Page 82 of Poisoned Promise
As soon as her name leaves my lips, it’s all over but I don’t spare a thought for Caterina until the guards she brought with us when she insisted on coming along, surge forward and block my path.
Behind them, Reese leans over Dove and drags her up by her shoulders with such force it’s a wonder her towel stays in place.
“Felix,” she gasps through a bloody lip.
Above us, an explosion rips through the air.
The crowd around us screams and scatters while I gaze upward at the inferno now consuming most of the building.
Why didn’t the fire suppression system trigger? How did a fire start in the first place? So many questions and not enough time to worry about them. When I glance back down, Caterina stands in front of me with a twisted, cold expression on her face.
“So it’s true.”
Behind her, Dove wrestles with Reese and a couple of other men but it’s hard to tell what exactly is happening when Caterina commands my attention.
“Caterina, it’s not what you think.”
“Isn’t it?” Her eyes narrow. “You’ve played me for a fool long enough. I thought you were different, Felix. I thought we understood one another.”
“We do!” I surge forward as anger ignites hot and tight under my ribs but before I can reach her, two men grab my arms and haul me backward. “Caterina, let me explain!”
“Take him away,” she snarls. “I don’t want to see his face right now.”
“Caterina, wait! Let me explain! Don’t do something you’ll regret!” The men around me are stronger than I expect, likely due to Caterina always ensuring she has men stronger than the companions she travels with.
The last I see of Dove is Caterina walking right up to her and grabbing her by the chin, then I’m forced into the back of a car where Toph already sits, nursing a graze to his cheek.
“What the fuck,” I pant, wresting one arm away from the guard who slips in with us. “Touch me again and I’ll fucking kill you.”
The click of his handgun is the only response I get as he sits opposite us with another armed guard, a man twice the size of Toph.
“You alright?” I ask Toph, glancing him over.
“Yeah.” He nods. “You?”
“No. Not even a little.” Before I can say anything else, Reese is thrown into the vehicle and the door slams, just as the engine starts up and we’re dragged away from the burning building.
Away from Dove.
I glare at Reese immediately. “What the fuck were you playing at?!”
“Me?” He hisses at me. “I was trying to salvage the mess you made. That woman is more trouble than she’s worth.”
“Dove,” I growl. “Her name is Dove. You were supposed to protect her.”
“What the hell do you think I was doing?” Reese snaps.
“Sure didn’t look like it from where I was standing.”
“Ain’t my problem.” Reese rolls his eyes and his upper lip swells when he runs his tongue over his teeth. “We’re in so much shit. So much fucking shit. You any idea what Caterina will do to us?”
I do but I don’t care.
Every fibre of my being wants to be back out there with her, or tackle these men and take over the car but one wrong bullet and I’m useless to her.
I need to play this carefully, explain to Caterina the truth I’ve spun, and then we’ll be together.
That hope is small but it remains in my heart all the way back to Caterina’s place. We drive past multiple firetrucks and cops all rushing to the blaze but they won’t be able to save it.
