Everything changed in what seemed like a split second. Someone knocked on their door, and Marketa went to open. Roman heard the tone of her voice. Fearful, although she tried to sound angry.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" She snarled.
"Marketa? Who is it?" He called.
"Don't come out here!" She yelled.
Her tone was begging. More fearful. Something was clearly wrong. Of course he didn't do as she asked. He went out there and was met with the most gruesome thing he had ever seen.
"Roman," she whispered.
His pearl grey eyed, rust red haired fiance stood there but it was the red haired man behind her that concerned him. Her ex Sami. Even more concerning was the knife he held against her throat.
"Don't make a move!" Sami threatened.
"Let her go!" Roman growled.
"Please," Marketa whispered. "What do you want, Sami?"
"I want you back. Isn't it obvious?" Sami asked in frustration.
Roman took a step forward.
"Ah-ah!" Sami warned. "You might be big but I got a knife."
"If you hurt her!" Roman's voice dripped with venom.
"Yeah yeah, you hurt me. Yada yada. You won't get the chance, big boy. We're leaving together," Sami said.
"Over my dead body," Roman said.
"Roman!" Marketa found Roman's eyes. "Don't. Now is not the fucking time to play hero."
"You hear that, big boy?" Sami taunted. "Give me the car keys and we'll be on our way."
Roman reached for his jacket hanging on the wall. He found the car keys and held them up.
"Throw them," Sami said.
Roman threw the keys at Marketa's feet. He was hoping Sami would let her pick them up so he could somehow make a move. Just jump over her and ram his entire body weight into Sami.
"Down. Slowly," Sami said.
Roman sneered when he saw Sami bend his knees along with Marketa so the knife never left her throat as she picked up the keys.
"Let's go," Sami said. "You stay here, big boy. If you step outside of this house, you'll get a corpse to bury."
"I'll find you," Roman said. "One way or another, I'll fucking find you, Sami."
"She'll be my wife by then. Nothing you can do about it," Sami said.
"Is that your plan? Marry her? And then what, Sami? You can't force her to stay with you after that, and you won't find any minister around here who'll marry her against her will," Roman said.
"I'll figure it out," Sami said. "We're leaving, Marketa."
Sami pulled Marketa backwards out of the house. Her eyes never left Roman. He nodded to her to try and communicate with her in silence.
"It's gonna be okay," Marketa whispered.
"Of course it is," Sami chuckled. "We're together again."
Marketa nodded back at Roman before she disappeared out of his view. He ran back to grab his phone to call the police. He ran to the window and saw Sami push Marketa into the passenger seat.
"Let me drive," Marketa said.
"I don't trust you not to crash the car," Sami said. "Seat belt."
Once the seat belt was secured, he crawled over her body to get to the driver's seat. He wasn't taking any chances by walking around the car. He inserted the key and started the car.
"Show me the glove compartment," he said.
She opened it and he looked inside. There was nothing but some paper and a pen in there.
"Good, no weapons," he smiled. "I can never be too sure when it comes to you."
She nodded in understanding. What he didn't know was that there was a weapon in the car. Unfortunately it was under his seat. It made sense when Roman said it was best to have a weapon under the seat in case someone jumped into the car while waiting at a red light. People would always search glove compartments first. It was better to be a surprise element. Only problem was that she couldn't get to the gun under the seat with Sami sitting there.
"Road trip!" He grinned.
He started driving away. She felt her heart sink as the car moved away from the house. She always knew he was crazy and somewhere she had always feared he would come back to try again, but this was insane. He had officially lost it.
She was brought out of her thoughts when his hand hit her cheek. He kept slapping and punching without looking at her. She tried shielding her face with her hands but he kept getting through.
"How the fuck could you leave me for him?" He yelled.
"I'm sorry!" She yelled. "Please, stop! Sami, stop! I'm sorry!"
"You better be!" He growled.
At least he stopped hitting her. He placed his hand back on the steering wheel and held on so tight that his knuckles turned white.
"What the fuck am I to do with you?" He mumbled. "We just gotta keep driving all night. I can't trust that you won't try and run if we find a place to sleep. Tomorrow we'll find someone to marry us. Once you're officially mine, you're not gonna run."
He turned his head to look at her.
"You're not gonna run, are you?" He asked.
"No," she lied.
"You're not gonna run," he smirked. "You'll be mine forever."
He turned his focus back to the car. She studied his face as it turned into annoyance.
"What the hell?" He asked. "Why didn't you put gas on the car?"
"I was going to tomorrow," she said.
"We need it now!" He yelled. "Fuck!"
He turned the corner and drove towards a gas station.
"This is your fault, Marketa. Your fault. Now I have to make a fucking stop. This is all your fault," he angrily said.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you would come tonight," she said.
"You should have known," he said.
"If you had called first, I would have been ready," she said.
She tried to talk to his delusional side. If he believed she wanted to be with him, there was a chance he would lower his guards, and she could escape somehow. He turned the car into the gas station, stopped, and looked at her. The car keys disappeared down into his pocket so she couldn't get them.
"Get out," he said. "One wrong move and you'll regret it."
He grabbed her arm before opening the car door in his side. He got out of the car and pulled her over to the driver's seat so he wouldn't have to leave her for a second too long.
"Start pumping," he said.
He never let go of her arm. She felt his other hand with the knife on her back. One wrong move and she would end in a wheelchair. She pumped gas on the car and filled it up all the way.
"Shit, we gotta go pay," he said.
"I don't have my credit card on me," she said.
"What?" He growled.
"You didn't let me grab anything, Sami," she said.
"Fuck it, I'll pay then," he said. "Shit, what am I gonna do with you?"
He pulled her towards the gas station where a young man stood behind the counter.
"Remember, a word and you're dead. He'll be dead too," he whispered.
They walked inside and Sami steered her towards the bathroom in the back.
"Stay in there while I pay," he whispered.
He pushed her inside the bathroom and closed the door before putting on his best, fake smile and walked towards the counter.
"Anything else?" The young man asked.
"I could use some gum and coffee. Four red bulls too. It's gonna be a long night," Sami grinned. "I'm getting married in the morning. We are. Me and my girl in the back. We're gonna be together forever."
He heard the young man say something but he didn't hear what. His eyes were focused on one of the camera screens behind the counter. Marketa had snuck out of the bathroom and was moving towards the door. He spun around and met her eyes.
"Don't!" He warned.
She took one step forward and the sliding doors opened. She sprinted out of the gas station, and he ran after her as fast as he could.
"Marketa!" He yelled.
She ran to the car and opened the door to the driver's seat. He couldn't help but laugh at what he thought was a pathetic attempt to get away.
"Where are you going, bitch?" He laughed. "I got the keys."
She popped back up and started walking around the car.
"That's better," he smirked. "I'm not even that mad. It was kind of cute. Pathetic but still cute. You know your place, Marketa. Stop acting like a drama queen."
His smile dropped when her full body came back into view. She was holding a gun in her hand.
"Where did you get that from?" He asked nervously.
"Under the seat," she answered.
He held up his hands and took a step backwards.
"Don't do anything you'll regret," he said.
"What's wrong with you, Sami?" She started crying. "Why couldn't you just let me be? I spent so long fearing for my life when I was with you. It took forever for me to trust Roman. He was so patient with me. I'm finally at a place where I love my life again. Why do you have to come back and ruin it for me? Why, Sami?"
"You will not speak his name!" He shouted. "Once I'm done with you, I'll go back there and kill him myself."
He started running towards her. She pulled the trigger. A loud bang sounded. He took a step backwards and made a weird sound. He looked down and saw blood start running out of his chest, painting his off-white t-shirt red.
"What have you done?" He whispered.
"Stop, Sami!" She begged. "Just stop. I don't wanna do this. Leave me alone."
He placed his hand on his chest and sank to his knees. Blood was pouring out between his fingers. He was struggling to stay alive. It was a short fight. It only took five seconds but it felt like an eternity to her before he fell to the side and didn't move.
She let her arms drop down, and the gun fell to the ground. She stood there frozen, looking at his body. Tears were streaming down her face but she couldn't move or even stop looking at him. She didn't even hear cars drive in. Someone grabbed her and forced her into a car. Everything was in a blur. She saw sirens and heard voices, but she couldn't make out any words or faces. Not until a certain face came running towards the car.
"Let her out!" Roman yelled.
The car door opened, and two strong arms reached in and pulled her out. She smelled his scent and buried her face in his chest while she broke down. He sat down on the ground with her in his arms, slowly rocking her from side to side.
"It's okay, sweetheart. I got you. It's over now. It's all gonna be okay," he said.
"Why did he make me shoot him?" She whispered.
"You did what you had to do. I'm so proud of you, Marketa. So fucking proud," he said.
"We need to get her to the station to answer some questions," a female voice said.
Roman looked up and met the gentle eyes of a female officer. He nodded his head in understanding.
"You can ride with her in the back if you want. She's not under arrest," the officer said.
"Thank you," Roman said. "Okay, sweetheart, we gotta go."
"I don't want to," Marketa whimpered.
"You gotta do this. I'll be right there with you. And tomorrow I'm gonna pamper you to no end. Hot chocolate in bed. How does that sound? I know you love cuddling in bed with hot chocolate and a good movie. Any movie you want. Whatever you want, I'll deliver," Roman said.
She sniffled and finally turned her head up to look at him. Those pearl grey eyes were full of tears and pain, but he could see his fiance behind all the hurt. She would get through this. They would get through it together.
"I want that pasta dish with cheese sauce and corn you make in the oven," she said.
He grinned at her. She smiled through her tears. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"You got it," he said.
"I was so scared," she whispered.
"I was scared too," he tightened his arms around her. "I love you so much."