Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
All the guys on the ground started to plead, whimpering when they knew what was coming.
He went to the first one and stood over him, holding the lit match before him. “You’ve violated the laws of the Roman Republic, and as Emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire, I hereby sentence you to death.” He flicked the match on the body, and flames immediately ensued.
The screams . . . I would never forget them.
The guy desperately rolled as he tried to put them out, and he rolled into his comrade, who also caught fire. Another wave of screams erupted as they were both burned alive, screaming for a reprieve that hadn’t come yet, not until the flames made it past all the layers of skin.
The screams abated, but they continued to burn.
Constantine went to the third man and did the same. Lit the match and read out his sentence before he tossed the fire onto the pile of gasoline. Another ball of flames exploded and illuminated the alleyway between the closed businesses.
That left Pierre.
I knew there was something wrong with Timothée. He knew this entire time. He didn’t stare at me because he was attracted to me. He stared at me because he thought I was a perfect target. No family. No boyfriend. And I lived alone. He assumed no one would notice I was gone until it was far too late.
“Tell me who you work for, and I’ll be merciful.” Constantine pulled out the handgun from the back of his jeans and cocked it. “Or don’t—and you’ll burn.”
The answer was clear to me.
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know,” Pierre said as he trembled from the ground. “If you let me go.”
Constantine smiled down at him, but it was fucking eerie. Then he raised his gun and shot him in the leg. The gunshot reverberated off both the walls, amplifying it to reach across the entire city.
Pierre screamed like he’d been set on fire.
“I’ve laid out your options—now choose.”
Pierre continued to writhe, blood pooling out of his broken leg, his body already a crumpled pile of messed-up bones. The flames beside him made him perspire. He already looked like he was on the precipice of death. “His name is Clement . . .”
“Where can I find him?”
“I’ve never met him.”
“How do you get your orders?”
“He calls.”
“Where were you supposed to take her?”
“To a warehouse. The address is . . .” He struggled to hold on to consciousness. “Via di Casal Boccone . . . 283.”
Constantine raised the gun and shot him in the head. “Thank you for your cooperation, asshole.” He turned to Rocco. “We take the warehouse now. Might already be tipped off.”
Rocco nodded in agreement. “What about Aurelia?”
“I’ll have the doctor look after her until we’re done.”
Rocco headed to the other car. “I’ll send a cleanup crew and meet you there.”
Constantine headed toward my Range Rover, and my heart gave a lurch when he neared. His enormous body came through the open doorway, and then he was there, his neck bent down to look at me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“My doctor is going to take care of you until I finish this. Meet you at the house.”
“Oh, okay.” I wasn’t sure what I expected, but I hoped for something more. Like a passionate kiss, even though the situation didn’t permit it at all. The bodies in the road were still on fire. Constantine had just shattered a dozen bones with just his boot minutes ago. And just because he saved me didn’t mean he wanted to be with me. He’d slept with Isabella and that meant nothing, so maybe this meant nothing too.
Chapter 23
Aurelia
When Constantine said he would meet at the house, I wasn’t sure which house he meant. His or mine.
But when the driver pulled behind a colossal gate and we arrived at a villa I could only describe as a palace, I knew he meant his residence. Security was stationed on the property, on either side of the enormous thirty-foot doorway, near the potted olive trees and along the solid wall that separated his private home from the rest of the bustling city.
The doctor came around the other side and helped me out of the car because I was still weak. I felt like ash was burning in my body. My muscles didn’t respond to commands the same way, and I could never really catch my breath. My lungs’ need for air was simply out of sync with what my body needed.
Security opened the double doors, and I stepped into a whole different world. An entryway guarded by two Egyptian statues of the god Anubis. They were enormous and flanked the short staircase that led to the next part of the house. The expansive room had a long table in the center, which held another sculpture of the Eye of Horus. And the walls were covered in paintings and artwork, and the floor-to-ceiling window on one side showed some kind of garden space.