Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
After the fourth ring, she finally answered. “Constantine?” she asked in a tired voice.
“Sweetheart, I’m about to come at you with a lot, so listen carefully. Pack a bag and get ready to leave. My guys are moving you and Medusa to another location.”
That yanked her out of sleep in record time. “What’s happened?”
“I don’t have time for this. Do as I say.”
She didn’t ask me again. “Okay.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too,” she said quickly.
I hung up, told my guys to move the girls, called the security at the Vatican so they could discreetly move the pope in case he was a possible target, and then prepared for the moment I’d been waiting for.
To finally kill Darius.
Chapter 16
Aurelia
I jumped out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans.
Medusa seemed to know that something serious had happened, because she never got up when I peed in the middle of the night or when I doomscrolled on my phone because I couldn’t sleep. But she jumped off the bed and stood beside me—like she was guarding me.
I pulled on my bra and a top, not caring what I wore or if it matched. I slipped on a pair of flats, my heart racing so fast it made me dizzy. Constantine gave me no context in his phone call, but I assumed something bad had transpired if he felt pressured to move me somewhere else. The place was already surrounded by a wall, tall and thick like the one around the Vatican, and armed guards were everywhere.
If it wasn’t safe here, where was it safe?
I shoved my essentials into a bag and zipped it closed—and that was when I noticed how hard my hands shook. I didn’t know where Constantine was. I knew he was okay at the moment, but how long would that moment last? Who had threatened him enough to make him move me?
I looked at Medusa, who was still seated beside me. “He’ll be okay . . . he’ll be okay.”
She continued to stare at me with those dark-brown eyes . . . eyes that reminded me of Constantine.
I took a breath before I got to my feet and threw the bag over my shoulder. “Okay, let’s go. I’m guessing they’ll pick us up outside.” We left the bedroom and stepped out of the golden doors into the hallway. We were only halfway down it when we heard it.
The sound of gunshots.
A lot of gunshots. Automatic weapons, hundreds of rounds passing through the barrels in just a few seconds. It was hard to know where it came from because the palace was enormous, but if I could hear it so well . . . that wasn’t a good sign.
“Shit.”
Medusa released a low growl as she stared at the door at the end of the corridor.
“Fuck, what do we do?”
She growled again, baring her teeth as she stared down the door.
“Think, think, think.” I could call Constantine, but if someone had hit the palace, he probably already knew about it. I had to survive long enough for him to get here. “I need a gun.” I dropped the bag and headed back to the suite, knowing Constantine had stuff in the closet.
I made it back into the bedroom and stepped into the walk-in closet. I flicked on the light and looked around frantically, opening the drawer where he kept his watches, trying to open the locked safe in the back. I felt like there was a gun around all the time, and then when I actually needed one, there were none to be found. “Maybe his nightstand.” I headed back to the bedroom and opened the top drawer of his nightstand. There it sat, a large black handgun. I picked it up, felt the weight of it in my hand, and checked the safety to make sure it was off. I had no idea if it was loaded and didn’t know how to check, but I assumed it was.
Medusa came back to me.
“Okay, we’ll just lie low—”
There was more gunfire, and this time, it was loud. Loud enough that I nearly jumped out of my skin. Medusa didn’t bark, but she released a vicious growl as she turned back to the door.
I dropped down and squatted by the bed, dropping the gun on the rug beside me as I gave a loud cry in sheer terror. The only reason the sound of gunshots was getting louder was because they were coming closer, and they were getting closer because they were coming for me.
This was what Constantine warned me about. The price I had to pay to be with him.
He promised nothing would ever happen to me, but I had to fight like he wasn’t coming. Had to buy him enough time to get to me. Because I knew he was rushing through the streets that very moment to stop whoever had come for me.