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He stared at me, and I glared right back. His chubby face looked me up and down, leering at me as if he was undressing me with his eyes right then and there.
I gripped the bouquet in my hands, feeling the sweat on my palms grow clammy. My hands were shaking with my endless nerves. I jumped when music started playing behind me, the traditional beats of a wedding song far too loud and jarring for me.
I didn’t want this to be real. I didn’t want any of this. I lifted my eyes to the sky and tried to find some semblance of courage from within me. There wasn’t any to be found. This wasn’t like Grayson and me; there wasn’t even a modicum of tension between us, not a single sliver of curiosity. Nemesio was a monster, a ruthless criminal who ran one of the most dangerous cartels in the world. He’d spill my blood in a heartbeat if it would get him a bit more power or money or probably even for a prettier wife.
I took a shaky breath, resigning myself to the terrible fate lying before me. Nemesio could take my body. He could take my business and everything else that was mine, but he would never have my heart because that already belonged to another.
It belonged to Grayson.
I took that first step and lifted my head. I pretended that the man at the end of the aisle was him. I imagined the perfection of his dark eyes, of his proud smile as he watched me come to him. I fantasized about the hard expanse of his chest and the corded muscles of his arms waiting to catch me and wrap me up in their warmth.
For several moments, it worked, but eventually the vision faltered, and I was left with the ruthless gaze of the monster that had taken me. I blinked. Something was wrong. I furrowed my brow and stared at Nemesio’s dark evil gaze.
There was a tiny bright red dot at the center of his forehead, almost like a laser.
I stopped in my tracks and his grin of conquest morphed into an even more dangerous scowl. A quiet pop reverberated somewhere far behind me. Instinctually, I pitched myself forward. My palms caught my weight on the sculpted cement beneath me and at once, someone began to scream.
I looked up just in time to see that Nemesio had been hit. A small circular hole between his eyes started to fill up with blood. His gaze was stunned at first before it turned glassy, his body wavering back and forth. He fell to the ground with a sickening crunch, and I turned away, not wanting to see the pool of blood grow beneath him.
Someone else in the audience screamed and a chorus of shouts followed. Men jumped up, grasping at the guns on their belts with furious glances all about. I pushed myself up and lurched toward the altar. With each step, the amount of panic behind me only escalated, but my courage pushed forth anyway. Nemesio’s lifeless body was to the right of the altar, so I chose to rush around the other side before I ducked behind it in search of cover.
An all-out war exploded behind me. The sound of gunfire was deafening, and I closed my eyes and curled up into a ball as I shivered with fear and blatant adrenaline. After taking a deep breath, I peeked around the edge of the altar, trying to figure out what was happening and what my next move should be.
Men in black combat gear were storming into the gardens from the jungle. All of them carried assault rifles and seemed dead set on mowing down all the cartel members who had come to see me get married to their boss.
A stray shot ricocheted off the altar and I yelped as the wood exploded above me. I pressed my body down against the ground, but the rest of my cover was quickly blown to splinters and toothpicks in a matter of seconds.
I couldn’t stay here. I had to run and fast.
I pushed myself up off the ground and took off across the garden. I lifted my skirts the best I could and when someone caught the train under their boot, I took the opportunity to use their weight to tear it. The monstrously long train ripped as if it were old dried-out paper and I kept running. I jumped over a few bodies along the way, trying desperately to avoid stepping in any pools of blood. I couldn’t avoid it all though.
I rushed toward the house and practically dove back into the door that Santiago had led me out of just minutes ago. Once I was inside, I slammed the door behind me and locked it just as quickly.
The constant pop of gunfire wasn’t as loud anymore, but my ears still rang from being so close to it. I ran through the hall and happened upon a small servants’ kitchen. I raced inside and began to open the drawers. I found a pair of scissors and started tearing into the mountains of lace around my waist. I hid in the oversized pantry as I cut through the skirts, trying to be as quiet as possible in case anyone was prowling inside. It took forever to cut through all the lace, but when I finally freed my legs from it, I sighed in open relief. I tossed the remnants behind me, kicked off my heels, and curled up inside the pantry, waiting for the gunfire to quiet down outside the house.
I wasn’t about to run back into the fray. One stray bullet would be enough to do me in. I’d wait until it was over until before I decided what to do next. For a while, it was quiet around me, the silence punctuated by the occasional blast of gunfire outside until at long last, that quieted too. I didn’t rush out quite yet, deciding that it would be better to give it a bit longer. Eventually, my body grew stiff, and I stood up, stretching my legs and pressing my ear to the door.
I heard nothing.
I opened the door and crept slowly out into the kitchen. The tile was cool beneath my bare feet. I paused by the entryway, listening for evidence of anyone and hearing nothing. I looked up and down the hallway. After several long minutes, I decided it sounded safe enough and hurried back in the direction of where I’d first been led into the house. I paused by the suite where Esmerelda had attended to me and peered inside.
She was sitting there on the bed. Without thinking, I rushed into the room and grasped her hand. She jumped when I touched her, apparently too lost in her thoughts to have seen me enter.
“Come with me. Quickly,” I whispered, and she simply nodded. She looked like she was almost in a daze.
Together, we ran through the house and out the side door.
“Come on. As fast as you can,” I added and sprinted out the door. She darted beside me, and we both ran into the woods. I tried to ignore the ground beneath my feet, but a few sharp stones bit at my soles with ferocious intensity. I stumbled at first but pushed through. The two of us tore through the jungle and I breathed a sigh of relief once I saw the sedan still sitting there where it had been left this morning. In a rush, I lurched toward the driver’s side door and tried the handle.
It was open.
“Fancy meeting you here,” a male voice scoffed, and I stilled. It was vaguely familiar. When I looked up, I recognized him to be the man I’d been calling Righty. Lefty was by his side too.
I still had the scissors in my hand. Bravely, I stood up. I knew my hair was probably a mess and my dress was in shambles, but that didn’t matter. I wasn’t about to let these two men stop Esmerelda and me from getting away from the cartel forever.
Righty went to grab the gun at his waist as he took a step toward me, but I was ready. I used the power in my legs to push off the ground and jump at him with everything in me. He didn’t even have a chance to aim the gun in my direction before I’d latched onto his chest. I brought my arm up quickly and stabbed him in the throat with everything I had.
