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Lucius
“She has two weeks.If she fails, I want her eliminated.”
Maurizio was on his throne behind his desk, lording over the room, making demands. And this wasn’t a figure of speech. It was an actual throne he was perched on. I despised every minute of being back in his company. When I left, I never thought I’d be back.
But this was all on me, so the person I had to blame for my current situation was myself.
I lifted my chin in acknowledgement. “I’ll make sure she gets it done. But while she’s here, she’s staying with me.” I would do anything I could to prevent another innocent life being taken. I couldn’t afford another stain on my soul. This would be the mark that would push me to the point of no return.
Maurizio leaned forward, studying me while his finger tapped on his throne, thetap, tap, tapsound one I’d come to fear and despise. “I don’t understand why you’re so hell-bent on keeping this one. She’s skin and bones. You can pick from hundreds of women ten times more beautiful.”
I tuned out, knowing he was going off on one of his tangents. The urge to check on Everleigh became harder to ignore the longer the rant went on. I’d made sure she was staying in my room even before clearing it with Maurizio. It was the safest place for her right now. When his finger stopped tapping, I knew he was calming down.
He looked at me with a raised chin. “You haven’t shown interest in a woman since you came back. I’ll allow you to keep this one. For now.”
I lowered my head in submission, knowing it was what he expected. “Thank you. That’s a very generous offer.”
His “gift” of her to me hadn’t bought Everleigh much time, but at least it was enough to figure out what to do next.
We spent the next three hours going over Maurizio’s upcoming trip. He’d be leaving in the morning, and I’d finally have more than a few hours here or there to do what I came back for. Because once he was gone, I’d be in charge.
When he welcomed me back with open arms, I was suspicious at first. But since I brought contacts and a deal for distribution of our coke into the United States with me, he’d ignored how I left.
His ignorance served me well. But he’d always had blinders on when it came to me. Something I used to my advantage. The men were harder to convince, but as soon as the money started flowing in, they stopped looking at me as if they’d put a bullet in my head if I so much as sneezed wrong.
Waving me off, Maurizio turned to his glass of scotch. “I trust you’ll take care of everything while I’m gone.”
“Of course.”
I’d almost made it to the door when he spoke up once more. “And don’t disappoint me again. You already got a second chance, something I’ve never granted anyone else. There won’t be a third one.”
This was something I was well aware of. I nodded and left, my body strung so tight I thought I would explode.
I couldn’t return to my room yet, not when I was this close to the edge. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep this up. Being back here brought out the worst in me. Most days, I didn’t recognize the person staring back at me in the mirror anymore.
I ended up at the pool, my body on autopilot, knowing what I needed.
Stripping out of my clothes, I didn’t bother putting on any swimwear except goggles. Nobody ever came in here but me.
I jumped in, swimming laps until my arms and legs burned. And then I swam some more. When I finished, I was barely able to hang onto the edge of the pool.
Maybe tonight I’d be able to get a few hours of sleep. I’d gone three days without. Not the longest I’d ever gone, but it made my decisions reckless and based on emotions. Two things I couldn’t afford in this place.
I’d tried everything, but not even sleeping tablets gave me the rest I needed. I woke up disoriented and more tired than when I went to bed.
Pulling myself out of the pool, I lay on the cool tiles until I caught my breath, looking at the stars through the glass ceiling.
When I was a child, I spent all my time in this room. I didn’t have many happy memories from my childhood, but playing in here, swimming and watching the stars, was one of them.
The room was too cold to linger outside the water for long. I needed a hot shower, and then hopefully I’d find some rest. I grabbed one of the towels stacked on shelves along the walls. After winding it around my middle, I left my sanctuary.
I didn’t come across anyone on my way back to my room, grateful for the short reprieve. From the moment Maurizio had welcomed me back, I hadn’t had a free minute. Whenever I wasn’t in his office, one of the guys needed something. I felt like I’d never left.
Dripping water on my way, I silently opened the door to my room, walking in on light feet in case Everleigh was asleep. It was close to three in the morning, and she’d had a busy day.
The room was dark, but the open blinds allowed enough light from the moon inside to show an empty bed. The blanket was gone, and so was one of the pillows. I’d rigged the door and would have gotten an alarm on my phone if she’d opened it. And the windows were nailed shut and had bars on them. There was no way out through them.
I searched under the bed, behind the curtains, and in the bathroom without a trace of her. The uneasy feeling in my stomach grew, and I wondered if she’d gotten out after all. No system was foolproof; maybe she’d slipped out unnoticed.
