Lucas
I palmed my cell in my hand, my jaw clenched. After last night, I had woken this morning with the realization that I had no one. If I was going to survive this shit with Adrian, I needed to line up my allies quickly before he struck.
I just couldn’t bring myself to dial the number.
It didn’t help that I had had a dream, no, a nightmare, about Leda and my shit ability to protect her.
I raced down the hallway, lightning flashing through the window outside, my heart fucking nearly pounding out of my chest. My palm was slick with sweat as it gripped the gun tightly, holding onto it like it was my last lifeline.
Maybe it was.
I skidded to a stop and turned the corner, all the air in my lungs leaving in one fell swoop. There she stood, her black dress billowing around her ankles, her hair down around her shoulders.
But it wasn’t her gorgeous looks that were taking my breath away. It was the knife pressed against her throat that had me leveling my gun at Adrian’s forehead. “Let her go.”
Adrian let out a laugh. “You really think it’s going to be that easy, Lucas? That you will threaten me with a gun, and I will just let her go like that?” He pressed the blade against her skin tighter, and Leda let out a whimper. “I don’t think so.”
I raised my hands immediately. “I’ll put it down. Just don’t hurt her.”
He didn’t lower the knife, but I placed the gun on the floor, my eyes on Leda. “I’ll get you out of this.”
“L-Lucas,” she said, her eyes wide with terror. “I love you.”
“No,” I bit out, my voice harsh. “Don’t say it like that.” She was saying it like I couldn’t get her out of Adrian’s grasp, like I was about to fail her.
“Look at that,” Adrian mocked, a grin on his face. “Someone does love you after all. Does she know what you are, Lucas? Does she know who she’s been fucking?”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” I growled. “Let her go and fight me like a man.”
Adrian let out a tsking sound. “No, I don’t think I will.”
It happened in slow motion. I couldn’t move fast enough as Adrian’s knife slid across Leda’s throat, her cry coming out in a gurgle as Adrian let go and she fell to the ground. I was at her side in an instant, the warm blood sliding over my hand. “Don’t move,” I told her, frantically trying to stem the flow.
She grabbed my hand, her eyes wide with fear now, and I felt the sting of tears. “Fuck! I love you,” I told her as the tears streamed down my cheeks unchecked. “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me alone, please, Leda. I will do anything.”
Her grip tightened before her eyes rolled back in her head, and she slumped against me. “No!” I shouted, emotion clogging my throat. “No, fuck, no, I can’t. Please don’t take her.”
The dream had seemed so real that I could feel her blood on my hands when I had jolted awake. She had slumbered on beside me and I had tightened my hold, hoping to God I would never have to experience something like that in real life.
I wasn’t going to let Leda die because of me, and it would be a chilly day in hell before Adrian got his hands on her again.
I had to protect her. I had to protect us both, and if it meant swallowing my fucking pride, then I was going to do it.
The problem was, I didn’t have many places to turn. Not anymore.
Blowing out a breath, I looked out of the window, the trees swaying gently in the distance from the morning wind. I fucking hated this. I hated feeling this way, like I couldn’t control anything in my life. I wasn’t one to lose control often. Even when I was an enforcer, killing people for Cosimo, I was in control. I prided myself on being levelheaded, unable to be ruffled easily and quick to react, to strike without anyone knowing what I was going to do.
Now I couldn’t do shit. My resources were dwindling. Emil wasn’t finding anything that was going to help me in the city, and I was nothing more than a sitting duck awaiting his fate.
I wasn’t the only one in that position now. The woman sleeping upstairs was in just as dangerous a position that I couldn’t do anything about. Leda was sitting on the ticking time bomb like I was, and I hated it. There was no one else in my life about whom I would worry. Cosimo had been the only one who had been my priority when he was alive, and for years after his death, I’d enjoyed the freedom of doing things without thinking of the consequences.
I couldn’t do that anymore. It wasn’t just about Leda either. It was about my legacy, the future that had been handed to me, and I was on the verge of losing it all.
I ran a hand over my face wearily. I could take my chances, of course, and not make this call, making this house my last stand.
Or I could run like a coward, head to one of the many houses around the world and put myself in seclusion for the rest of my days, leaving those that had been faithful to me to fend for themselves.
It would be far too easy to do so. I had funds. I had a means of supporting myself and disappearing, going off the grid.