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Damn it, now what am I going to do?
“What are you going to do now, Ms. De Luca?” he calls from below, but I can hear as he approaches the steps. Shit. I need to figure something out. “You could just surrender, of course,” he adds as his feet touch that first step.
I make a split second decision and head for the mausoleum, skirting around behind it, pressing my back against the stone wall, and pray he walks by. I listen as he comes up the stone steps, and when he reaches the top, I hear him chuckle again. “You know, I thought for sure this was going to be over in about ten minutes,” he says conversationally, and I can hear him moving further into the courtyard. I just need him to go far enough in that I can head back down those steps and make a run for it. I very carefully peer around and see him striding past the mausoleum, a look on his face that I can’t quite decipher. “We’re heading into almost an hour now. You must be getting tired,” he reasons.
Not a chance, I think, as adrenaline pumps through me.
I continue to carefully edge my way along the side of the building, just needing to get to the front edge so that I can run for the stairs. He’s still walking, and I can hear his footsteps on the stone path. When I reach the edge of the building front, I stop and carefully move so I can peer around to see where he is. I bite back a curse when I see he’s not far enough away like I thought he would be. He would definitely catch me if I bolt for the stairs now. Shit.
Think, Gia, think. How do you get him to move further in?
“Come out, come out wherever you are, my clever little mouse,” he calls softly, turning slightly back toward the mausoleum, making me move back quietly and wait, heart pounding. “I know you’re hiding around here somewhere.”
I look down at my feet, searching for anything I can throw as an idea comes to mind. I see a larger-sized pebble, and quickly reach down to pick it up. When I peer around the side of the building again, I see he’s now facing away from me. I take a deep breath, make sure that he’s still looking away, and then throw it quickly to the right of him, smiling smugly when it makes the flower bushes rustle loudly. He turns towards the sound, his back still to me, as I rush from the side of the building and toward the steps. Then I hear him laugh and say, “Ah, there you are.” Then his feet are pounding on the ground behind me as he runs after me.
Fuck.I bolt down the stairs, running along the path as fast as my legs can carry me toward the entrance to the garden. As long as I can stay ahead of him, I can reach the gates.
Only, somehow, he gets ahead of me by some other path, and bursts out in front of me so suddenly I barely manage to skid to a stop, pivot, and jump away from him before he can grab me. I feel the brush of movement as he just misses grabbing the skirt of this outfit. Damn it. That was too fucking close.
He runs after me, and I glance back over my shoulder. He’s right behind me, almost within grabbing distance, and I can see that his face is a mask of primal desire, the thrill of the chase making his dark eyes glow in the dim light from the moon and some of the small tree lights that cover some of the grounds. This is a hunter stalking his prey, ready to pounce.
A grim determination grips me and I push myself faster, and when I see a small, low wall to my right, I quickly grab it, leaping over it in the way that my old tutors taught me in the gym lessons my father insisted I do. I hear Nico curse and a grin splits my face as I run back down the path, doubling back toward the gate. My breathing is labored as I keep up the fast pace, but I barely notice. My freedom is so close. Nothing will stop me from getting it.
Of course, I probably should have figured Nico has another trick up his sleeve. Next thing I know, he’s stepping out in front of me again, and I can’t slow down this time. I crash into him hard enough, making him fall to the ground and not able to get a good hold of me. The tips of his fingers brush at my ankle, but I keep moving, kicking his hand away. He curses and growls, “Fucking hell,” before I hear him get to his feet and rush after me.
I run down the path leading away from the garden, and right past Dante and his shocked expression. I give him a smug smile as I run by, careful to stay far enough away from him that he can’t reach out and grab me himself. “I told you you wouldn’t catch me,” I gasp out as I run around the house and head for the front.
“I’m going to enjoy it when I get you,topolina,” Nico grits out. “And you’ll pay for that little kick.”
“You’ll have to get me first, and you won’t,” I yell back. But then it’s my turn to curse when I get to the front of the house and realize I still have a ways to go before I reach the gates. No matter, I’ll get there.
I reach another set of stone steps, these ones only three in height, and jump from the top, barely managing not to stumble when I land. I hear him do the same, but now, he’s even closer than before. I glance over my shoulder and see him gaining on me. He no longer looks like he’s enjoying this little game. No, he’s ready for it to be over. And that means I’m in some real danger of losing. Nico Armani is not known for losing.
I look frantically around, trying to see if there is some way I can lose him, and I see another path that splits off to the right and goes through some thicker foliage but is still heading in the direction of the gates. I need to get in there, and try to come back. Lose him in some of the thicker brush. There has to be a good place to hide.
Except, I know I’ve made a grave mistake as soon as I run down the path, and realize it doubles back toward the maze of a garden I just managed to run out of. Fucking hell. I hear him laugh, triumphant, and his steps slow when I find myself at a dead end of the maze.
I spin around, looking around to see how the hell I’m going to get away from him. My stomach sinks when I see no way out. The only way I might have a chance is to get through the thick brush, but considering this end has a bunch of rose bushes, I’ll probably only end up cutting myself to pieces and getting stuck anyway.
I gasp for breath as I try to figure a way out as I watch him enter the maze, stalking slowly toward me. “You know, I hated this garden growing up,” he tells me gravelly, watching me as I fight down my panic. “My mother insisted it was fun and something different, and made her the envy of all her friends. Only in actuality, it was a great way for my father to toy with me and anyone else he wanted to mess with. There are only a few ways out of it once you get in. I always told myself when I was old enough I would get rid of it all, and yet, here I am finding a much better use for it. Chasing a clever little mouse that is about to be mine.”
“I will never be yours,” I vow, unmoving. If I can’t get out by going through the maze, I’ll need to go through him. Though something tells me that taking down Nico is going to be a hell of a lot harder than any trainers my father sent to work with me when I was younger.
“And yet, here you are, trapped,” he taunts. He stops a few feet away from me. Even dirty and breathing harder, he looks far too good looking in the low light. But I need him a little closer. “Game over, Gia,” he tells me, giving me a mirthless smile.
“It will never be over until I’m free,” I grit out between clenched teeth.Just a couple more steps.
He takes two steps towards me, and tells me firmly, “You’ve lost, and it’s your choice if you come quietly or fight me.”
I let a mocking smile pull at my lips. “Which do you think I'll choose?”
I’m not sure if it’s luck, or he’s not expecting me to fight, but I manage to land a kick to his thigh, close enough to his balls that he doubles over and I evade the hand that grabs at me before landing an elbow into his kidneys, making him groan and fall to the ground. I don’t look back as I run back down the path and out of this fucking garden.
I reach the fork and go down the path I should have in the first place. He won’t be getting up quickly, so I have enough time to make it. Exhilaration fills me as I reach the end of the path and finally see the gates in front of me. There are men spread out along the very long front fence, but none of them make a move toward me. They just watch me as I race down the path and finally get onto the paved driveway.
The driveway is circular, but at least it’s on flat ground, and I don’t have far to run once I round the corner. I can see my freedom. Taste it. Until I feel an arm wrap around my waist just before I reach the gates. Panic and fear envelopes me as I struggle and fight. “No!” I scream, struggling with everything I have, but considering how much running I’ve been doing, is far less than I need to have to escape his iron grip.
Fear, pain, and despair fill me as his free hand comes around to cup my throat, and he rasps in my ear, “You’re mine now, little mouse.”
