Chapter 71


    Chapter Seventy-One


    Sephie


    We left downtown and d rove away from the city. They pulled up to the small, private airport just outside


    the city. Sh it. They’re never going to find me. As soon as I saw the jet on the runway, I started to panic.


    I couldn’t let them get me on that ne.


    The SUV pulled up beside the ne. Both men jumped out. They tried to pull me out of the backseat,


    but I kicked one of them in the face. I heard him curse me in Italian, confirming my fears that they were


    bad news. The other one came to the other side and grabbed me by the shoulders. “Don’t make me


    hurt you,” he said as he dragged me toward the ne. He picked me up and threw me over his


    shoulder to walk me up the few stairs to the ne. I grabbed the door frame and tried to get free, but


    he broke my grip and walked me onto the ne. He threw me into a seat toward the


    rear of the ne.


    “You, stay. Or I sh oot you,” he said, pulling a gun from his boot. He slipped my shoes off before leaving


    me, his anger clearly visible on his face that I had kicked his buddy. Might be the only perk for wearing


    heels…


    I pulled my knees to my chest, burying my head in my arms. All I could think about now was Adrik. I


    kept reying everything over and over in my head. I had only nced away for a second. When I


    looked back, he was going down, grabbing his chest. I remember seeing Ivan and Viktor running to


    him. I couldn’t see the other three guys. Then I was grabbed. What the fu ck happened? And more


    importantly, how was I going to get out of this situation?


    There was only one exit from the ne. And it was guarded. Why weren’t we taking off? They were just


    standing around, like they were waiting for something. I buried my head again, the tearsing full


    force now. For all I knew, Adrik was dead. How was I supposed to live without him?


    I was sobbing now. I couldn’t imagine a life without him. My body started shaking uncontrobly. I didn’t


    care. I didn’t care about anything. The only thing I could feel was the gaping ho le forming in my chest


    as I reyed the scene of


    Adrik going down over and over again.


    I heard vehicles pull up outside the ne. Voices. Doors being opened and sh ut on the vehicles and


    then the underside of the ne. Footstepsing up to the ne. I didn’t pick my head up. I didn’t


    care to see who had taken me. Nothing mattered anymore if Adrik wasn’t in my life.


    I kept my head down, hugging my knees as tightly as I could with my hands bound. I heard another


    vehicle pull up outside. More voices. More doors opening and closing. More footstepsing up to the


    ne.


    I heard someone walk toward me and stop in front of me. I just curled into a tighter ball, expecting the


    worst. I heard the click of a knife de being extended and flinched. I felt warm hands on mine and


    then my hands were free.


    “Princess. You’re very difficult to kidnap. You look like h ell. Boss is going to be pi ssed.”


    I was still so scared that his familiar voice didn’t register. I just kept my head down, my body still


    shaking, still convinced of my imminent death. I heard him kneel in front of me, his hands on my


    shoulders. I flinched at his touch, still trying to get away from him. I heard him curse in Russian.


    “Sephie.” He shook me gently. “Look at me, Sephie. You’re safe.”


    I peeked at him. I recognized him. Ivan. My brain still not registering what was happening. I just buried


    my head again, rocking back and forth, shaking uncontrobly. I heard loud voices outside this time.


    One sounded familiar. Rushed footsteps up the steps to the ne, toward me. They stopped short of


    me.


    His loud voice, “WHAT THE FU CK! YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO HARM HER!”


    The voice that had threatened to sh oot me said, “she fought back. Hard. She jumped out of the


    vehicle. We barely caught her. You guys didn’t tell us she was so fuc king fast. Or strong. I think she


    broke Alfredo’s face. She kicked him in the face when we tried to get her out of the vehicle.”


    Footsteps. Hands on me. These hands were different. My body instantly rxed when I felt these


    hands. I was still too scared to look, still rocking back and forth.


    “Persephone, love. Look at me.”


    I hugged my knees closer to me, shutting my eyes tighter. That voice. That was the voice I wanted to


    hear more than anything in the world. The one voice that I would never hear again. The tears started


    flowing again. I started rocking back and forth. “No, no, no. It can’t be. It can’t be.” I said quietly to


    myself.


    “Sephie. Look at me, please. Solnishko. It’s me, Adrik.”


    “No, I saw him go down on the stage. This is a cr uel joke.”


    “It was fake. We needed everyone to believe I was killed. I’m very much alive, I assure you. Please


    look at me.” He turned his head, giving orders in Russian. I heard activity outside the ne, more


    footsteps boarding the ne. My head was starting to pound. I peeked at him while his head was


    turned. The lights were so bright, but there was something familiar about his profile. I squinted, trying to


    adjust to the light. I reached out and touched his face lightly.” He didn’t move. He just closed his eyes,


    leaning into my touch. A single tear fell from his eye.


    “It can’t be you. I saw you go down. I saw everybody run to you.”


    He took a deep breath. He turned his head, his blue eyes filled with tears as he looked at me with


    nothing but regret. “This was not how this was supposed to go. You were not supposed to get hurt.”


    He tried to find a ce that he could rest his hands, but my road rash was even worse this time. Pro


    tip: don’t jump out of a moving vehicle ince and satin. It offers zero protection from the hard concrete.


    As he looked me over, another tear fell from his eye. I reached up and wiped his eye with my thumb.


    “Please forgive me, solnishko. Please forgive me.” His head dropped, resting against my legs. I felt


    fresh tears welling up in my eyes. I wanted to touch his hair. I wanted to console him. My head was


    pounding so badly that I could barely think.


    I lightly touched his hair. “Is it really you?”


    He looked up at me, hopeful, his eyes wet with tears. “It’s really me, solnishko.”


    I stared at him for a few minutes, not saying anything. My brain still struggling to process everything.


    He never took his eyes off me. I reached out and touched his face again. “You know your old girlfriends


    are still mad because you never told them your name?”


    Heughed, his smile pulling at something in my chest.


    The ne moved forward on the runway, taxiing for take-off. I tensed. Before I knew what happened,N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights.


    he had lifted me from the seat to a couch on the other side of the ne. He put me in hisp, his arms


    wrapped tightly around me. I rested my head on his shoulder. “My head really hurts,” I said before


    closing my eyes and letting the darkness take


    over.