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“Yes.”
“Including killing my father.”
Fuck. She still believed I had something to do with the man’s death. “While you tell me you couldn’t give a shit about your father, it would appear otherwise. You can always have his body exhumed for testing purposes.”
“Not if the poison only entered his bloodstream.”
Her tenacity should have tried my patience. It hadn’t. “While I’m not in a habit of poisoning my enemies, there are almost always residual cells indicating poison in the skin and organs.”
“How educational of you.”
The kitchen had an open front, several cars already driving by, but when headlights pulsed inside the front, high beams centered on the kitchen, I shifted quickly toward the light switch, flicking it off.
She issued another strangled sound until I walked closer, squeezing her shoulder. “Be very quiet,omorfiá.”
To her credit, she followed my orders as I removed my weapon, inching close to the door. When the vehicle shifted, the lights no longer shining in the main window, I crouched low and headed toward the banquettes aligning the front wall. While there was no way of identifying the driver, when the dark sedan pulled under the light, through the rain I noticed a woman in the passenger seat. The driver quickly pulled away and I watched until the taillights faded from view.
Exhaling, I took the opportunity to scan the location again, unable to detect anything out of the ordinary. Blue-hued lightning lit up the sky, the electricity not nearly as potent as what I felt around Whitney.
Just returning to the kitchen clutched at portions of my heart I didn’t know existed. She was softly crying, immediately trying to mask her emotional breakdown as soon as she’d heard my footsteps. Hot hatred, the need for violent revenge pulsed into my bloodstream. Within minutes, my blood had been turned into ice.
I rubbed my palm across my scraggly beard then dropped in front of her. “You can’t break down on me, Whitney. At least not until we step foot on the plane.”
“You’re being chased by bad men, enemies who want you dead because of something my father did, a man who’d cared nothing about me his entire life. His last act before being carted off to hell where he belongs was to involve me in your psychotic episode where dozens of people have already died. I think I earned the right to freak out.”
Her utter hatred of her father surprised me. Even if he’d abandoned his family early in life, most children sought the reason, working through their anger after time had passed. She acted as if she’d wanted to kill him herself.
Everyone had secrets, including those considered innocent flowers.
The almost silent buzz of my text indicated Constantine and his men were close. “Maybe so.”
“What’s happening?”
“I called someone I trust to get us to a private plane.” As I pulled Whitney to her feet, I could feet every violent beat of her heart. Even as her lingering perfume assaulted my senses as it had done so many times before, I reminded myself we were in a dangerous, volatile situation. With none of my own backup, using Constantine’s men could present a crisis for both of us if the Armenian had sent an army.
I glanced at my phone and took in a sharp breath. Along with providing a description of the awaiting SUVs, Constantine had sent a warning.
“What’s wrong?”
“We’re not alone, which means getting us out of here is going to be dicey.” Constantine’s soldiers had detected at least three sentries combing the streets. “Take my hand and don’t let go. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
I grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the back door, keeping my other hand firmly wrapped around the weapon before slipping into the darkness.
We made our way down the back of buildings, rain pelting our skin. She didn’t whine, didn’t try to pull away as I moved to the edge facing the street, stopping short. Within seconds, the SUV pulled up to the stoplight at the opposite corner.
“Get ready,” I told her. I glanced from one side of the street to the other. “Run.”
Seconds later, I noticed three sets of headlights coming from the opposite direction.
I had a bad feeling about this.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
CHAPTER12
Whitney
