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He steps down, pausing to eye me once more before he slips into the car and pulls away.
“We need to sweep one more time, make sure they’re all out,” Gio says.
Bass nods while Victoria calls me to her.
“We need to get you out of here.”
“I’ll help.”
“I don’t think—”
My eyes fly to Gio. “I will help.”
He throws his hands up and rushes back inside.
I start with where I saw the maids, but they’re already gone, so I throw open each door I can find, but all the rooms are already empty.
“We already went through and evacuated, but it’s protocol to sweep twice.” Gio steps beside me. He looks at a little tablet looking thing with bright orange and red colors moving across the screen. “I think there’s still someone on the south end.” He pushes a little button on his watch, speaking into it. “Alec, you on the grounds?” he asks.
“East exit. Opened up the horse pens,” comes back through the watch.
Gio stalks off. “Shit, someone’s still here. You should head out now to be safe!” he shouts as he starts jogging.
With one last, quick glance I head back the way I came. I pass a large, open window overlooking a garden and skid to a stop. I knock on the glass, but the woman outside doesn’t turn around.
“Shit.”
I follow the wall, finding no door, so I keep down the opposite hall, finally coming to a sitting room of sorts with a large sliding window. I push it open and rush out into the yard.
Bright pink and purple flowers line the edges of the walkways, perfectly lined rocks and exotic trees strategically placed here and there.
“Hey!” I shout at the woman, but she makes no move.
I approach the cement bench she’s perched on, walking a little forward to get a look at her face.
Estella, Collins’ mom.
“You need to get out of here.”
“I can’t,” she whispers, a sad smile on her face. “I can’t leave him here, alone.”
I frown, my eyes following hers.
White flowers sit in an over clustered line. I step closer.
A long, rectangular line...
“People here, they don’t die by mistake. There’s a purpose for everyone and everything. A risk and a reward. Here, liabilities are not welcome.”
My eyes fly to hers.
“He learned the truth,” she whispers.
“Who?”
“Felix,” she breathes.
My jaw clenches. “Truth about what?”
This time, the sorrow in her smile reaches her eyes as she reluctantly moves them to mine. “You.”
I don’t break the contact, but she can’t keep hers on me for long.
She looks back to the seven-foot-long, almost three-foot-wide bed of flowers.
“He searched for your mother, for years. He thought she was hurt somewhere.”
My eyes widen, and I look from the tulips to her. “Felix did?”
She blinks away tears, nodding lightly as she takes a deep breath. “He loved me when we were together, but Ravina...” Her voice trails off. “She had his heart. Completely.”
I move in front of her and her eyes snap to mine.
“He was a good man, noble. Far too noble for this place. He should have waited for Brayshaw to see it, and they would have, I have no doubt, but the minute she was on the line, his last chance to have her, he was all in. I know what Rolland thinks of him, but I wasn’t pregnant with Collins yet when he left me.” She looks to her hands. “It was hard, but he wasn’t a monster leaving his unborn son for a woman.” She lets out a small, sad laugh. “Who am I kidding, he was never a monster to me. Not even when he almost left me, us by then, a second time.”
“You got back together, after everything?”
“Sort of,” she admits. “When Ravina left, he was a shell of himself. Donley came to me and asked me to go to his room and take his mind off the loss. I did. For several weeks, after nightfall, I’d go to him.”
“And you ended up pregnant.”
She nods. “Donley moved me in shortly after that, to the maid’s quarters, of course.” She scoffs, a tear falling, but she doesn’t wipe it away. “We didn’t stop sleeping together. Almost every night since the night I was moved in, I slept in his bed, until one day, he came home from a week-long business trip. I was excited to see him, Collins was excited. I remember the night well. The chef had made prime rib. We served it with a glass of aged Merlot. Felix was so happy,” she whispers. “He smiled wider than I’d seen in so long, played basketball with Collins that evening without the trouble in his eyes he normally had when he looked at his son. I was over the moon. I’d thought, he’s back,” she cries. “Finally, after ten years of being a ghost of the man I knew, he was back.”
