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“Baby,” Lorenzo said, coming around the counter to stand before me. He took my hands in his and kissed them. “I know you’re scared. I am too. We are safe for the time being. Gideon and Jonathon are working hard to find a place where you can breathe. Right now, we are at one of his places. It’s off the grid. No one knows where we’re at.”

“And you honestly believe that bullshit?” I scoffed, annoyed he would even say that shit to me. “Lorenzo. There is no place on earth where I will be safe. Gideon knows that. Gideon was the first to act when I told you what I created and why they wanted me. He knew this was going to be a losing battle. Eventually they will find me and when they do, they will force me to give them the formula.”

“No.” Lorenzo said stubbornly.

“You know I’m right.”

“I won’t allow that to happen.”

God, could he be more chivalrous? He was making it hard for me not to love him. He wanted so much to protect me and when it came down to it…he couldn’t. I knew that. Gideon knew that. Everyone knew it but him. For a man who lived his life selfishly, he had a heart. A big caring heart and I adored him for that.

“Lorenzo. You can’t stop this. I love you but….”

“NO!” he shouted, moving away from me. “You said conversations that end in but are meaningless. That everything that comes after but is the truth. I won’t believe that. I can’t.”

Fuck, he was going to make me say it.

Taking a deep breath, I carefully said, “There is nothing you can do to stop this. I’ve run the scenarios in my head. They will come for me. They will get the formula and then they will kill me.”

“No!” he said, repeatedly, pacing the room. I looked at Nico and Eduardo, who both understood what I was saying. Each stood solemnly as I tried to make Lorenzo understand what was at stake here. I may not be able to save my life but I could save his. He could walk away right now and live his life. They all could.

Taking a step closer, I tried to reach out for him but he backed away shaking his head. The pain and anguish radiating off of him was killing me. I didn’t want to be the one to hurt him like this but I needed him to understand that he was fighting a losing battle.

We all were.

I knew that back at my aunt’s compound when I remembered the truth about why my parents really left. What my aunt was really doing. How truly evil she was. As for Gideon, I wasn’t sure. I knew what he said but that was his mother. Would a son truly go against his own mother? Would he be capable of killing her if need be?

I didn’t think so but what did I know. I loved my mother. I wanted to be just like her and when she died, a part of me died with her.

“Lorenzo, please.”

I stood my ground, begging him to understand and when he turned towards me a blinding light flashed before my eyes as my world exploded before me.

Twenty-Nine

Lorenzo

Crackling embers of something burning caused me to cough. Pain on my left side had me rolling over as I tried to take a deep breath. Slowly opening my eyes, I surveyed the devastation as Sanctuary was no more. Large cement rocks, wrought iron beams and glass surrounded me.

Sitting up, I saw black swirls of smoke that blocked out the starry night.

It was gone. The building was gone.

Slowly getting to my feet, I reached out, touching a pile of rubble for support.

Coughing, I covered my mouth trying to block out the smoke.

Shaking my head, I tried to get the ringing in my ears to stop ringing. Everything hurt, even my eyelashes. Moving slowly through the rubble, I tried to make sense of what I was seeing as what just happened came back to me like a wrecking ball.

“Donatella!” I shouted, shifting debris out of my way, trying to find her.

One minute we were arguing, the next the world exploded around us. That’s when I remembered my cousins, Nico and Eduardo. They were with us. They were sitting in the living room watching some stupid movie, laughing.

Tripping, I fell to my knees landing on a small rock which caused me to yell out. Sitting on my ass, I looked at my leg and cursed. There was a piece of glass embedded in my thigh right above my knee. Closing my eyes, I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart. With a strength I didn’t know I had, I grabbed the piece of glass and yanked it out. Blood oozed, as all the pain I felt was now concentrated on my leg. Removing my tie, I wrapped it around my thigh just above the wound and tied it off as tight as I could.

“Donatella!”

Silence surrounded me as I carefully got back to my feet, testing out my weight on my leg. Seeing that I could stand, I slowly made my way through what was once the main living space of the apartment we were in.


Tags: Rebecca Joyce Crime