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Chapter 63 – Talia
Adrian hitched a ridewith the priest to his apartment, determined to check into a rehab facility to help transition into sobriety by the end of the day. This left Constantine and me to walk up the drive and into the empty house. I half expected my husband to disappear after the funeral, but although there was silence between us, that terrible distance wasn’t there. I’d found a family, and while outside forces had tried to destroy it, these two were now my life.I hope Adrian gets the help he needs.
Exhaustion threatened to consume me. Already, I could feel my immune system setting into overdrive to grapple with the physical strain. My hope was that Sophia could give us a lead on my father’s whereabouts by the afternoon. Maybe, just maybe, in twenty-four hours this nightmare could come to an end.We’ll never have to look over our shoulders again for fear the devil is there.
It should have bothered me, but my heart had turned to stone on that score. The monster who’d made me into a tool and sought to use me as an assassin needed to be ended.
My heart swelled as I looked up at my husband. “Do you want a sandwich?” I asked, reaching out to lay a hand on the doorknob. Something made me still as I cracked open the front door. Ice trickled through my veins.
“I suppose we should eat,” Constantine said, reaching out to push the door open into the house.
That sixth sense trumpeted loud through my mind. Without a word I grabbed Constantine’s arm, yanking him back. The bullet whizzed past him.
At the soft report of the silencer, Constantine switched into tactical mode, now dragging me back and slamming the door shut as more bullets riddled the wood. We were crawling away as the decorative glass on the front door shattered.
“Your father’s found out what you did to your brother,” Constantine rasped, pulling me along as we dashed for shelter in the landscaping.
“How the fuck do you reckon that?” I hissed, shaking my head. “If this is Gustave and he’s hired assassins, it could be a last-ditch effort to save Claude’s life.”
We hid behind a boulder, Constantine looking behind us to see if he could sight another shooter. “Semantics—it’s your father.” He turned back to me, cupping my face in his hand again, but unlike the moment in the master suite walk-in closet, there was a deadly focus darkening his features. “I’m going to need you to do something. Do you trust me?”
Without hesitation, I blinked up at him. “Yes.”
“Good, that’s so good, princess,” he murmured. “This is a team effort. These assassins work in pairs.” At my gape of disbelief, Constantine added, “I know their calling card. I’ll explain that later.”
“What do you want me to do?” I asked, pulse roaring in my ears. Two assassins? And Constantine knew them!
“Go to the back of the garage where the utility room is for the villa. Cut the power. There’s a default built into our security system that when the power goes out, most signals are jammed. It will alert any living guards of what’s happened.”
I shivered at that. Were his security personnel okay? Or had the attack taken more lives in the crossfire?
Constantine bent low, brushing a soft kiss on my lips. It was reverent, with a certain ferocity. “Can you do that, princess?”
“Yes,” I snapped. “I’m not some damsel.”
“No, but you’re damn precious. And I buried one woman I love today. I won’t lose the second so soon—not the one I want to make my queen.”
Did he just—? Did the dreaded butcher just admit his feelings for me? My body warmed, and I nodded. “I’ll do it.”
“Good. Be careful, Talia.”
“Likewise,” I said.
In a hunched position, I hugged the side of the house as I sprinted toward the garage. There was a patch of yard where I had no cover. Gritting my teeth, I raced over it. My precaution of moving in a zig-zag pattern was unnecessary, however, as no shots were fired. I felt a little silly when I reached the cover of the garage, because if there was a sniper out here, even my inane running pattern wouldn’t have been enough to save me.
Not seeing any movement in the car bays, I crept forward. At the back, by the utility room, I noticed a safe. I knew the combination, having picked it on arriving here. How long ago that honeymoon seemed. Racing there first to arm myself, I punched the code into the safe. After a breathless pause, it beeped green. With my hand on the handle, I froze. The hairs on my arms prickled, and I knew as I turned around that death waited for me.
