

me hard next, pausing any

I say to that?

that, I was truly at a loss for words as I stared ahead and waited

demands to know, her emotions taking their toll now since this very matter had been well overdue for us

park and took a second to think...

me, her presence close but distant at the same time. 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

heavy

for why I had chose to reach out to the one person she feared

up majorly, I knew that, but I was now fucking terrified of what might

to face her on this. She was staring out the window, tears glistening

her like that, hurting, when she had already been hurt many times before, now hurting because of me,

a desperate intake of air, I push myself to 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

the same fact still remained - I should have discussed it with her from