Karli dragged her feet toward the awning. Her breath came in ragged, painful gasps. Blood from her forearms mixed with the rain, dripping onto the concrete.
She looked up at the man leaning against the Volkswagen. The flickering neon light illuminated a jawline carved from granite and a pair of eyes that were chillingly indifferent.
Darnell heard the dragging footsteps. He turned his head slightly. His dark eyes narrowed, instantly assessing the threat level of the approaching figure.
He held the cigarette between his long, calloused fingers. The cherry glowed bright red in the dark. He watched the soaked, bleeding woman stumble toward him without moving a muscle.
Karli swallowed hard. Her throat felt like sandpaper. She ignored the intense, dangerous aura radiating from him and took a desperate step forward.
She reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his black jacket. Her muddy, bloody fingers stained the dark fabric instantly.
Darnell looked down at her hand gripping his arm. His jaw clenched. He didn't push her away, but his body went completely rigid, projecting a silent, lethal warning.
Karli stared directly into his eyes. Her voice was a hoarse, desperate rasp. She asked him if he was single, and if he would marry her right now.
Darnell's fingers paused halfway to his mouth. A flicker of genuine surprise broke through his cold facade. It sounded like the punchline to a terrible joke.
He took a slow drag of his cigarette, exhaled a thick cloud of smoke into the damp air, and looked down at her. His voice was a low, rough baritone. He asked why he would ever agree to marry a lunatic off the street.
Karli coughed as the smoke hit her lungs. Her grip on his jacket tightened until her knuckles ached. She spoke rapidly, the words tumbling over each other.
She told him she needed a legal marriage immediately to escape her abusive family. She promised she would clean, cook, pay her own way, and never interfere in his personal life. She just needed his name on a piece of paper.
Darnell stared at her pale, desperate face. The unyielding fire in her eyes triggered a memory from just hours ago. The Rocha family elders had sat in his office, delivering their final ultimatum: bring home a wife by tomorrow, or accept the arranged marriage with the Lewis family daughter.
His gaze swept over Karli's features again. Something about the shape of her eyes and the stubborn set of her jaw sent a strange jolt through his chest. It was a ghost of a memory, overlapping with the woman from the hotel room three years ago.
He dropped his cigarette onto the wet concrete. He crushed it under the heavy heel of his tactical boot. It was an insane, impulsive decision, but it solved his immediate problem.
He looked at her and said a single word. "Fine." He added that they were going to City Hall right now, before either of them could back out.
Karli's knees nearly buckled. The suffocating tension in her chest released just enough to let her breathe. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. She nodded frantically.
Darnell turned and pulled open the passenger door of the rusted Volkswagen. He gestured for her to get in.
Karli slid onto the seat. The exterior of the car was outdated and unremarkable, but the interior was spotless, smelling faintly of expensive cedar and leather. It was eerily quiet inside, blocking out the storm completely.
Darnell got into the driver's seat. He turned the key. The engine purred with a smooth, hidden power. He pulled out of the lot, driving toward downtown Chicago.
The cabin was dead silent. Karli leaned her head against the cold glass of the window, watching the streetlights blur into streaks of yellow. Her mind was entirely blank.
Thirty minutes later, the VW pulled up to the side entrance of the Chicago City Hall. "I know someone who works the night shift here," Darnell said quietly as he killed the engine. "He owes me a favor and can process the paperwork off the books."
They walked into the brightly lit lobby. Karli's mud-caked clothes and bleeding arms immediately drew the harsh stares of the security guards.
Darnell stepped smoothly in front of her. His broad shoulders completely shielded her from their view. He shot the guards a look so cold and authoritative that they immediately looked away and stepped back.
They walked up to the night-duty clerk's window. The bored clerk slid two marriage license applications across the counter and demanded their IDs.
Karli reached into her wet pocket with trembling fingers. She pulled out the driver's license she had just gotten back from the warden. She could barely hold the cheap plastic pen the clerk handed her.
Darnell took the pen. He signed his name on the forms with sharp, aggressive strokes. He slid the papers back under the glass partition.
The clerk processed the forms. He picked up the heavy metal stamp and brought it down on the marriage certificate. The loud thwack echoed in the empty hall. It was legally binding.
Karli stared at the piece of paper. The adrenaline that had kept her running for three hours instantly evaporated. The edges of her vision turned black. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed straight toward the cold marble floor.
Darnell caught her before she hit the ground.
