He looks up at the ceiling as if it might offer a map out of this place. “We figure it out,” he whispers. “I’ll wait for you. However long it takes.”
Tears prick my eyes, but I smile. Because for the first time in years, maybe ever, I believe something might actually be mine.
18
Lorenzo
She’s still curledinto my chest when a sound jerks us both upright.
What was that?
We both must have heard it, or she wouldn’t be up too, right?
Maybe a creak.
I lift my finger to my mouth to make sure she doesn’t make a sound, and then I listen.
A noise echoes through the silence. It sounds almost like a door hinge.
Someone is trying to open it without being heard.
My hand drops from my mouth and touches Victoria’s arm, my fingers curling instinctively around her skin.
Victoria tenses, her body going still against mine, as her breath catches.
One thing is for sure. We’re both wide awake now.
Another footstep.
Heavy. Deliberate.
“Shit,” I whisper, lips brushing her temple.
I move to a standing position as quietly as I can, and then I pull her up with me.
Together, we move fast, hiding behind a few crates.
The door opens wider.
This time a light spills in.
Shit.
We are so fucked if they come in.
I wrap my arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close.
“Anyone in here?” a voice calls out. Male. Not Grant. Not staff either. Must be estate security? One of the night guards who patrols the grounds.
He lingers for beat, waiting. Then the door clicks shut.
Thank fuck.
We stay frozen for a full minute, just in case
Victoria lifts her face toward me, wide-eyed. “That was too close.”
I nod, wiping a bead of sweat from my brow. “You okay?”
