Chapter 72

Jim opened the limo door, but Logan held out his hand as he shook his head. Then, he walked to the garage and opened the door. Inside, cars of all makes and models lined the walls. The garage was actually as big as a small warehouse. The collection of cars inside was priceless.
Logan walked purposefully over to a vintage red convertible Corvette with the top down sitting a few cars down to the right and opened the passenger door.
"Logan, you're too upset," I said, stopping in the middle of the room.
"Yeah. So?"
"So, you shouldn't be driving when you're this upset."
"I'm okay," he said as he motioned toward the door. "Let's go."
I didn't move. "Is this your car?"
He shrugged as he bit his lip. "Why do you ask?"
I took a step toward him. "No offense, but I don't want to spend the night in jail for grand theft auto."
He smiled without humor. "It's mine," he said, and then looked in the direction of the house. "I dare them to do that. Fortunately, the title is in my name. I'm taking it. Let's go."
"At least let me drive," I said as I took another step closer. "You're upset "
"Let me get us out of here and we'll talk about it over dinner," he said, still holding the passenger side door for me.
I took another step closer. "Are you sure you can drive?"
He nodded.
A door opened to the left of us and his mother stood in the doorway. "Son, don't leave like this!" she said as Mr. Ambrose grabbed her arms, holding her back.
"Let's go! Now!" Logan yelled.
I quickly slid into the passenger seat, and he shut the door.
"Son, stop!" Mr. Ambrose yelled. "We can talk this out!"
Logan smirked. "I tried, but she obviously doesn't want to talk." He slid into the driver's seat.
"Logan, no!" Mrs. Ambrose yelled as her husband held her back. His mother broke free and slapped a button on the wall. The massive garage door started descending.
Logan quickly started the car. The tires squealed against the hard concrete floor as we sped toward the space that was quickly narrowing.
"Logan!" his mother screamed just as we narrowly missed the door and it came down behind us.
The car sped down the long driveway, and the tires squealed as Logan made a sharp turn to the right onto the main road. Headed toward what, I didn't know. The road ahead of us was dark-too dark to see anything beyond the headlights as the wind blew through the car.
"Logan, stop!" I yelled as he sped down the road, pushing the car harder.
Suddenly, there was a sharp curve in the road. "Logan, look out!" I screamed, but he quickly cut the wheel to the right, narrowly missing a cliff as rocks dropped down the side. "Logan, stop! Stop the car right now!" I placed my hand gently on the side of his face. "We're safe! They're not coming after us!"
He looked into my eyes, and then nodded as he pulled to a stop on the side of the road. He slid the car into park, leaving it idling as he leaned back against the headrest and closed his eyes.
"Logan, we're safe," I said as I placed a hand on the side of his face. "They can't hurt us."
Logan's head snapped up, and he looked directly into my eyes. "Are you sure you want to get involved in this? With a family like this?"
I forced a smile. "I want to be involved with you, Logan. Not your family," I said as I placed a hand on the side of his face, forcing him to look into my eyes. "I'm marrying you. Not your family."
A smile spread across his face. "Then, let's get married now."
"Now?" I asked in disbelief.
"Sure! Why not?" He looked into my eyes. "We have the rings. They won't be able to stop us if we're already married."
I nodded as I sat back in my seat. "So the only reason why you want to marry me tonight is to stop your parents?"
"Hey. No," he cooed as he placed a hand on my cheek, forcing me to look into his eyes. "I want to marry you because I love you."
I shook my head and closed my eyes as a tear rolled down my cheek. "I don't want to become a pawn between you and your parents."
"Hey, hey," he said as he gently shook my shoulders, forcing me to look into his eyes. "My parents have nothing to do with this."
My eyes narrowed.
"Okay, so they may have forced it a bit," he said, forcing a smile as the lights from the moonlight cast shadows across his face. "But the reason why I want to marry you is because I love you. So, what do you say, Alyssa Collins? Will you marry me? Tonight?" He ran his hand seductively down the side of my face.
I let out a deep breath. "You're really making it difficult to say no."
He smirked as he looked into my eyes. "I'm counting on it."
I looked out the window, watching the lights from the city in the distance setting below a dark blue blanket of stars. "Why tonight?" I asked, searching his eyes for the truth.
He smiled as he looked into my eyes. "Because we only have tonight. This moment. Tomorrow, we go our separate ways for who knows how long. We may be lucky enough to see each other in passing on the road, or we may not see each other until the end of our tours." His fingers trailed down the side of my face and dropped to my shoulder, and then down my arm. "So, what do you say? Will you marry me? Tonight?"
I forced a smile. "Well, if we're going to do it, we'd better get going."
Logan smiled as he reached for the gear shifter, but I placed a hand on his to stop him. "I love you, Logan."
"I love you, too," he said as his crystal blue eyes sparkled in the headlights of the car behind us.
Suddenly, we were hit from behind and I was thrown from the car onto the shoulder of the road. Pain instantly shot through me as I tried to orient myself.
Lay still and don't move, my mother's voice said in my mind, even though I knew that she wasn't there, as a blaring car horn roared within my ears.
My head began to spin as I looked up and saw that a van had plowed into the back of the Corvette. "Logan," I said in a weak voice. When I looked over, he was slumped over the wheel of the car. "Logan!" The horn blared, and then slowly began to fade. I fought to stay conscious, but the darkness quickly overtook me. "Logan " I said in a weak voice as everything went black.