I cried out as my body convulsed in pain. I felt warm. Too warm. I was burning. My vision blurred in front of me and I called out.
“Alessio!”
I saw Artur quickly moving toward the window. Acting on reflex, I pointed my gun and pulled the trigger.
I missed.
The bullet hit the window, and the glass shattered, throwing shards everywhere in the room.
Artur climbed out of the window, and as I fell on the ground, curling into a fetal position, I screamed again.
“Alessio!”
My heart stuttered a few times. When I saw Alessio running inside the room, followed by the others, I didn’t know whether to cry or be relieved.
There were gasps of surprise and looks of shock. Alessio knelt down beside me and pulled me into his arms. “Maddie?” he choked.
“Artur…” I gasped through the pain. “He…is…the…the…traitor…spy…”
Alessio’s expression thundered with fury. I kept talking, knowing I had little time left.
“He…knows,” I broke off when a fiery pain coursed through my body. I felt blood dribble in the corner of my lips.
I was going to die. Tears slid down my cheeks as I tried to speak. “He…knows…where…Ayla…is…”
Alessio bellowed something. I saw Viktor running out of the room. Nikolay jumped out of the window.
I stared back at Alessio, this time my body shaking with how heavy my sobbing was. Placing my hand over my stomach, right over where the bullet went through, I closed my eyes.
“My…baby…”
My heart had shattered the moment I realized I would never see my baby. I only found out the day before. But now, I had lost him before I even had a chance to see him.
I didn’t even know if I was having a girl or a boy. It was too early.
Opening my eyes again, I saw Alessio staring at me with a horrified expression. “Baby…my…baby…” I cried in his arms.
Behind his back, I saw Phoenix running into the room, followed by my mother. His face was a mask of horror as he ran to me, falling down to his knees next to Alessio.
He pulled me out of Alessio’s arm, who stayed frozen, his eyes empty and soulless. He was in shock.
I looked away from Alessio and up at Phoenix. When I saw tears in his eyes, my already bruised heart broke a little more.
I had never seen Phoenix cry. Ever. But right there in front of my eyes, I saw him break.
“Maddie,” he choked, pulling me to his chest. “Where’s Sam?” he bellowed.
“Maddie, hang in there. Okay? I’m right here,” he said against my cheek.
My fingers tightened around my stomach as the pain intensified until I found it harder and harder to breathe.
Phoenix placed kisses over my face, and I cried silently.
I was stupid…so so stupid.
“Don’t leave me, Maddie,” Phoenix whispered, kissing my lips gently.
Why did I stay away from him for so long? Why did we break each other?
My heart continued to ache as blackness slowly surrounded me, pulling me further under.
I brought my hand up and cupped his cheek. I tried to smile.
I wanted to give him my smile. He loved my smile.
But my lips felt stiff. I tried to speak, to tell him the truth.
Staring into his eyes, I pressed my palm against his cheek, willing him to understand what I couldn’t say.
I love—
My hand fell away, too weak to hold it up any longer. I lost sight of Phoenix and everything else as I was thrown into pitch blackness.
I went numb. All feelings were gone. Nothing hurt…I felt nothing.
As I succumbed to oblivion, I wished I had a chance to say those words to the man I truly loved.
I love you.
Chapter 41
Alessio
The sound of a gunshot was a shock through my body. Everything was silent, cold, as I stared at the piano thinking about Ayla.
And then the silence was gone. Replaced with the sound of a gunshot. I heard a scream. Then another gunshot.
Everything else happened in a blur. My feet acted of their own accord, and I was running out of the piano room without a second thought.
Another painful scream. Maddie’s voice. It was Maddie’s voice.
I followed the scream toward the end of the hall, my heart racing wildly in my chest. I heard footsteps behind me, and without looking, I knew it was Viktor and Nikolay. They were a few rooms away from mine. Without a doubt, they must have heard the gunshot too.
My feet slightly faltered to a stop when I realized the scream was coming from Artur’s room. I felt my eyes widen in panic and picked up my pace. Was the estate under attack?
Fuck no! Not again!
My hands tightened in fists as my body went tight with alarm. I rushed to open the door, my eyes wildly searching around the room, looking for the threat.
The first thing I saw was the broken window, and just for a brief moment, my mother’s face flashed in front of my eyes.