She actually stabbed a guard? I was quickly informed he would live, but I was still dumbfounded at the savagery Lilia displayed to get away. She must have been more pissed off than I thought.
I found myself stifling a chuckle as we raced toward home. This should have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. She actually stabbed my guard, so shouldn’t I be furious? Instead, the foul mood that had me in its grip because of the meeting had lifted. I could no longer hide a laugh.
Was I actually proud of my skittish wife for doing something so utterly out of character?
Chapter 25 - Lilia
Did I just kill someone?Even as a member of a Bratva family that had ruled for generations, I never thought that would cross my mind. I could still feel the horrible tension, hear the sickly popping noise as the knife penetrated that guard’s skin and sank deep under his ribs.
He could be dead, but I couldn’t think about that now. It wasn’t like I was about to turn around and administer first aid. One thing I kicked myself over was not grabbing his phone before taking off down that treacherous hill. I could have called for help by now and hid behind that big cluster of agave while I waited for one of my cousins to extract me.
Well, I wasn’t that quick-thinking, so I had to keep scrambling over the rough terrain. Tiny pebbles dislodged themselves under my feet as I half slid down toward the wall of a house in the distance. I skidded on my backside for several feet and had to dig in my heels to slow my momentum before I flipped headfirst into the small landslide my haste had created.
There was no shouting behind me, and when I grabbed onto a sturdy boulder to keep from rolling over the side of a sharp drop, I turned to see I was alone. That didn’t mean I could breathe a sigh of relief. I needed a phone or a better place to hide. My bright red workout top stuck out like a sore thumb among the dusty, stunted trees and rocky terrain.
I started to run again, launching myself toward the perimeter wall. It was the closest place, and there was at least a chance the people there would let me use their phone before I continued further down the hill. Maybe they’d even shelter me until my cousins showed up.
Slamming into the wall, I hissed and rubbed my shoulder, the first thing that stopped my stumbling run. Praying there’d be no overzealous dogs on the other side, I hoisted myself up and over.
The backyard was slightly overgrown and unkempt. The pool area had a fountain that was turned off, with a thin layer of debris on the water's surface. All the curtains and blinds were shut tight, and as I picked my way across the vast yard, I tentatively called out a warning that I was approaching the door.
“Please, I need help,” I said, barely over a speaking voice. It still felt like someone would grab me at any moment.
For all I knew, one of Gavril’s men lived at this house, and I’d only be deposited in a car and driven back up the hill. It was a chance I had to take, and being inside the walls was better than being a moving target on the open slope.
Spotting a security camera at the corner of the poolhouse, I waved and kept moving toward the main house. There was another camera mounted on the wall between two windows and a back door, but it didn’t move when I walked past, and there was no light to let me know it was even working.
Taking a breath and offering up a prayer, I pounded on the door. The place was closed up like a tomb. After several minutes of calling through the door and knocking, it was clear no one was home and likely hadn’t been in several weeks.
After circling the big mansion once, I stopped to think. Some fist-sized decorative rocks surrounding a neglected flower bed called to me, and there was one window that didn’t seem to be covered by the security cameras, if they were even working.
Smash a window, climb in, find a phone, call Aleks. It sounded so easy and so tempting, but I had already tempted fate a lot. The likelihood that an alarm would sound and the copswould arrive before Aleks or another of my cousins was high. Too high to risk it.
Growing up in a crime family, I never had great faith in the police. After what happened to Dan’s fiancée after she placed her trust in a dirty FBI agent just a few months ago, I wanted nothing to do with law enforcement.
No smashing any windows today. The two choices left to me were climbing back over the wall and braving the dangerous slide down the hill to the next house, or risk hoofing along the road and staying hidden long enough to flag down a passing car.
I had already come way too close to rolling head over heels down that hill, and was covered in dirt and scratches from crashing into the prickly agave and cacti getting as far as I did.
The road seemed the lesser of the two evils, and I took off. It would have been nice to stay and rest, but I had already circled the house twice, and I feared a silent alarm might have already alerted a private security company.
I actually made it about a mile, and my hopes were soaring as I jogged along, getting closer and closer to civilization and a busier road. As soon as I turned the bend leading to the final stretch before a busy intersection, I breathed out a pent-up sigh at the sight of a car careening around the corner and heading my way.
Before I got my arms up to wave it down, I froze. I knew that car all too well. I’d been tossed into the backseat and also made a mad dash from the front. Though I glanced wildly from side to side, I didn’t bother running again. I already knew how fast Gavril was.
And how determined.
He pulled up beside me as I stood there, wishing I could melt into the hot pavement beneath my tired feet. It was insane, but I ran a dusty hand through my equally dusty hair and walked in a dignified manner when he leaned over and shoved the passenger door open.
“That was a lot faster than I thought,” I said, as if I was doing him a favor by testing his security.
“Drones,” he said, looking me over and shaking his head. “Deployed as soon as Derek called in what you did. You were never going to get far.”
“So he’s okay, then?” I asked, the rush of relief mingled with regret that I should have stabbed twice or at least stolen his phone.
Gavril had the audacity to laugh. “Yes. Don’t sound so disappointed. I’d wager you never stabbed anyone before, right?” Then he scowled at me, touching the scrape on my shoulder beneath my torn sleeve. “Fucking hell, I thought you were hurt.”
I could see his own relief flooding his eyes. He was completely serious now as he prodded me for more injuries. He grumbled about flying out of a meeting, thinking I was trapped in a wildfire razing the hillside.
