"I don't want to disappear," she tells me quickly.
I stare at her in confusion. "You just shot your husband, and you weren't going to run?"
Sighing, she bites into her plump lower lip and shakes her head. "It's complicated," she whispers.
"Sounds like it." As her teeth release her lip, I stare at the marks left behind before wiping my own mouth with a linen napkin and standing. I reach into my blazer on the back of my chair and retrieve my cell phone. "Speaking of my cousin, I need to check in with him. He's probably going apeshit since I haven't responded to him all morning," I say with a grin. Driving my cousin crazy is so damn easy…and fun.
Katerina tracks my movements as I stride across the room. I click the wake button of my iPhone and check my notifications on the screen.
And my entire world comes to a screeching standstill.
At first the messages from Lucien are his typical shit…what are you doing…where are you…why aren't you picking up your cell, you fucking dickhead…send me some fucking girly emojis or something…anything…
But then…the messages turn into something else entirely. Lucien's not one to kid around, so I know he's fucking serious when he's telling me that he's in trouble. "Oh, fuck!" I hiss, swallowing hard around the lump forming in my throat.
I unlock the phone and punch a few buttons to dial Lucien's number before bringing the cell to my ear. After a few seconds of continuous ringing before it goes to his voicemail, I lower the phone.
My heartbeat picks up double pace…triple pace…and it feels like it's going to beat right the fuck out of my chest.
Lucien sent out an SOS message about an hour ago. The fucking island had been breached, and there's no doubt in my mind that they were coming for him and Adeline.
Adeline.
My gut churns in protest, and I feel like I'm gonna vomit the remnants of my breakfast all over the goddamn floor.
"What? What's wrong?" Katerina asks, her voice trembling.
My eyes snap over to the girl that has distracted me for the past twelve hours. She's the reason I didn't go back to the island. But I can't really blame her. It was my own damn fault that I didn't keep my phone on me…that I wanted to piss off Lucien because deep down I was feeling a certain way about him and Adeline getting engaged…
Shit, this is all my fault.
Shaking my head, I refuse to think the worst until I see it for my own eyes. "Change of plans. We gotta go. Now," I tell her, rushing to repack my things into my suitcase.
"We?" she squeaks.
I nod, frantically zipping shut my luggage and going for my medical bag. I need to get us on the plane without any more incidents…no more distractions…no more delays. I already fucked up. I can't fuck up again.
I hate to sedate Katerina again, but it's the only way. She won't come willingly. She's already proved that point. And I can't risk letting her go right now until I know the truth behind why she did what she did.
I prepare a new syringe with a tranquilizer that should keep her out for a while and grab an alcohol wipe.
"Are you a doctor?" she asks with wide eyes as I approach her.
I swab her restrained arm with the wipe and tell her, "Yes." She visibly relaxes as I inject her with the sedative. "Well…technically," I add as I stand up and stare down at her.
"Wait…what?" she asks groggily, weakly struggling against her bonds.
"I'm sorry. It's the only way," I tell her with sincere honesty before her head lolls to the side and the sedative pulls her under.
CHAPTER 7
KATYA
WHEN I AWAKE, all hell is breaking loose, and I suddenly wish for the fog from whatever the hell Jackson injected me with to take its hold on me once more.
"Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck," Jackson says, his words harsh and desperate, while his large hands somehow delicately sew a wound shut in a man's shoulder. The half-naked man is lying on the floor unconscious and bleeding heavily — every drop adding to the ever-growing pool of blood under him.
His body is all shades of white and blue, and he looks like he's been knocking on death's door for quite a while, if he's not already dead.
