In suffocating silence, my heart thumps as the echo of those memories whisper around the high ceilings, forever contained in this old manor house.
Padding over the cold flooring, a shiver of loneliness creeps over me. So many times, I’d ambled through this primeval entrance hall, but this morning, it feels very different. My pace becomes faster, impatient.
Leo.
Drenched in shadows and dressed for a ball, I’m covered in blood, filth, and with black mascara tracking pale cheeks. I look like something from a harrowing nightmare instead. Apprehension slithers over me, even though I’m glad to have finally reached home.
A pin could drop, and I’d hear it land. It’s that quiet. Eerie. Then again, these hallways always were peaceful.
I hurry through the still manor house, unlock the steel door in the kitchen, and make my way through the concrete passageway linking old to new.
Before I know it, I’m staring at framed photographs of Giovanni and his cute son. The homely smell I’d grown to love surrounds me like a warm hug. I press a hand to my aching heart and stoop over to inhale. There aren’t any signs of a struggle and the control panel on the wall shows all the motion detectors are working.
I blow out a jet of air and close my eyes, taking a second to recover. As soon as a muted sob leaves me, I despise myself for being so goddamn feeble. This isn’t the time for pathetic tears. But I’m overwhelmed, my chest in knots from failure and anger.
I did this.
Giovanni killed Castillo to protectme. Because of that, we’d pissed off the Blanco cartel and now they’ve taken him from me… maybe they’ve taken him forever.
I straighten, breathe heavily, and gulp down the painful lump in my throat. Everything hurts from my head to my heart. I stagger across the kitchen, needing a drink of water and a little more time to regroup.
When I reach inside the fridge, all I see in the light are my unclean fingernails, the edges encrusted in our enemy’s blood. I exhale and stare down at my sweat laden cleavage and the bodice snug to my chest. It has lost its sparkle, looking faded from a layer of dust.
I’m a mess.
If Leo finds me like this, he’d know something’s wrong and it would scare him. I have to believe the Souza army would find Giovanni alive, that he’d show up in a few hours.
I inch backward, unscrew the cap of a water bottle and take a long drink.
“Put your hands up!” Lola’s stern voice makes me jump.
I do a fast one-eighty and feel my head spin from the movement. There she stands, a nine-millimeter handgun pointed right at me, and her hair wound up in rollers. She levels me with a fierce glare and continues to speak. “I wasn’t expecting you home until tomorrow afternoon. Where’s Giovanni?”
“Why are you pointing a gun at me, Lola?”
“Look at you… you’re covered in blood, wearing his watch, and home ahead of schedule… without him. What did you do to Giovanni?” She hisses at me. “He trusted you witheverything.”
I shake my head and hold my arms out wide. “It’s not what you think.” My voice trembles. “Is Leo safe?”
“Leo is not your concern.”
Jesus. This woman is loyal to a fault.
I roll my lips between my teeth while I blink away the tears stinging my eyes. “We were ambushed. They sedated me. Took us both to a warehouse on the other side of town. He saved me, Lola… but there wasn't anything I could do to save him. I let him down… they had him surrounded. But I phoned my brother. I mean…” I hiccup. “I phoned Dré. He’s sending an army in to get him. They have to get him, Lola, because I can’t face losing him too.”
When I suck in a tattered sob, she lowers her weapon. “I found my way home without telling Dré where I was going. Gio isn’t ready to open his world up to them. Not yet, but… they could protect Leo if they knew he existed. If he needed them. And now… now I don’t know what to do.”
Lola sighs, the gun in her hand now pointing at the tiles underfoot. “You did the right thing. His brothers will do the rest.”
“What if they’re too late?”
Both of us fall silent. “He’ll do whatever it takes to come home, that I can promise you.”
I set the water bottle on the island and move to the glass fronted room where the golden sun rises on the horizon. It doesn't matter that pretty sun rays sparkle over the flat ocean, it still looks dark and cold. And that’s exactly how I feel inside.
“There were seven of them and only one of him,” I mutter. “I know what men like that do to their enemies. We can’t tell Leo about this, not until we know for sure.” I twist my shaky hands around to study the blood on them, not feeling anything for the pain I’d inflicted. “Do you have a phone?”
“What for?” She challenges. “If you think you can invite his family here without his blessing, you can’t. I won’t let you. And they can’t trace the call either. It’s impossible to do that here.”
