AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Run!A voice inside her head kept repeating that one word. Veronica ducked just as a second bullet whizzed past her head.
On the ground now, Veronica stared at the bullet lodged in the walnut paneling for a few seconds. She swallowed and remained frozen in place, unable to move, to process what just occurred. Only seconds ago, she was talking to her father. He’d still been alive. A sob caught in her throat. It was happening all over again. Fate or destiny thought it appropriate to take the last member of her family from her. Was this payment for all the lives her father had taken during his reign as the Don of the Romano family? Why did Veronica have to pay the price for the sins her father committed?
The sound of her ringtone startled her. With shaking fingers, she pulled it out. An unknown number flashed across her screen. Veronica didn’t know what made her answer it.
“Hello?” she whispered.
“Veronica? This is Nikolai. I’ve heard shots fired. Are you injured?”
She would recognize his deep and gravely voice anywhere. Nikolai didn’t need to introduce himself. Wait a second. He heard shots? Was he nearby? Veronica might have had a crush on this man when she was a teenager, but he was a complete stranger to her.
“My father’s dead,” she said, then took a deep breath.
Calm down, she reminded herself. Right now, survival was her number one priority. She gave Nikolai a brief rundown of what had happened. Why Nikolai was on his way to the house and how he knew about the assassin—these questions she’d reserve for later.
“Keep me on the phone. Can you leave the office? I’ll guide you out of the house,” Nikolai said.
“Yes, I can reach the door I think,” Veronica said, eyeing the half-opened door.
“Do it now, but stay on your hands and knees. Avoid making yourself a target as much as possible,” Nikolai instructed.
It was deathly quiet in her father’s office. The assassin had stopped shooting. Could she really do this? Play hide-and-seek with a killer?
Arturo hadn’t raised a weak daughter. In fact, her father didn’t really have a hand in her upbringing. He took a hands-off approach especially after her mother and brothers died.
Now or never, Veronica thought. She scrambled to the door, wincing at the sound of the creaking hinges. When nothing else happened, she made her way out to the corridor. Another body waited for her there. Veronica sucked in a breath, seeing Lorenzo, one of her father’s lieutenants. Like her father, Lorenzo had been killed with a shot to the head.
“Over here, young miss,” whispered a familiar voice.
Gibson stood by the staircase. Relief filled her at seeing someone familiar. Remaining low, Veronica made her way to him. The process was painstakingly slow but she finally got to where she wanted. Another thought then occurred to her. What if Gibson couldn’t be trusted? After all, the assassin had somehow known her father would be in his office at this time. Nikolai also somehow knew her father was in danger, didn’t he?
Why would Nikolai be helping her then? Nikolai and her father had been friends for a long time, so she dismissed the thought of Nikolai being the enemy. At least for now.
“Veronica, are you outside the office?” Nikolai asked. She’d forgotten he was still on the phone.
“I am,” she said. She put the phone to her ear so Gibson wouldn’t be able to overhear their conversation.
“Good girl.”
Veronica couldn’t understand why those two words sent a shiver of excitement down her spine, especially when she was in a dire situation.
Nikolai continued,“I need you to make your way to the kitchen. Take the back door there to the yard. I’ll be waiting for you,” Nikolai said.
“I understand,” she said.
“Veronica, we must leave this instant,” Gibson said.“Who is calling you at this time?”
“Don’t trust anyone, you understand? I have just received a report from a reliable source that a member of your father’s household might have betrayed him,” Nikolai said.
“I’ll have to call you back, Nikolai,” she said, noting the way Gibson’s entire body stiffened when she mentioned Nikolai’s name.
“Don’t you dare end this call—” Nikolai began but Veronica did so anyway.
Her mind raced. Terror seized her but she couldn’t allow it to paralyze her. If her suspicions proved true, then Gibson must be working with the assassin. He had no intentions of letting Veronica leave this house alive. For now, Veronica decided she would need to pretend she didn’t know anything.
“Nikolai is going to help us,” she said, grabbing Gibson’s gloved hand. “Come on, let’s head to the kitchen. He’ll meet us at the back of the house.”
“Very well,” Gibson said. The discomfort she spied on his face earlier had disappeared.
