“Ha, found them!” she exclaims and pulls out some sneakers. She slips them on with ease and looks up at me with excitement dazzling in her blue eyes.
“Okay, my only rule is stay close and within my sight. I don’t want you wandering too far off by yourself.”
She smirks and rolls her eyes as I open the backdoor. “Okay, master,” she murmurs beneath her breath and walks past me and out onto the porch. I watch her cautiously as she takes a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill her lungs. She tilts her face up toward the sun, letting her skin absorb the rays. She looks so different in the sunlight; it makes her hair shine as if gold has been spun into the long strands.
When she finally opens her eyes again, she turns to me, offering me a wide smile as if to say thank you and I forget how to breathe for a moment.
Her beauty literally steals the air from my lungs. Her eyes look different in the sun, brighter and bluer, her long blond lashes fanning against her cheeks as she blinks.
With the sun peering down on her skin, freckles I never noticed her having before are smeared across the bridge of her button nose. I have the urge to reach out and run my fingers across that smattering of beauty marks, to kiss each and every freckle on her skin.
“You coming?” She smiles at me again over her shoulder. I cross the distance separating us and take her hand in mine. It’s something so simple, so easily done by normal couples, but it feels crazy to be doing it with her. We lazily stroll around the yard and down a little path leading away from the house and into an open clearing. There are some woods around the house, shielding it from anyone driving by, which is the primary reason I selected this place as our hideaway.
We walk for a long time, but I don’t mind. I could do this all day with her. She is visibly enjoying being outside, her constant smile giving her away. I can barely keep my eyes off of her. My head is constantly turning toward her as we walk side by side, fingers intertwined as we hold hands. The longer we do this, the more I long for something more...something deeper. I can see myself being the man she needs, being her husband, being…
“It’s beautiful out here.” Her sing-song voice interrupts my thoughts.
I know she is talking about the scenery but all I see is her as I answer with a lazy, “Yeah.”
“I’m getting kind of hungry though. maybe next time we come out, we should pack a picnic or something?”
“That would be a great idea, actually.” I smile, guiding her back up the trail and toward the house. Nothing could ruin this moment between us, nothing but…
As soon as we reach the end of the trail I can tell something is off. I have this deep gut-wrenching feeling that something bad is going to happen. I grip onto Violet’s hand harder, and she looks up at me, concern filling her features.
“Are you okay, Ivan?” Her voice is loud, louder then I need it to be in this moment, and I press a finger against her plump lips.
“Something is off,” I whisper, leaning into her body, my lips right beside her ear. At my words, she perks up, her eyes go wide, and I know she realizes exactly what I am saying. I guide us up the walkway some more and stay perched behind a set of trees, shielding Violet’s body with my own. I release her hand and grab the gun from the back of my jeans.
“Ivan,” she gasps softly when she sees it.
The air is thick with danger, and a soft wind blows across the yard, carrying with it two scents. The hairs in my nose tingle, and I know that smell... the cologne. I narrow my eyes to slits and shut every single thought off in my mind. Right now, my job is to protect myself and Violet.
My eyes move away from the house and down the driveway. There’s an all-black SUV parked at the very end, blocking the only road out of this place, and I’m not dumb enough to assume that it’s someone lost, looking for directions or something.
No, these are Rossi’s men.
“What’s going on, Ivan?” Violet asks, tugging on the back of my shirt.
“Kitten, I’m going to need you to go and hide.” I twist around to look her straight in the eyes. “Do you understand? You need to hide, and you cannot come out until I come to get you. No matter what you hear, you don’t come out.”
“What are you going to do?” Her voice comes out frantic, as if she is scared of something may happen to me.
“Don’t worry about me, Kitten, just make sure you’re hidden.” I quickly scan our surroundings, my eyes landing on a small shed half hidden behind a group of trees at the edge of the property.
“Just walk in that direction.” I point in the way we just came. “Keep walking until you see a shed. Get inside it, and close the door behind you.”
She gives me a look that says she may fight me on this, but I have no time for that. I point her in the direction, and she hesitantly starts heading that way.
“Be careful, please,” she whimpers, giving me one last fleeting look over her shoulder.
I watch her walk away, keeping my eyes on her until I can no longer see her. Once she’s out of sight, I move closer to the house. I watch the idiots move around through the windows. They’re tossing shit around, destroying the place as if they’re looking for something.
Four… I see four bastards. They’re loud, uncaring of the noise they’re making. Stupid. So fucking stupid. I watch through the trees at the perimeter of the house as one of the fuckers lifts a pair of Violet’s panties to his nose, inhaling them. Of course, Rossi would send these stupid assholes out to get me. As if I wasn’t trained or skilled enough to kill them.
I wait until all of them are at the front of the house, before I make my way to the back door. I duck to the ground when I pass one of the windows, and I remain that way until I reach the back door. With the gun firmly in my hand, I slowly push down the handle.
I hold my breath at the creak the door makes, hoping they didn’t hear it. Surprise gives me an upper hand against them. If I lose that, I might be in trouble, seeing that I’m outnumbered four to one. My thoughts shift to Violet for one fleeting moment.
Guard her. Make sure they don’t get her.
I swallow, a lump of fear forming in my throat. I can’t let her down. No, I won’t let her down.
On light feet, I make my way to the hallway and stick my head out around the corner. I smile like a sick bastard. It must be my lucky fucking day. I watch for a moment as two of the goons are in the hallway facing away from me. I lift the gun in my hands, feeling how heavy it is. Then I’m moving... I don’t waste any time, because time is my biggest enemy in this situation.
I step out of my hiding spot, aim the gun at one of the fuckers, and pull the trigger. The gun kicks back in my hand as the ear-piercing sound of the bullet leaving the barrel echoes throughout the house. I watch the lifeless body of the guy I just shot crumble to the floor just in time for his friend to turn and spot me. But that’s not going to stop me.
I pull the trigger again, the bullet finding its target perfectly, taking the guy out before he even had a change to move his lips. Fuck, I’ve just lost the element of surprise, but in doing so, I took out half the fucking men, so there’s that.
Moving backward with nimble feet and in the crouching position, I find myself in the kitchen hidden behind the heavy marble island.
“Oh, Ivan, that wasn’t really nice of you,” Luca’s annoying voice coaxes as if he’s trying to lure me out of hiding. “I just came to personally thank you for opening up a position for my promotion. That’s not exactly a way to treat guests, now is it?”