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She nodded but didn’t say anything else. I had a sense of dread wash over me. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the fact I’d be without her again, or if something was coming for me.
The one thing I knew for sure was this war was not going to be won out here on the water, after all, my father didn’t raise a coward.
I dialed Bennett and told him to come and get us. We’d leave the boat out here so if anyone were keeping an eye on it, they’d think we were still out here.
It didn’t take long before he sped the boat out here and helped Jolie down into the boat before I grabbed my guns and jumped down beside her. I took her hand in mine and squeezed it tightly before we got back to the wharf and we parted ways. Bennett was as uneasy about the plan as I was but he didn’t stop her from going either. As she looked back at me, with a hesitant smile, I fought with every urge in my body to run after her as she headed into the city center and disappeared from my view.
“Are you sure about this?” Bennett asked.
“No, but lately I’ve not been real sure about much.”
“Come on,” he said, leading me to his car. “Gunnar’s down at the beach.”
I got in the car and we took off to the beach, my mind and my heart racing. Jolie was taking a huge risk in going back to her house.
I just hope that wasn’t the last time we saw each other.
Jolie
My heart beat was in my throat as I walked in through the large double doors of the family mansion. It felt cold being here, like I was walking into a trap. Maybe I was. Maybe I was being stupid like Roman thought I was. I didn’t know what else to do, my original plan had been to kill him and then I’d met Roman and things had gotten complicated.
“You have a lot of nerve coming back here,” I heard my mother Diane say from somewhere in the room. I spun around to see her coming out from a side doorway, a large black eye barely hidden by makeup.
“Is that because of me?” I asked her.
“Perhaps it is,” she said, sternly. “Why did you come back? You were free.”
“I had nowhere else to go,” I told her. “This is still my home right?”
“I don’t think it ever was, child,” she said, moving into the room, and that’s when I saw the blue and purple arm, the dress she wore did little to hide the bruises. Maybe she did it on purpose to make him feel bad for what he’d done but I knew my father. He had his good days and he had his bad days. When he had bad days, we all felt the wrath.
“Why couldn’t you just stay gone?” she asked me, desperation in her voice. “Things were just fine with you gone.”
She didn’t mean with Roman, she meant when I was at school. She’d had the freedom to live with her lovers right under my father’s roof. For some reason, with me returning it meant she couldn’t have that anymore.
“Just go,” she said. “Leave now, go back to that boy and leave Verona.”
The urgency in her voice should have me backing up but I came here for a purpose and like hell I would run back to Roman with my tail between my legs. I had to prove to him that I was worthy to be his woman.
“Leave us,” I heard my father’s booming voice echo throughout the empty foyer. Diane retreated like a wounded puppy as he motioned for me to join him upstairs. I took a deep breath and edged my way up the stairs slowly. He was in his office when I got there, sipping on his rum and looking out at the landscape before him. I could see the clear development of the new city he had been prattling on about since I’d returned. The city was nearly complete. No wonder he was broke.
“I’m surprised you have returned,” he said. “After what happened on the boat.”
“Roman and I had a fight after that,” I lied. “He hit me and I realized I didn’t know him at all. I felt so alone after that, like I couldn’t trust him so I convinced him to bring me back to shore for some supplies and I slipped away.”
He didn’t believe me, I could see it in the way he put his glass down on the desk. “And he wouldn’t come looking for you here?”
“I doubt he would risk even more chaos for his family,” I told him. “He’s lost his mother and his father has disowned him. I’m probably last on his list of priorities. He isn’t exactly the type to settle down, is he?”
There was an ungodly silence that descended on us then. My fears were at the forefront when his door opened. I turned to see Tyler looking over at me, surprise written all over his face.
“Cuz?”
“Hello Tyler.”
Perhaps, he was my savior just now. Surely my father would not try and kill me in front of Tyler. He may be one of my father’s enforcers, but he would never allow harm to come to me. Tyler’s face changed as he came closer.
“Did he hurt you?” he asked me, looking over my arms for any signs of injury. I tried to convey hatred for Roman in my eyes so he didn’t suspect a thing. Tyler may have been a fool, believing me to be a sweet and innocent little angel, but he wasn’t a fool when it came to his feud with Roman.
