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“I love you, Noelle. You might be the villainess in everyone’s story. But you’ll always be my heroine. My salvation. My greatest addiction.”
Tears stab at my eyes as I brush a few golden locks from his face.
“And you will always be my one goal, Raf. The only thing I’ll ever strive to deserve. I love you. Now. Before. And forever to come.”
We look into each other’s eyes, smiling like two fools—two lovesick fools. And though I’d like nothing better than to go to sleep like this, with only his body as my blanket, I cannot. It’s too chilly outside, so when we can’t bear the cold anymore, we quickly put on our clothes, put out the fire, and lay on our makeshift bed. Then, exhausted, we finally fall asleep.
But not even a few hours later, Raf shakes me awake, placing a finger on my lips.
“Listen,” he whispers.
I frown, not realizing what he means until the sound of footsteps becomes more and more pronounced somewhere in the distance. The forest is eerily quiet, and every broken twig emits an echo.
“Rescue team?”
He shakes his head.
“They wouldn’t be so stealthy about it.”
“Then…?”
His features are tense.
“Maybe our plane crash wasn’t exactly an accident,” he suggests.
My eyes widen. He’s right. With all the attempts on his life, it’s too big of a coincidence.
“But who? Michele? Damiano?”
“If a simple accident was my brother’s M.O. I would have been dead a long time ago,” he states grimly. “We need to get ready, they’re not too far.”
“How many bullets do we have left?” I ask as I scramble to my feet, being as quiet as I can.
“Four? Or less,” he sighs. “We’ll need to make every single one of them count.”
I nod, turning so I can listen to the sounds of the forest.
Holding my hand up, I count with my fingers how many people I can hear. When I need to use the other hand, too, however, my eyes widen in alarm.
Raf, though clearly concerned, keeps his calm.
“I’ll distract them. You shoot,” he says, surprising me. “You’re clearly the better shot out of the two of us, and we can’t afford to waste any bullets. Once at least a couple are down, we might be able to take their guns.”
I nod.
“They must have a car somewhere too? Or a truck. No way over half a dozen people show up in the middle of the forest on foot.”
“You’re right.” He nods. “Andthatis going to be our way out.”
“Do we keep one of them alive?” I ask, a smile pulling at my lips. “So he can lead us to their transportation.”
“Fine. You can aim for a non vital spot.” He winks.
Arranging our makeshift tent so it seems we’re still occupying it, we step away from the clearing. Raf goes to the right, positioning himself directly within my field of view while I hide behind a tree.
In about five minutes, the troops arrive at our campsite.
Immediately, I can tell Raf was right. They are no rescue team. They are professionals.
