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“How did you find me?”
Santino scoffed, his face showing his disbelief. “We had eyes on you the whole time. You didn’t really think Lucius would let you ride off into the sunset and that was it, did you?”
Actually, that was exactly what I’d thought. And since my thoughts must have shown on my face, Santino rolled his eyes. “I don’t know how you could have missed how taken he is with you, but he’d step in front of a bullet for you. Now I’m asking you if you feel the same for him.”
I pointedly looked down at my body. “I’m dressed to go, aren’t I? That should be answer enough.”
He raised a brow and turned back to the balcony. I held up my hand. “No way am I going down that way. Besides, I have to tell my friend I’m leaving and call a doctor for the guy you took out. Meet me at the front gate.”
Santino hesitated. “I barely touched the guy.”
And with that, he was gone. I didn’t even hear him scale back down or drop to the ground.
Waking Thea took me a few minutes, and in the end, I had to trickle water over her face. She woke up with a splutter and groan. “Why is it raining?”
“No rain, just me trying to wake you up.”
She blinked at me, her eye mask up over her head where I’d pushed it earlier when I tried to pry her eyelids open.
Her eyes honed in on my clothes. “Why are you dressed?”
She was a freak and normally woke up fully alert. It usually took me a while to get my bearings in the morning. Not Thea. She was ready for a marathon five minutes after she woke.
I bit my lip, knowing she wouldn’t let me leave without a fight. “I have to go.”
She sat up, nearly headbutting me. “The hell you do.”
“It’s important.”
With a dramatic flair, she flipped the covers to the side and got up. “What’s so important that you have to leave in the middle of the night?”
“Lucius.”
Thea’s stance relaxed, resignation replacing her anger. She was probably the only person who understood. “What happened?”
“Santino found me. And Lucius is about to do something stupid. I have to stop him.”
She put her hands on her hips. “And why does it have to be you?”
“I don’t know.” And I didn’t. But the promise of seeing Lucius again was enough for me to come along.
“There’s no way to talk you out of this, is there?”
I cringed, hating that I was leaving again already. “Absolutely none. I’m sorry, Thea.”
“Fine. But keep your phone on you and call me. Or at least text. I need to know you’re safe.”
The list of people demanding I contact them regularly seemed to grow. I wasn’t used to checking in with anyone. My parents had been mostly absent my whole life, leaving Archer in my care since I’d been twelve. They dedicated their lives to work and social events, their kids an afterthought.
“Promise. And we’ll go on that wine tour when I get back.”
She pulled me into her arms and hugged me to her so tight, I squeaked. At least I didn’t feel like a burglar stealing out into the night when she turned on all the lights and opened the gate for me. I shot her a tentative smile. “I’ll see you when I get back. And can you call a doctor? Your security guy is knocked out in the backyard.”
Thea’s mouth gaped open as she watched me walk down the driveway.
I made it to the gate without her tackling me to the ground and demanding more answers. Santino was waiting next to his car, silently getting in as soon as I was within sight.
He didn’t explain things further, and we made our way to the airport and left for Chicago an hour later. He must have been pretty sure I’d come with him to have booked a flight.
