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I can’t stand this tension in my body anymore. It’s boiling over.
Without thinking, I slide onto Aiden’s lap. He doesn’t hesitate to engulf me in his arms, cocooning me in his warmth and compassion. I need that. His arms are like a fortress around me, protecting me from all the evil in the world.
My conviction for Tiero and me to leave this world of crime and violence grows by the second.
Surely after this, he must see the sense in it and accelerate whatever plans he had.
There are so many unanswered questions, things Tiero said he would share with me once we were alone on the island. Will we ever get there now?
“I might never know how he was going to get out of this life,” I whisper more to myself.
Because let’s face it, even if he makes it through the surgery, what if there’s permanent damage? What if he has amnesia and can’t remember his promise to me? A whole new set of worries bombards me.
“What do you mean?” Aiden whispers back.
Startled, I gaze up at him. I didn’t intend for anybody to hear my comment. Frantically, I look around, but none of Tiero’s men are paying us any attention.
I open my mouth and close it again. Claudette and Aiden lean in. Can I tell them? Crap, I already did, didn’t I?
What harm can there be in elaborating on it? And right now, I need to tell someone.
“I don’t know the particulars. He was going to tell me when we were completely alone. Tiero was worried someone could get wind of his intentions. He said he was working on a way to get out… for my sake. He had plans in place but needed time to implement them.”
“And you don’t know what those plans are?” Ade asks.
I shake my head. “As I said he was going to tell me when there were no eavesdroppers around. Now that might never happen.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me think you were insane for getting back with him, accepting his life?” A hurt expression flitters over Ade’s face. “Do you not trust me?”
Guilt hits me all over again.
I take Ade’s hand and squeeze it. “No! It’s not that. You know I trust you… with my life. I wanted to tell you, but Tiero swore me to secrecy. I promised him I wouldn’t tell a soul.”
Ade nods his head, acknowledging what I said, but the hurt expression doesn’t leave his face.
“I’m sorry, Ade. Please believe me, this had nothing to do with me not trusting you.”
“It’s okay,” he mumbles. The wheels in his mind are churning. I can sense he’s mulling over what I’ve just said.
“Ella.” Claudette’s soft-spoken voice comes from right in front of me. I hadn’t even noticed her moving to lean in closer. Her voice is hushed so nobody can overhear us. “Darling, we need to get you out of here.”
I look at her, confused. “What do you mean?”
Aiden’s low baritone voice whispers into my ear. “You and De Marco are being targeted. If it wasn’t for your plaster stopping one shot and Gualtiero another, you would be dead now.”
The breath freezes in my lungs.
What?
In all the chaos, I hadn’t put that together. Icy shivers run through my body.
I move a few inches off Aiden’s chest, staring at him in complete shock.
“You’re not safe here. And I don’t trust these guys.” He subtly motions to Tiero’s men.
“That ambulance was parked at the entrance for some considerable time and just conveniently moved when you and Gualtiero were approaching. Something is off. I’m working on a plan to get you out of here.”
My brain mustn’t be working. Nothing of what Aiden just said makes any sense.
