I roll onto my back, my eyes watering so much I can barely see.
I hear the villa collapse in a roaring, thunderous snap.
Misha leans over me and grabs my arms, pulling me to my feet.
“Artur isn’t waking up!” he screams in my face over the chaos of the fire.
“We have to get him home. I have a doctor on call. He’ll meet us at the mansion,” I say.
Misha nods and runs toward Artur. Ben and he lift him and push him into the back seat of Misha’s car.
“We’ll meet you at the house,” Ben says, slamming the door of Misha’s car.
I grab Kaz, and we run to the back of the villa where we parked.
Driving like crazy, we head home, calling the doctor on the way.
I haven’t even had a chance to process the fact that I just killed my father.
Maybe I’m in shock, maybe not. Maybe I feel nothing at all for the man.
The only thing I’m worried about is helping my friend and getting home to my wife.
Chapter 29 - Maria
The guards let a man into the house whom I’ve never met before.
I snap at him, demanding to know what he’s doing here.
“I’m the doctor, Joe called me,” he says defensively.
“The doctor?” I ask, confused.
“They are…”
Tires screech outside, and men shout orders to each other. I run to the front door and see Misha helping Ben get Artur out of the back seat.
“What happened?” I yelp, running out to them. They’re too busy and can’t answer me.
I stand back so that I’m out of the way as they carry Artur inside.
The doctor runs after them to the living room, where they place him on the sofa.
I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I hear another car arrive and run to the front door to see who it is.
Joe and Kaz storm through the door. “Is he here?” Joe demands.
“They took him to the living room,” I whimper. “Is he…is he okay?”
Joe drags me into a hug. “He’s going to be fine, Maria. We’re going to make sure he’s fine. Wait here, okay? Just stay here. I’ll call you when we’ve got him stable.” He releases me and runs through to the living room with Kaz.
I stand bewildered, staring at my brother, who is the last person I would expect to find with my four husbands.
“Did you do this?” I blurt out through my tears.
“No,” he says defensively.
“You’ve hated them since the beginning. You’ve been trying to get to Artur and hurt him since you ended the friendship!” I say. “What did you do to him!”
