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Whoever was after me, I couldn't fail tonight. Flooring the gas, I focused everything on escaping this trap and making it back to Natalia...
I pushed the sports car to its limits, putting distance between me and the remaining motorcycle. But I knew I couldn't outrun them forever. I had to end this chase now.
Up ahead, I spotted a cramped alley and made a sharp turn. I jumped out, leaving the car idling, and slipped into the shadows. The motorcycle roared past.
Pressed against the brick wall, I steadied my breathing and drew my weapon. This had to be finished. I couldn't lead them any closer to where Natalia waited.
The motorcycle's growl echoed as it turned around. My muscles tensed, ready to spring. As it crept back down the alley entrance, I leapt from the shadows directly into its path.
The rider swerved hard but too late. I fired two quick shots into the front wheel and engine, disabling the bike. It skiddedout, crashing sideways along the pavement with an ear-piercing screech of metal.
The rider tore off his helmet, rising from the wreckage with his gun already drawn. We exchanged a blistering hail of gunfire in the confines of the alley.
A bullet grazed my shoulder, white hot pain searing across my arm. But my aim was true - two shots to the chest and the assassin collapsed back against the brick wall, crimson rapidly spreading across his shirt.
I leaned there a moment, breathing hard. My shoulder oozed blood, but the wound wasn't fatal
I leaned against the alley wall, breathing hard. My shoulder oozed blood, but the wound wasn't fatal. Still, I had to bandage it before heading to the hotel. There could be more assassins lurking.
Moving quickly, I stripped off my shirt and tore a strip of fabric to tightly bind my shoulder, staunching the bleeding. I hissed in pain but kept pressure.
Satisfied it would hold, I pulled a fresh shirt from my car to cover the makeshift dressing. My arm burned fiercely, but I could still function. That would have to be enough for now.
I checked the time - nearly two hours had passed since I was supposed to meet Natalia. My chest ached imagining her waiting there, believing I had abandoned her.
The wise choice was to leave the city immediately, disappear for both our sakes. But the thought of not holding Natalia one last time was unbearable.
So pushing the pain aside, I got back on the road. Every instinct told me staying was reckless and foolish after tonight's ambush. But my heart overruled, refusing to let our last embrace slip away.
I had to see Natalia again, consequences be damned.
Natalia's POV:
The bustling lobby crowd had thinned as the evening wore on, but still there was no sign of Leonardo. I checked the ornate clock again - it was now over an hour past our meeting time.
My anxiety had transformed into sadness and embarrassment. Both guests and hotel staff cast me pitying glances as they passed by. I knew I must look pathetic, stood up and abandoned, yet refusing to accept it.
I should leave. I knew that. Waiting here alone and forlorn was only making me look more foolish. And yet...I couldn't make myself get up from the velvet sofa.
Because leaving would mean accepting Leonardo wasn't coming. That something had stopped him from joining me tonight as we had dreamed and planned for so long. I wasn't ready to confront that painful truth just yet.
Maybe he was just delayed and would come sweeping in any moment, full of passionate apologies and kisses to erase the wretchedness of this wait. I clung desperately to that fragile hope.
The staff likely thought I was some poor, delusional girl unable to comprehend being so clearly jilted. But they didn't understand. Leonardo and I had risked everything, defied all odds to be together here tonight. He wouldn't simply stand me up without reason. Something had to be wrong.
But as the minutes dragged on, hope dwindled into quiet heartbreak. My eyes stung with tears I refused to shed. I would wait all night if I had to. Because once I walked out those doors, I lost the last shred of belief that Leonardo would come for me after all. That our magic hadn't simply vanished.
The opulent lobby had become my personal purgatory. I curled up small on the velvet sofa, willing time itself to turn back and bring me my love again.
Leonardo's POV:
Tires screeching, I tore through the city streets towards the hotel. One hand kept pressure on my wounded shoulder, the other white-knuckled on the steering wheel.
Please still be there, I pled silently to Natalia. After the ambush, I knew the wise choice was to leave this place forever. Disappear and let her move on with her life, find some measure of happiness without me.
But I had to see Natalia one last time, no matter how reckless. Needed to explain in person why this was our final goodbye. The thought of her sitting there waiting, believing I had just abandoned her, was too painful to endure.
So I pushed the sports car faster, blowing through red lights and weaving past slower traffic. The city was just a neon blur outside. I was focused only on getting to the hotel before it was too late. Before Natalia gave up hope and walked away.
